What are your hopes and dreams for the future?  Are you interested in changing jobs?  Do you want to buy a home?  Do you want to move across the country?  When should you retire?  Where do you want to travel?  When should you start a family?  What are you waiting for?  

Here are my thoughts to get you on the road to your BEST LIFE!

“The biggest adventure that you can take is to live the life of your dreams.”            Oprah Winfrey

Dream it.  How many times have thoughts of something new and different run through your mind?  Even if it was only once but it make your heart skip a beat, this might be something worth pursuing.   Those days where you can sit quietly and let your mind wander unfettered can be so challenging to find.  Really, you have to sit yourself down, make a date with your calendar – Every Sunday I will take 15 minutes in quiet to think and pray about my dreams.  While dreams flow into your head, other thoughts will try to overtake them.  Simply acknowledge the thought that overtook you and let it flow out of your dreaming mind.   Be open, be honest within.  Hey, it’s YOU – you’re the only one talking in your head!   (Besides, God already knows what you’re thinking!) It’s when the same dream comes in again and again and your heart continues to race at the thought of a possibility, that you should  be thinking, “Huh, this could be reality – my reality – our reality!”

Announce it.  Find a few people that you hold dear to your heart.  Folks who have your trust, someone with some wisdom, who KNOWS you.  Not someone who ALWAYS tells you what you want to hear!  Share your dream!  Get up the courage to speak your dream.  You need your tribe to help you sort though your thought process. Don’t expect everyone to jump with glee at the thought of you moving away, changing jobs,  or shifting focus.  You  need honesty.  From others and yourself.  Are people giving validity to you dream?  If not, is it because of their fear because that can’t stop you!  Take time to listen, truly ingest what your tribe is saying to you.  If they are affirming the dream, it’s time to take some action!

Plan it.  What’s it going to take?  If it’s a new job or totally different career, research what it will take to make it happen.  More education, some networking,  different skills.  If it’s retirement, what steps, what financial goals do you have?  If it’s starting a family, the questions of money, time, living space, your age.  There is NEVER an absolute perfect time for anything.  Even if you think it is, life gets in the way!!   Deep breath – you dreamed it, you verified it, all it takes is some planning.  Depending on the dream, planning can take 5 minutes or 5 years!  Keep your focus on the dream!  Write it down, write it in places that you can frequently see it!  Don’t let the dream fade!  Divide your plan into easier to manage parts.  At my company, we frequently say, “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time!”  You don’t have to tackle things all at once.

Pursue it.  Here you go!  Don’t let fear creep in.  Sure it’s scary, you’re leaving behind everything that felt normal or safe and you’re proverbially jumping off a cliff.   Keep those who verified that you are doing the right thing close by.  They may need to prop you up if you start to wobble.  Dip your big toe in the water and the next thing you know you’ve jumped in and are swimming for shore!  Will the turbulent waters attempt to drown you, to carry you somewhere you didn’t intend?   YES.  Acknowledge those waters, take a deep breath and swim through them — focus on the dream!   Keep your plan close at hand.  Your plan is your way of starting the dream, prepare to change the plan.  The goal is the dream, the journey to the dream can take different paths.

My  prayer for you is to discover your dreams.  And after you’ve discovered it, that you will take steps to  achieve your best life.

PS You deserve a life filled with Love, Joy, and Positively Everything that was meant for you.