Another day has gone by, you’re cozied up on the couch sipping tea and wondering when things are going to get better. Nothing changed, again.

You dreamed of getting awesome things done today, maybe even slightly contemplated actually doing something about it, but you didn’t.

Go to sleep, wake up, dream, do nothing, repeat.

Tomorrow is another day.

“You can have anything you want if you are willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it “- Robert Anthony

Is it fear that is keeping us from achieving greatness and taking our life up a notch or is it something worse than that, like taking that first step?

How do we do it? When can we do it?  It’s so much easier just to laze on the couch and dream about it than actually do anything about it but how long can you keep that up for?

When are you finally going to make the first move?

For the last two years I have dreamed of visiting Costa Rica with the possibility of volunteering there during the winter months.

I thought about it an awful lot in the dead of winter when the temperatures dipped down to -50 C. This past winter definitely took its toll on me and I knew in my heart it was time to do more than dream and take it to the next level.

Make this dream come to life. It didn’t matter that I knew nothing about planning this, I was determined to do it.

My first step? Write it out on a huge piece of construction paper and tape it to my wall so I can see it every day. “Spend my winters in Costa Rica volunteering”. That was easy. It’s now time to make it happen.

We all have dreams, some bigger than others. I get that my dream is pretty big. It is for a 50 something hairstylist turned writer that lives way up in Northern Ontario Canada. Big? Yes. Impossible? No.

I came to realize that the only thing standing in the way of me and my dream becoming a reality was me. It was time to take action and I did.

Are you ready to take your dream or your life to the next level too? If you are, then these 5 steps will definitely help you get there. They worked for me.

1. Take action and spread the word

Sounds simple enough and it really is.

Take the first step.

My first step was writing it out on a piece of paper for me to see every single day. Not only did I write it down but I talked about it a lot to friends and family.

The more I talked about it the more I was determined to do it. The more you talk about it, the more people will believe you and encourage you, hence the more you know it’s definitely going to happen.

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

2. Believe

You absolutely have to believe that it can be done, whatever it is that you want to achieve.

You have to feel it deep in your soul that you will, without a doubt, get this done.

When you talk about it, you must believe that it is going to be a reality, come hell or high water.

3. Ask questions/ask for help

I don’t get why we do this, but if we don’t know the answer to something, or how to do something, we just put it on the back burner or brush it under the rug and let it be.

We secretly do want to know everything about it but are afraid that we would look dumb if we ask. You’re not dumb! Ask away! Find the answers.

Find out everything you need to know that will catapult your life to the next awesome level.

4. Do research

The internet is a beautiful place, isn’t it? Type anything in the search bar and “poof” an answer appears.

Absolutely positively anything you want, or need to know about, is right there at your fingertips. Need I say more?

You have no idea how many hours I spent scouring the net looking for volunteer mission sites that were reputable and weren’t going to cost me an arm, a leg and my first born.

Once I made the decision to kick this dream into high gear, literally nothing stopped me. Not even the funds.

Did you know there is a fundraising site called GoFundMe that can help you raise money for anything you want? Seek and you shall find.

I also found a great book from the great folks at Lonely Planet about Central America. I read it often. Why wouldn’t I?

I need to find out what’s going on down in the country I’ll be spending lots of time in, right?

5. Have faith

Similar to believing but requires a little more from you. You must let it go to the Universe and know that it is going to happen.

We can believe that something is going to happen but to actually have faith that it will happen takes a lot more work from you.

You have to stay open to signs that you are on the right path and that this dream will become a reality.

Seek out helpful people. Pray, journal, and meditate on it. Ask, believe, and receive.

Always know that what you want, wants you too. Costa Rica, here I come.

Are you ready? What is your dream?