How to Keep Your DREAMS on Track
Sometimes we can get a little off track with our dreams. It’s good practice to keep a close eye on whose dream you are actually living. Is it your dream? Or are you just part of someone else’s dream? To ensure you keep your dreams on track. I will share with you a few strategies to keep you assess if you are on track with your DREAMS.
Is it your dream or are you powering someone else’s dream and you left yourself behind taking care of others?
A quick self-assessment of your dreams and desires for your own future is making sure you don’t get left behind wondering “How did you get here and where are you going?”
In this literary adventure, I say adventure, because you never know what will come next and it may not be always grammatically correct or perfect but come along for the adventure, you may find something useful. After all, that is what adventure is all about. Right! Not knowing the exact outcome but doing it anyway. Let’s go…
Every Great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world – Harriet Tubman
Give yourself permission to DREAM
Before we get into the business side of things, please give yourself permission to DREAM. This might sound strange but some times we get so caught up doing we forget about our dreams.
Let’s check on your personal dreams first. This requires openness and courage to look a little closer to what’s going on in your life and ‘What blows your hair back’ approach to life and your dreams.
Quick I AM Daily Assessment
The I AM means Intention + Action = Momentum of infinite possibilities. It is an assessment you can use a daily. You can do it sitting on the train or sitting on the park bench with the kids playing in te park. It is so easy to remember. I is for Intention, A is Action and M is Momentum.
The following are three easy quick questions to ask yourself to stay on track and see where the gaps occur between what you live today and what you dream of in the future.
I AM is what we identify with and we have ownership of this self-identity and take responsibility for it. It acknowledges ‘self’.
I AM daily check-in is simple questions process, so answer them with open honesty:
Intention – What is my intention today? And am I living my full intention today and every moment?
Action – What actions did I take today toward what I want to experience in life? ( forget about the negative focus on the positive and toward what you want)
Momentum – Does what I do daily create momentum toward what I want to experience now and in the future?
If you answered ‘no’ to all three questions, that’s ok, let’s assess it. Perhaps there is an incongruency, which means that you might want to ask a coach or mentor to do some personal values with you.
If these questions make you squirm, or even angry that is good because it evoked emotion.
I did this assessment again while writing this and it made me squirm a little! That’s right! Practice what you preach right! It made me squirm because perhaps I need to look at my why closer. If this is the case for you don’t be alarmed, it may just mean there is a slight incongruency. That can be fixed. Or it might be hitting the spot to allow you to reassess the way you create each day. It’s all good if you learn something from it.
The reason why we need to do our personal I AM check-in is simple. It’s because we are the driver of our business and life, so we need to keep the driver (you) happy or we could get distracted and waste time procrastinating on stuff that is not getting you closer to what you want.
Here is how to get the most out of these questions:
- Take some paper and a pen and write the answers to each question honestly.
- Then get another piece of paper and pen and write three sentences with each question, but the trick here is to write the answer to the question in the form of a story that you want to experience, but… as if it is happening now! That’s the tricky bit.
This process will help you to use the creative side of the brain and for those of you who, think you are not creative, it will allow you to lash out and have some fun, to create your future the way you want to experience it “as if now”. Try it!
Let’s Get Down and Dirty with a Quarterly Execution Plan
A Quarterly Execution Plan helps with organising yourself and your team, it helps with overwhelming and breaks it into bite-size chunks that are much more digestible. It is a quarter year plan you put into action that consists of 15 actions that will move your business forward.
1. Each quarter you can take some time to sit and assess your year ahead by breaking it up into four quarters.
2. Each quarter you can plan 15 actions that will move your business forward.
3. Then break it into monthly which is only five things to action a month that will truly shift your business.
4. Which is only one major thing you have to action or execute each week that will shift the business or goal forward.
5. The D.R.E.A.M.S formula that follows is to help you assess each quarter of your Quarterly Execution Plan. It is simply a check-in framework that you can do each month to ensure you are on the right track.
Get you, FREE Yearly Planner HERE.
Use the D.R.E.A.M.S Formula
D Determination to Deliver. Be determined to deliver what it is that you say you will; this reflects your integrity and passion. Uphold your intention to do what you have set out to achieve.
R Resilience. How is your level of resilience? Stay focused and keep going even when there are setbacks. Just like in the Dakar Rally each rider stays focused and they find the strength to keep going and be their best.
E Evidence-Based. Having the evidence, this is the validation phase. Evidence that you are on track toward what you want. Evidence that you are getting results, speaking the language of your clients or target market and evidence that you are solving a real problem for real market evidence is when someone pays you for that service. That is your best validation. Evidence that you are looking after yourself on your journey. Also, remember to look at the evidence that you are taking action, and there is a momentum.
A Award. Award yourself for each small achievement. When you award yourself, you release the happy chemicals in the brain of Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphins. These happy chemicals of the brain all play a role in helping you stay on track and keeping you in a positive mindset to overcome any hurdles you might come up. When you award yourself and others, you can be in the moment to appreciate the work you have done and award the people who made it possible.
M Maintain a Moment. Maintain momentum by micro goal setting daily and even moment to moment. Keep the energy up to guarantee outcomes consistently. Just keep moving.
S Spirit of Adventure. Your spirit of adventure is how you gain successful outcomes; it is the principle of living with vitality and enthusiasm with all your heart and soul.
Your spirit of adventure, enthusiasm and energy is essential for positive outcomes.
“When you inject your life force energy and spirit into every moment of your life you directly affect the world around you, so do it with your highest intentions”. – Linda McCall
Your spirit is what keeps you going, and it is your positive spirit that shines brightest above all. Shine your spirit on every part of your day and watch the world respond.
This DREAMS formula is like the rules of engagement. If you’re going to set goals, have the rules of engagement to uphold it.
Remember setting goals and making a plan is just the first step. Taking action on those goals for your future is about micro goal setting, that helps you break it all down and create the map of how to get there and what’s involved in the process.
If you don’t know the result or destination, you don’t know the direction to take; you have no direction. So, although it is important to get money in the door and learn all the things you need to learn to make your business work, it is also just as importantly take the time to build the structure right so that you can start to work from a common solid foundation that upholds it all.
YOUR INVITED
We invite you to come and discover more at our global mentoring club, SandTracks and join us for the next quarter to keep you on track. We want to help you get traction in your business and introduce you to our global team of mentors ready and waiting to help you with your business.