FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." - Henry David Thoreau

In the last post, I talked about the importance of having big dreams and I ended it by encouraging the readers to continue to dream big irrespective of how illogical such dreams might be to them or to those they share them with.

Today, I want to go a step further. We have seen the need to have big dreams, but it would be useless to just dream big without following up such dreams, therefore "following your dreams" is an important topic that has to be discussed. But first of all, what do we mean by "following your dreams"?

To follow your dream simply means to go all out to make your dream a reality. They are the ways through which you back up those ideas which you have conceived in your mind with relevant actions. They are the actions you take which are capable of turning your ordinary idea(s) to a success story that everyone would love to associate with.

Now that we have explained what it means to follow your dream, someone might ask: "how do I start following up my dreams? Where exactly do I start from?" Well, in order to answer such questions, I am presenting to you some proven facts that will really be of help to you. They are ten (10) steps to help you follow your dreams:

1. Take responsibility for your life
    The first thing you need to know, and which should always come to your mind is that you are fully in charge of your life, therefore, you should be the one to take the final decision as far as issues of your life are concerned (this applies to adults and not minors who may still need people to take decisions for them).

     Having said that, one can then ask, what decisions are you taking in your day to day life? Are they decisions which are focused on moving you forward and helping you to climb the ladder of success? Or are they decisions which are geared towards making you stagnant, or ultimately demoting you? You are in the best position to answer these questions. However, one good decision which you must make is the decision to follow your dreams. Why? Because it is the one decision which would ultimately bring fulfilment for you in life. Once you are convinced about your dream(s) and you sincerely know that you have a passion for it, then, you should go all out to make it a reality.

    You must take up the responsibility of passionately pursuing your dreams without listening to the distractions which might come in the form of advice from those who do not believe in your dreams. Your family, friends, and colleagues might not offer you the needed support, but you just must resolutely follow your dreams; believe me, they would be proud of you when you eventually make a success of your dreams.

2. Have a clear vision
    Having a clear vision is non-negotiable as far as the following and fulfilment of dreams is concerned. This is because the whole process of going all out to make a dream a reality is based on the vision that an aspiring individual has. Without a very clear vision, dreams would only remain in the mind without been made a reality.

    Take for instance a high school student who wants to be a medical doctor, and also wants to be an engineer, and who at the same time is also fascinated by the idea of being a banker and an artist; do you think such a student has a clear vision?

    To me, the answer is NO. Such a student could waste a good part of his life changing from one career to another without making a headway. The same thing applies to anyone without a very clear vision of what he or she wants to achieve in life - such a person is likely to become a jack of all trades, and that would definitely not lead to the fulfilment of dreams. Therefore, you need a very clear vision if you really wants to follow your dreams.

3. Be in touch with your dreams
    In order for the passion you have for your dream to remain a "burning fire" inside of you, you need to engage yourself in things that would constantly motivate you to go in the direction of your dream. Whatever you do should be things that would make your dream remain fresh, and your vision much clearer in your mind.

    It could be a simple act of posting a picture that relates to your dream in your room. In that way, you wake up each morning and the picture reminds you of your dream and the need to follow it up. Another simple way of doing this is to talk about your dream at all times. By simply talking about it all the time, the passion to go for it would remain alive and you would be motivated to go in its direction.

    Therefore, post pictures, watch programmes related to it, talk about it, or just do whatever is needed to make your dream a burning fire inside of you.

4. Increase the knowledge you have about your dream
    The role that adequate knowledge plays in making a dream a reality cannot be over emphasized. The more knowledge an individual possesses, the more likely it is for him to achieve his goals. Let's take for instance two individuals who want to go into acting. Let's assume that they are both equally talented, and have been acting since childhood. However, one decides to further sharpen his acting skills by enrolling in a film Institute while the other made no such attempt at developing his skills. Which of them would be a better actor in the long run? Certainly, the one who had gone further in developing himself would be the better of the two. That is so because he decided to add value to himself by going an extra mile to receive professional training in his chosen career.

    The same thing goes for anyone who wants to make his or her dream a reality. You just have to acquire the necessary knowledge that will help you to bring out the best in you. You need to read books, go for training, browse through related sites on the internet, and do any other thing that will impart you with the required knowledge, and it is a thing that should go on from time to time. You must try, as much as possible, to keep yourself abreast of the new developments in the area of your dream. You must always seek for knowledge even after your dream has come true, because that is what will make you relevant for a very long time.

5. Connect with like-minded people
    Associating with like-minded people is a step you cannot ignore if you really want your dreams to become a reality. This is because it provides you with the opportunity to interact with people who have the same passion as you do. This way, you get to discuss with people who understand your dreams and your visions, and could go a long way to help you make them a reality.

    When you connect yourself with like-minded people, you get to rub minds together and through that, you get to know some things which could be of immense benefit to you on your way to being successful in life. For example, such people provide you with the the needed advice, and they could guide you step by step all the way. Also, you get to learn from their experiences, and thereby avoid some mistakes which they, possibly had made in the past, and which you too, are likely to make. Furthermore, when you associate with like-minded people, you are sure to get information about all the latest developments as regards your goal, and thereby, you keep yourself abreast of what is happening in "your world".

    Now, should you find yourself in a situation where you don't have any like-minded person around you and it's proving difficult to reach such people, then, I would advise you to hit the internet. Go to sites that will let you become friends with people who care about your dreams - that way, you get to enjoy the benefits of connecting with like-minded people.


I'm sure you've learnt a thing or two from this post, watch out for the concluding part of it in my next post. Till then, remember, you must go confidently in the direction of your dreams.