Twelve steps to achieve your dreams

Most of us have many dreams. It's unwise to tackle them all at once. It's easier, less stressful and more effective to work on one dream at a time. Here are twelve suggested steps to success:

 1. Mentally define your dream. Choose the one goal you deem most important to your health and happiness at present. The others will wait until a later time.

2.. Write your dream down in detail. When, where, and why will it be achieved? How will your life be different and better if you succeed? How will it affect family members and close friends? If there are negative repercussions for others, you may need to make some adjustments.

3. Research to find out if the dream is achievable and if it is likely to be all you hope it will be. Talk to people who have already achieved it. Are they content? Is there any additional objectives they wish they had accomplished along the way?

4. Make an action plan. Outline a series of small steps which will lead to the ultimate fulfillment of your dream.

 5. Set tentative a time limit for each step, as well as when you hope to achieve your final goal. Be kind to yourself. You don't want time constraints to add needless pressure to your efforts.

 6. List the equipment and resources you will need. Assemble everything possible before you begin. You won't want to be delayed later by having to hunt up necessary information or equipment.

 7. Solicit help and support from friends and family. Communication skills are keys to success, and everyone can relate to working toward a goal until success is achieved. Listen to their stories, and make a commitment to them to do your best as you seek to achieve your dream.

8. Chart your progress. Keeping a journal or charting each day's events can be encouraging, or these tactics may point out strategies which need adjustment.

9. Reward yourself in an appropriate manner. For example, if you're trying to lose weight, a chocolate bar is not a suitable reward. Treat yourself to a good book, or a new outfit.

10. Revise your action plan as necessary. Robert Burns observed that the best laid of mice and men often go awry. As you strive to complete your action plan, life sometimes has a way of inserting obstacles and delays into your schedule. Don't give way to discouragement. The important thing is not that you stumble, but that you pick yourself up and keep going.

11. Practice patience and perseverance. Keep a positive attitude. Others have succeeded in this endeavor, you can too. If needed, call on the support team you solicited in #7. They will give you the help and encouragement you need to achieve your dream.

 12. Help others who are pursuing their dream. When you succeed, others will notice. Take the time and effort to support them as you were helped.

Remember, this is only one dream of many, and as you proceed to work on others you have tucked away in heart, you will need all the help you can get.

"A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality."                     Yoko Ono