Your Dreams vs Plans

Dear loving people,

At twilight, Ngwabifuh’s footsteps could be heard in rhythm with the sounds from the early birds announcing a brand new day as he approached his father’s bedroom. A knock on the bedroom door awakened a gloriously sleeping couple. Ngwabifuh stepped into his parent’s bedroom and told them they had to talk and before they could respond, he dived into what was biting him up… “Father, I have plenty of dreams for my life. They bubble away at the back of my mind, as a matter of fact, they loom in my thoughts all day and they keep me awake most of the nights such as last night, that’s why I want to seek your advice.”

“Interesting, and you want us to talk about them this early. Well, I know that dreams are powerful, encouraging and even a bit scary. I equally know that too many necked dreams without a plan to back them up aren’t going to get you far. So what kind of dreams are you talking about?” asked the father, wondering what could be going on in his son’s mind.

“I want to be a real man father, I know you have done much for this family but you see, I want to be as successful in all that I do as I can be, I want to excel and be an example to many, creating enough wealth through lucrative businesses to take care of our family’s entire needs. I want you and mum to be the happiest parents on earth.”

“I see, you seem to have a lot on your mind. Sit down here my son” pointing to a section of the massive bed. “There are a few things I must tell you about your many dreams and so you have to listen very carefully else you would have awoken me this morning for nothing. Have you actually written down these dreams you have?” asked the concerned father and the son’s response was negative.

“ Hear it comes now, the very first thing you must do is to Write Down Your Dreams. I know the idea of committing your dreams to writing could be a little frightening but you must not resist doing it. The act of putting something into words on paper, suggests that you’re committing to it – and this can be very powerful in helping you eventually achieve that dream. Even better, when you write something down, you’re forced to think it through. For example, your vague dream of “creating wealth through businesses” has to become something firmer – perhaps “establish a successful business every five years.”

Once you do this, you now have the opportunity to Brainstorm Some Possibilities. Keep it permanently in your mind that whatever your dream, there’s more than one-way to reach it. For instance, if you want to make lots of money as you say, you could: establish more lucrative businesses, work harder in your current job to get a promotion and thus a greater chance in mobilizing the capital you need for your business or go back to the university and study for a business degree. There are lots of possibilities. Some are a bit more realistic than others but when you’re brainstorming, include all the ideas that come to mind – even ones which seem silly. You might find that a “stupid” idea leads you on to a really good one.

Then, you have to Pick One Clear Goal once you’ve figured out some possibilities. You might decide, for instance, that your goal is to start a profitable business in an area in which you are passionate about and stick to it rather than having too many things to deal with at a time. Look for a goal, which is perhaps challenging, but achievable. There’s no point in picking a goal which you’re convinced you can’t really manage – that’s just going to put you back in the world of empty dreams, where you constantly think about a better future without taking any action towards getting there.

The next important thing you must do is to Give Yourself a Deadline. It’s much easier to hit your goals when you’re working towards a deadline. Again, you want to be realistic here – but don’t be afraid to challenge yourself a little. Get the point? If you’ve got a really big goal as the one you have, you might want to look five – ten years ahead. Bear in mind that with smaller goals, you can probably achieve them within a year. With the example of going back to school, you might decide that two years is a realistic timeframe. It’s often helpful to tie your deadline to a particular event – perhaps your 40^th birthday or something of the sort.

With everything said and done my dear son, you have to imperatively Write Down the Steps to Get You There. What I mean here is that we’re onto the plan itself. This is where you really get into the nitty-gritty and start turning that dream into something real. With big goals such as yours, it’s often helpful to work backwards. So: What are the study requirements of that new degree you want to obtain? How can you achieve them (distance learning)? Are there any pre-requisites for that (e.g. you need some money to pay for tuition)? How can you do that?

You should be able to get to a clear step which lets you move forwards from where you are, such as save a specific amount of your present income for the next six months, take a loan or ask for support from us your parents”. If you have any steps, which you don’t know how to complete, try breaking them down further. Figure out exactly what you need to do to achieve your dream – and you’ve got a plan, which really can change your life.

I know you’ve just started at your first job, I am there for always to support you and feel free to come to me for as much advice as you need.”

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” Says Gail Devers