And turn it into reality instead
Unpopular opinion: Without proper care, dreams can die.
In life, my dreams have always been life-savers and a source of hope. I believe this is one of the reasons why I’ve always respected and valued them. But recently I’ve come to realize that dreams are alive, and as anything alive, they can also die without proper care.
After this realization, I started working on how to nourish my dreams and keep them alive. This way I went from being someone who was lost in their imagination, to someone who works on their dream to turn it into reality.
Do you also want to keep your dreams alive and work on them to turn them into reality?
There are 3 steps to follow:
1-Do not overshare
2-Have a plan
3-Work on it
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
How not to kill a dream
After understanding the importance of protecting our dreams and keeping them alive, now it’s time to follow 3 steps to achieve that.
1. Do not overshare
To share, and connect with others is a very human thing to do and is a beautiful side of life. But when it comes to our dreams sharing them in detail with absolutely everyone is such a dangerous game to play.
I used to think that I should be able to share whatever my future plans were and if someone disagreed, I would be defending my dreams. But this is no different than walking on ice and trying not to fall, while there is a safe road to walk on.
I definitely believe in the power of sharing but it should be with the right people. It may feel difficult to choose who to trust when it comes to putting your dreams into their hands by telling them, but it can be done by asking the right question: “do you trust their intentions?”
The answer to this question is a life-saver because after answering this question, whether they support you or bring an opposite idea, you can be sure that they are telling what they think to be true. This does not necessarily mean you have to do what they say, but you can have a conversation without feeling a need to protect yourself.
“No one knows enough to be a pessimist.” ― Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
2. Have a plan
The power of imagination is undeniably one of the best gifts we have. For example, in the Turkish language, the translation of the word imagination is “hayalgücü” which means the power of dreaming. But a better thing is to see a dream become reality, and that’s why having a plan is essential to keeping a dream alive.
To have a plan, we can start by doing the necessary research. This can include things like researching people who have already achieved your dream and how they did it. After research, you can set goals on where you want to be, and when.
This way, you’ll be nourishing your dream and giving it a chance to become reality.
“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’ But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’” – George Bernard Shaw
3. Work on it
The last step is to work on the dream. This can be done by following the plan you’ve chosen in step two, and not give up while working on it.
I’d like to share a tip I learned from Andrew Kirby that changed the way I looked at working on my dreams and made it a lot more effective. He claims that the quality of your life is the quality of the questions you ask yourself and one of the questions he suggested to ask yourself is “How can I achieve my five-year plan in five months?” After asking this question to myself, I’ve realized that I was wasting my time by limiting myself on what I think I can do in a certain amount of time.
Therefore, while being consistent, don’t forget to ask yourself if there’s a better way of doing what you are doing.
“The only thing that will stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you.” – Tom Bradley
Final thoughts
To have a dream is a beautiful thing but protecting it like a mother while doing the necessary work is needed to turn it into reality. There are 3 steps to follow in order to achieve that: Do not overshare. Have a plan. Work on it.
Thank you for reading.