Growing up with fairy tales, stories of heroes and mystical adventures, we are exposed to ideas that seem to bear little resemblance to the often mundane and responsibility filled experience of adulthood. The little girl who believed she would grow up and meet her handsome prince is somewhat demoralised when she discovers that in fact no-one is coming to rescue her. And the young boy who flew around his living room wearing his superhero cape soon discovers that the tools he needs in life are very different than those in the stories of his youth.

And today as we live in a world dominated by celebrities who seem to have it all we often think;  

“Lucky them. If only I had their money, or their opportunities … then I would be happy. It’s okay for them but no-one is going to make that happen for me.”

Well that last statement is certainly true.

Nobody is going to come along and magically make your dreams come true.

But despite how it looks, that is not what happened for them either.

In order to make your ‘dreams come true’ you must first get clear about what they are. Most of us have an idle wish that passes through our mind from time to time. Things like:

“I wish I had a big house like that one” or “I wish I didn’t have to work for someone” or “I wish I could just go to the beach today”.

And most of us believe that these wishes, desires or ‘dreams’ could be solved by having more money. So we buy a lottery ticket and sit determinedly in front of the television hoping agains hope that tonight will be our night. This week my numbers will come up.

But what if you had a different view?

What if instead of waiting and wishing you got really clear about your dreams?

What if you turned your dreams into goals?

Not for one moment am I suggesting that you can go against the laws of the universe and suddenly start to fly but there are dreams we hold within our hearts that are achievable.

“If someone else can do it … why not you?”

I remember reading about Thomas Edison when he was working to create what we now call the light bulb. We never give a thought to this as we push a little switch which illuminates our world. But Mr Edison tried and failed 1000 times before he finally created this previously unknown little glow. And all around him were people saying that he was dreaming. That what he believed in was impossible. And it was to them. It was only through his absolute devotion to his belief that it could be done, and his determination to follow through no matter what, that we now have not only the light bulb but all the technology that the ‘impossibility’ of the light bulb has enabled us to see.

You may not wish to change the world like Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein or Leonardo Di Vinci but what about making changes in your world?

What is it that you truly want? If you just have a passing fancy about something then that is all it will be. A wish, a fantasy and as real as a fairy tale. But if you have a passion for something and believe in it, then you have the power to bring it to life.

Visualise Your Life

One of the most important components to having your dreams come true is the ability to believe it. In order to believe in it, you must make it real for you. Close your eyes and imagine that your dream is reality. What does it look like? What does it taste like? What does it sound like? What does it smell like? What does it feel like? Use all your five senses to bring your mind’s creation to life. What are you wearing whilst you are living your dream? Where do you live? What surrounds you? It is difficult to believe in an ideal but if you visualise yourself already living the life of your dreams, and bring this vision to life every day, then it will start to become real to you. Your brain cannot tell the difference between something ‘real’ and a dream unless you doubt its existence. And your wonderful brain only does as its told so if you bring your dream to life in your mind to such an extent that you can feel it in every cell in your body, then your brain will help you make it true.

Feel The Fear

Fear of failure keeps so many people from their dreams. Holding on to dreams gives us hope for the future but if we fail, we must give up on that dream. Sometimes the power of a dream is so strong that without it, we lose some of our sense of identity. If your sense of self is tied up with something ‘out there’ that you say you will achieve one day, but you do nothing about it, then you are likely to spend an enormous amount of time and effort making excuses or blaming outside influences for the failure of your dreams. 

There are two types of fear. Paralysing fear and exhilarating fear. We see people jumping out of planes, paddling through rapids and throwing themselves off bridges with nothing but a rope attached to their ankles. These people are afraid but they use the fear to motivate them. Other people allow the fear to paralyse them. We all have a different level of comfort when it comes to taking a risk but you can work with your own and expand it by taking action steps which fall very close to your current comfort level. In time as you discover that in fact there is nothing to fear, you will begin to push the boundaries of what is possible for you.

Clarify Your Dream

You cannot create something new until you know what it is you want. So whether your dream is to become a successful musician, to run you own business or to become fit and healthy you need to be clear about how that looks. Sometimes when we ask ourselves the right questions, we discover that we are so focused on the way our life will look if our dream was true that we can’t actually see our path to get there. The gap between where you are and where you want to be is so big that it feel insurmountable.

What does being fit and healthy mean to you? Is it feeling better in yourself so that you can have a greater quality of life? Do you want to look like the models in magazines? Or do you want to look the way you did 10 years ago?

If you want to be a ‘successful’ musician, what does that success look like? Do you need to be famous and rich or is making a living singing in clubs successful?

When you get clear about the measure you are using for your dream, you can alter your parameters thereby allowing you to see it as a possibility rather than an impossibility.

Create Mini Dreams

A dream is not an easily achievable ideal otherwise you would have it already. The reason you have not achieved it yet is that it feels too big. Breaking your dream down into ‘mini-dreams’ brings it closer to you, allowing you to take action.

Your dream to be fit and healthy may involve a smaller dream of being able to go to a high street store and purchase a new dress off the rack in your size. Or it may involve being able to walk for 30 minutes without stopping.

Your dream of becoming a successful musician may start with the dream of securing a one off unpaid gig in your local pub or restaurant. It may even involve busking on the streets at the weekend and getting paid a few dollars over the course of each day.

To run your own business you may first need to get one client to fit in around your full time job or sell one product online.

When you achieve your mini-dreams the bigger picture doesn’t seem quite so far away.

Be Committed

Your dreams will be nothing more than a wish unless you take action toward them. Even if the action you take each day seems tiny, the fact that you are doing something will move your dreams ever closer. Keep a watch out for opportunities which exist around you that you may not have previously seen. It is only when we make something real that we can see possible ways to bring it to life.

In short, the things you are passionate about are coming from your true nature. Not the person the world wants you to be, or the person you thought you were supposed to be, but the person you truly desire to be. Some people say its your calling, your souls expression or your creative spirit shining through. Whatever definition you put around it, know that there is something in you that yearns for more than your current reality. Its up to you to clarify what that is, whether its something you actually want or just a passing whim and whether you are prepared to do what it takes to bring it to life.

Dreams really can come true.

If other people can make their dreams come true … why can’t you?