THE 11 STEPS TO FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS (AND ACTUALLY ACHIEVING THEM)

As one of the most cliché inspirational phrases, "follow your dreams" takes on a meaning that's very difficult to put into more than those three words. Sure, we can all come up with our "dream jobs" and our "dream cars", and we can envision ourselves living out our "dream lives" someday. But how can we truly achieve our dreams? How can we take what we see in our minds and pull those thoughts down to reality? It's not so much about just having dreams -- it's about creating them, reaching for them, and exploring them. I've created a step-by-step guide to following your dreams, and it all starts in your mind. Here's my 11 steps to truly and practically following your dreams.

1) Brainstorming

The best place to start is simply somewhere. In this phase of dreaming, all we can do is start thinking. If it's messy, great. Scribble it down on paper until you can create a concise idea of a single "dream" and write as many down as you can think of. Next, group dreams together to create what become themes in your dreaming. These things may revolve around your career dreams, your family dreams, and many personal dreams. Meditate on what you've written down and develop each idea into an expanded dream that you can see right in front of you.

2) Focus In

Once you have your compiled dreams, look through what you've written and thought upon. Now that you've developed the ideas further, choose three to five dreams that you know are achievable in some way. Ask yourself, "Can I envision myself achieving this?" and "Will achieving this bring me a sense of accomplishment and purpose?" Once you have the selection of dreams you want to develop further, focus on what you believe achieving these things means to you. What needs is it fulfilling, and what do these dreams mean if they're the ones most important to you? Think on this -- it's self-reflection in its purest and realest form.

3) Visualize

Here comes the fun part -- creating some motivation. I'm a very visual person, so this step is often the one I embrace the most when I think about my dreams. Create a vision board containing the words and images behind your dreams -- whether they're tangible, decorative, or abstract. This is the first way you are putting your dreams into action. Through this step, you're taking your thoughts and articulating them into a physical form. The best part about this step is that it individualizes the dreams to your own vision -- this allows you to take ownership of your creations.

4) Goal-Setting and Habit-Forming

While this step can be broken down further, I think goals and habits go hand-in-hand. Goals you begin to set should be purely based on the habits you can commit to in order to reach the goals you're striving for. With each chosen dream, allow yourself to make incremental goals along the way to each one -- this is the simple way to break down our dreams. The gap between dreaming and achieving is right here in this step -- commitment to a plan. As the saying goes, "a goal without a plan is just a wish," and this is exactly what it applies to. Once you've set these goals, break it down even further and think about your habits. Be realistic and self-intuitive when considering the behaviors needed to reach the goals, because without being honest with yourself, you could fall into the trap of working against yourself. When we think about "setting the bar too high" for ourselves, we are simply putting the bar somewhere we cannot reach it; not because of inability or laziness, but because of our misalignment with what we can commit to.

5) Accountability

Directly related to the habits and goals we set for ourselves, this is where we must keep ourselves on track. Begin to tell your loved ones about your dreams -- your closest friends, your family members, and people you believe can help you along the way. Self-motivation is the main factor in achieving our dreams, because they are *our* dreams -- nobody else's. We can't be pushed toward our dreams because ultimately, we are the only ones walking along our personal paths. However, there are people in our lives that can help us. Telling the ones you care about that you're taking these actions can keep you moving and thinking. Tell people about your ideas, your thoughts, your actions, your obstacles, and your achievements. This is all along the path to our success.

6) Building

This stage in dreaming is often what leads to discouragement -- but that's okay! Building refers to building up experiences, relationships, and influences that lead you toward your dreams. Find like-minded individuals that you can recruit for your journey. Unlike friends and family, these are the people on the opposite side of the path -- not here for moral support, but for influence. Networking takes this step to a new level, because once you see people who believe in the same dreams you do, it's all the motivation to keep going. The people you meet in this step can be the ones that open doors and show you new things.

7) Overcoming Obstacles

This stage is where you first encounter your setbacks. Now that you've taken your dreams and have begun to make them a reality, you're going to face some discouragement. Whether this is interference from other people, personal put-downs, or simply realizations that some dreams aren't the easiest to achieve. Whatever the obstacles, find a way to work around them or push through them. Things we tell ourselves that are counteractive to what we are trying to do are simply negativity. Other things that may be out of our control can be difficult to move past, but not impossible. Everything really does have a solution, so don't be discouraged if this step takes some time. Be patient and work with the process for what it is.

8) Make Moves

You're doing it! Now's the time to put your plans into action -- everything you've taken from your thoughts to paper to your vision board to your mindset, it's time to go for it. Keep your plan at hand and your goals in mind and start living out your dreams! Throughout this stage, you may find yourself reworking some of your plans and rethinking some of the steps you're taking, and that's perfectly okay. Once you're putting things into action, it may take a few rewrites before you're happy with how things are going. Don't mistake the need for change for the need to give up or feel discouraged -- again, it's all part of the process!

9) Reflect

Although I write about it in almost everything I post, this step really is crucial to success! We can't grow if we don't take the time to think about where we are at the moment. This kind of reflection should involve the following questions -- "What did I do that was successful?", "What did I need to adjust, and why?" and "Where can I go from here?". When we get to know ourselves, we become self-intuitive to our needs, our ideas, and our working styles. Knowing these things about yourself are truly the key to success, and by reflecting on the process you've just gone through, the next time you do it will be even better, which brings us to the last step...

10) Repeat.

xo Kate