Make Your Dreams Come True Day

I’m so excited to learn that today, January 13, is officially “Make Your Dreams Come True Day.” Of course, no one has a genie in a bottle for rent. As William Johnson says, “If it is to be, it is up to me.” Today is a great day to get started by asking yourself what it is you dream of.

I am a Reality Therapist and have been practicing for over 30 years. The first thing a Reality Therapist asks her clients is, “What do you want?” People sometimes try to say they don’t know what they want, but I take this to mean one of two things: perhaps they don’t yet trust me enough to tell me or they have stopped dreaming about what’s possible and struggle to share whatever it is they’ve decided to settle for. 

Today is a day to dream again. What did you want to be when you were a kid? Can you be that? If you don’t think it’s possible, are there elements of it that you can make come true? Maybe you dreamed of being a superhero. You might want to consider being a first responder or joining the military. Did you have dreams of being a professional athlete that didn’t pan out? How can you take that passion for your sport and make a living from it?

Some of us don’t have to reach back to childhood. Perhaps you gave up on your dreams to be practical and earn a living. You know what your dreams are, but you’ve decided they just don’t make any sense given your situation. Who told you that? Is it really true? What evidence do you have? Is there something you can do today that will move you a tiny bit closer to what you want?

Are you thinking you’re too old? For some professions, there is an age limit, so you could be technically correct, but are there things around the profession you could do effectively and receive a similar satisfaction? Perhaps you can’t be a police officer at your age, but you can become a 911 operator and help dispatch police. 

Maybe you’ve decided you’re too old to learn something new—but you’re not dead yet! How old will you be when you’re done learning whatever it is? You know what’s interesting about that age? It’s the exact same age you’ll be if you don’t learn it! Would you rather be that age with or without learning something new?

Sometimes our dreams involve someone or something else that isn’t cooperating with our plans. We have no right to force someone to go along with our agenda, so what can we do? We must distinguish between our wants and our needs. When you want something, especially from someone else, you need their cooperation to get it. You won’t always get that. It can be painful, but it doesn’t have to stop you. You can decide, if you can’t have what you want, you can at least get more of what you need, like the Rolling Stones told us. Ask yourself, “If I had what I wanted, what need would that meet?” It’s likely some combination of Safety & Security, Connection, Significance, Freedom or Joy. When you determine the need, then you discover how to meet that need in other ways. Just because you can’t have exactly what you want doesn’t mean you can’t get what you need.

When you think about making your dreams come true today, ask yourself three more questions: 1) What will I have that I don’t have now? 2) What will I be doing that I’m not doing now? And 3) How will I be different? Remembering the answers to these questions will motivate you when the path becomes challenging.

Imagine your dreams every day and ask yourself this: What’s one thing I can do today that will move me in the direction I want to go? It doesn’t have to be a race; just do one small thing in service of your dreams every day. You won’t be sorry. One day, you’ll discover you’ve made your dreams come true—but even if you don’t, you’ll realize you’ve had a lot of fun along the way.

If you’re serious about making your dreams come true, you might want to check out our Goal Attainment System.

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