Success Advice

7 Easy Ways To Start Moving Towards Your Dreams Today

Published

5 years ago

Apr 24, 2016

You have a picture of what you would like your life to be, and it excites you. The picture of your perfect dream life consumes your every waking moment, and it keeps you up at night wondering “what if?”—but it just seems too far off to ever become a reality.

We all want to live the life of our dreams, but so few of us are at that stage in our life right now. We don’t want to fully take the leap into pursuing our passions because we don’t want to lose the security of a steady paycheck, and we’re scared of the unknown. What frustrates us most is we just don’t know what steps we can take to pursue our dream life now, rather than later.

What if you could start living your dream life now, instead of waiting until a “better” time—would you take the opportunity then?

Here are seven ways to help you start moving towards your dreams today, instead of waiting until a “better” time around the corner:

1. Realize you’re just as talented and capable as others

We’re all humans, and we all have our strong points. Find your strengths and capitalize on them to avoid running into constant brick walls, and above all be persistent—that’s key! Your dream life is possible. Reminding yourself of your inner greatness every day you can feel more confident about pursuing your dreams even when it would be easier to stop.

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney

2. Develop a mantra relevant to your own success

Muhammad Ali’s was “I am the greatest,” and did anyone question him? Every morning I wake up and tell myself “I’m a writer, and writers write,” because if I didn’t do it then who would? My mantra helps affirm my belief in myself, which allows me to step into my power and tackle my goals with a newfound energy every day. Each day you wake up, ask yourself where your strengths are, and how they make you great—and use your answers to fuel your path to success.

3. Personalize your life plan

In their book Living Forward, Michael Hyatt and Daniel Harkavy urge their readers to develop a life plan that symbolizes the life they want to live and the steps they need to take to get there. By developing a concrete life plan that’s unique to you and your goals, you’ll prevent yourself from reaching burn-out and losing sight of the end-game you have in mind throughout your day-to-day life. You can also review your plan on a weekly basis to remind yourself of the steps you need to take today towards your dreams, as this will help you visualize your own future success and keep you on track.

4. Embrace the power of baby steps

Don’t get consumed by doubt and lose sight of your plan by focusing on the larger scope of your dreams. Instead refine your path and always move forward in whatever ways you can every day, no matter what. Your dreams don’t have to become unwieldy and untouchable, no matter how big they are. Little steps can help you reach your goals even while working a full-time job, regardless of how small they may seem at the time.

5. Always show gratitude

Never forget the precious gift of life, and the possibilities that it presents to all of us every day of our lives. You always need to stay positive and remain thankful for yourself and others around you. This will help you keep a positive outlook when the going gets tough and it can prevent you from losing sight of your goal when you’d rather quit.

6. Meditate on your successes

Think about your version of your ideal self, and always think about how you can move your current self closer to your dream goals. What have you done that’s worked for you in the past, and what could you do better in the future? Reflecting on your life plan every day can help you keep a laser-focus on your dreams, especially when the going gets tough. This will remind you of the progress you’ve made towards your eventual dream life.

7. Embrace the power of your ideas

You always have the power to change the world around you, but first you have to step into the shoes that were made for you to wear all along. Your dreams matter, and you can be your dream self if you only try and never, ever give up—because despite your failures, every single step you take towards your dreams are small wins and they never stop counting towards your bigger dream goals.

I know you have that one thing that keeps you up at night, deep inside of you. But before you can achieve it, you have to believe in the power of your dreams yourself and know that they’re not far-fetched, despite how far away they seem right now.

“I’m open for possibilities. I’m open for choices. I always welcome new ideas. I’m always eager to learn. I’m never going to close my mind from learning.” – Cesar Millan

You can’t allow the candle of your dreams to burn out, because if you do then you’re admitting they don’t matter.Even if they do burn out, it’s never too late to light them back up again—because despite what people may tell you, your dreams aren’t small or insignificant.

How will you start moving towards your dreams today? Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com

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Blake Powell

"Blake Powell helps writers step into their creative power and start living the life of their dreams. You can downloadThe Bulletproof Writer’s Handbook for free today to learn how to supercharge your writing and conquer the blank page once and for all."

21 Comments

transformice

Aug 1, 2017 at 8:47 am

Valuable info. Lucky me I found your website by accident. I bookmarked it. This article is genuinely good and I have learned lot of things from it concerning blogging. thanks.

Reply
maya breeze

May 16, 2016 at 7:17 am

hi blake – i love the post … i also think if we will dare to dream (and to bring it) we will discover our way . i think we like to think we dare, but the word is a verb, and it has a few meanings :

1. to have the necessary courage or boldness for something; be bold enough:
2. to have the boldness to try; venture; hazard.
3. to meet defiantly; face courageously.
4. to challenge or provoke (a person) into a demonstration of courage

what if we had the courage to actually dare ourselves …

thoreau said:

… if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,
and endeavors to live the life he has imagined,
he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

ours is to dream it and to bring it … how and when are not up to us. we must make of our own selves the desire of the dream, and then be enough (in ourselves) to dare to live it.

thanks again – i love the idea that we are told by wayshowers that we can, and that we are able to be in life as we wish …
maya

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  May 20, 2016 at 1:27 am
  
  Hey Maya, thanks so much for your comment. Sorry for the late reply.
  
  I think as you say, having the dream in place is important but daring to take action on that impulse is equally as important to that. A lot of what you say is similar to what Napoleon Hill says in his book “Think and Grow Rich”, in that we must put a face to our desires and believe that we can do it before we can take action and later reap the benefits of that action. But dreaming is nothing without doing, so we can’t get tripped up by the daring part – we must “dare to do” and actually do, which is the critical point of turning our dreams into reality.
  
  Thank you so much for your insights, and the quote by Thoreau. I love seeing what readers come up with, and many times it adds to the post itself ten-fold – so thank you for that. I really appreciate it 🙂
  
  Cheers,
  Blake
  
  Reply
Tim Denning

May 4, 2016 at 4:12 am

Blake I think that taking little steps is the most important point in your article. I practice this daily and it has really helped me. Thanks for sharing your advice.

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  May 4, 2016 at 1:54 pm
  
  Tim, little steps are huge! They make more of an impact than you’d think. Thanks for your reply 🙂
  
  Reply
Dennis

May 2, 2016 at 4:22 am

I’m one of those who really get started well but get frustrated shortly. Was asking myself why and the answer was ‘u are biting too big man.’ Thanx for all the advice. I owe so much to so many people who have made me who I am today, including u. I must make a positive impact in as many lives as I can.

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  May 4, 2016 at 1:58 pm
  
  Hey Dennis, you’re welcome! Glad to help. Maybe the problem isn’t biting off too much but taking it all in too quickly.
  
  I like the Chinese proverb “be not afraid of going slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” Baby steps add up to more than we’d think over the long term of things, as long as you cut your big goals into small pieces you should be fine 🙂
  
  Reply
Ohita Afeisume

Apr 28, 2016 at 5:25 am

Thanks Blake,
For me, gratitude works marvelously. The more I am thankful to God for my life, family and friends, the more empowered I am to follow my goals and be creative.

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  Apr 29, 2016 at 1:28 am
  
  Hey, no problem Ohita! Glad to help 🙂
  Gratitude is a huge one, and I don’t think it can be practiced enough. It is a huge part of happiness, which can fuel us to live out our dreams in many ways. Thanks for your comment.
  
  Reply
James Arq

Apr 25, 2016 at 12:56 pm

Wonderful post, Blake!

Your writing is just awesome, straight to the point! You make me (just a tiny bit) jealous. 😉

I especially liked this line on your last point “…every single step you take towards your dreams are small wins and they never stop counting towards your bigger dream goals.”

I agree with it. We can very much enjoy life with the small things, and in fact, we should. Let us celebrate mini victories and daily conquers, after all, milestones are as equally important as goals. And most importantly, never stop moving forward, no matter how small the steps. In time, those small steps would reveal to be miles away from where we started.

Awesome post!

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  Apr 26, 2016 at 12:31 am
  
  Hey James,
  
  Thanks so much for the comment, and I appreciate the feedback. I’m glad to hear that you find my advice practical, useful, and straight to the point. Means a lot to me to hear that from a reader.
  
  Life is a daily battle, and if we don’t stand up and face the drums every day then we lose a little bit of our passion, and ourselves in the process. We need to fight for our dreams, even if we work a 9-5, even if it’s just for 5-10 minutes a day. Every little bit counts, and a snowball can turn into an avalanche over time (pardon the metaphor). I think we can all surprise with what we could do when we get down to it, rather than just wondering about it.
  
  Thanks James!
  
  Reply
Dan Western

Apr 25, 2016 at 10:28 am

Awesome article Blake! Thanks for sharing this.

P.S. I love the quote at the end! It fits perfectly.

Dan

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  Apr 26, 2016 at 12:27 am
  
  Hey Dan, you’re very welcome man. Thanks for the comment and glad I could help. 🙂
  
  Reply
Mike McClement

Apr 25, 2016 at 9:30 am

Linked to #1 – never compare yourself to others. Sure, check out what they’re doing / how they’re succeeding. Learn if you can from that but don’t focus on their strengths, focus on your own.

I try this approach and it seems to work although it does require self-discipline. Silencing the negative voice in your head encouraging you to doubt yourself is always challenging. It’s perfectly possible though if you keep in a positive frame of mind.

Thanks Blake for a helpful article.

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  Apr 26, 2016 at 12:38 am
  
  Hey Mike, thanks for the shout-out – really appreciate it. Definitely, comparing ourselves to others can only get us disheartened in the end. While it’s good to work up to where others are and see the value in their ideas, if we focus too much on their progress and their strengths (which highlight our own weaknesses) we lose sight of our own selves, our own strength, and our own potential – which can be poisonous for our own goals and motivation.
  
  It definitely requires telling that self-doubting voice “no”, as hard as it may be at times. But I don’t think we can ever turn it off completely or ignore it, only acknowledge it and work past it. It may always be there, but that doesn’t mean we have to adhere to it or fuel its fire.
  
  Thanks for the comment Mike. You’re very welcome, and I’m glad you found it helpful 🙂
  
  Reply
Jared

Apr 24, 2016 at 8:33 pm

I agree making baby steps is a way to move forward. I also have to stay patient because I want to move faster but at this time in my life it’s difficult. As long as I keep moving forward I know ill achieve my dreams. Thanks Blake.

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  Apr 26, 2016 at 12:44 am
  
  Hey Jared,
  
  Patience, like Gary Vee says, is HUGE. Almost even more so than baby steps. Because while we can slowly persist towards our larger goals every day, if we don’t have patience and respect for the whole process then it’s too easy to lose hope and turn to doubting ourselves and stopping our forward progress (we might even forget what progress looks like, too, if we get too wrapped up in the process).
  
  As cliche as it is, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Great things take time, just like your dreams take time to achieve. But they are most certainly achievable.
  
  Thanks for engaging, and glad you found it helpful! 🙂
  
  Reply
Mark Tong

Apr 24, 2016 at 8:05 pm

Hi Blake – love the article especially ‘ Embrace the power of your ideas ‘ – and blow yourself away:)

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  Apr 26, 2016 at 12:40 am
  
  Hey Mark,
  
  Yes, absolutely blow yourself away! You might just be surprised with what you can do and can achieve. I think we all can, but we need to light our fire first.
  
  Thanks for the comment!
  
  Reply
Quinn Eurich

Apr 24, 2016 at 6:20 pm

Loved the post Blake. You always have such great and straight-forwards advice.

I especially love this: “first you have to step into the shoes that were made for you to wear all along.”

It’s such a wonderful metaphor. The shoes are always there. They may be in a forgotten box in the back of a closet, or in a corner of the attic, or even lying in the shadows under the bed, but they are there.

Sometimes you’ve tried them on and thought they were too big, but sooner or later you’ll grow into them, and when you do, it’s magic.

Thanks for sharing!

Quinn

Reply
- Blake Powell
  
  Apr 24, 2016 at 11:10 pm
  
  Hey Quinn, thanks so much. I really appreciate the feedback and I’m glad the post helped you out. I loved your comment on the shoes, and think it’s pretty much perfect so I won’t add anything to it, but yes it’s so easy to put our dreams away and try and hide from them and ignore them when they’re just waiting for us to follow them. And I think the power of little steps towards bigger, more long-term goals are very underrated, as they’ve done wonders for me!
  
  Thanks for your comment 🙂
  
  Reply

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