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Capturing the Journey
If you’re not sure what to write, begin by telling the story of your dream. Talk about when you first remember thinking about it. Was the seed of authorship planted when you stepped into the library as a little kid? Was the passion for the stage born when you were in the theater club in high school? Did you only just discover your dream? How does it make you feel? What is your vision? Write about it!
It’s important that you remember this journal is for your eyes only. There is no need to worry about perfect spelling and grammar. You will not be graded on your sentence structure or expected to use the right punctuation. You’re free to let everything out in this space. This is to record your thoughts and feelings.
- Praying for Your Dream. Some people use journaling as a way of connecting with God and praying over their dreams. For example, one could start their journal entries with the words: “Dear Heavenly Father…”. Each entry is part of a daily communion with God through the sharing of this dream's journey with Him.
- Doodles and Drawings. Another way to use your journal is to draw images that depict your life. On bad days, sketch and release any frustrations and pain. On good days, depict those feelings.
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Move in Silence.
In 2010, Derek Sivers took part in a TED Conference. His speech lasted just three minutes and in it, he encouraged people to not share their goals with their friends, family, co-workers, or anyone around them. Derek backed up his reasoning with several scientific studies (listen to his presentation here).
In his speech, Derek says, “When you tell someone your goal and they acknowledge it, psychologists have found that’s called a social reality. The mind is kind of tricked into feeling it’s already done. Then because you’ve felt that satisfaction, you’re less motivated to do the actual hard work necessary.” Derek goes on to point out how talking about an important life change or goal can make you less likely to succeed.
Speaking Your Dream into Existence
After you’ve dreamed or doodled your goals in your journal, it can be helpful to brainstorm your mantra. You can then repeat these mantras(to yourself) when you’re working on your goal and when you’re tempted to give up and let your dream die.
For example, Lesley’s dream was to become a public speaker despite the fact that she suffers from social anxiety. She wanted to spend her time motivating teenagers who felt like everyone had given up on them. As she began looking for speaking opportunities, she would repeat to herself, “I believe in myself and in my dreams. The world is filled with hurting teenagers who need to hear my message.”
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Define Clear Goals
Now it's time for the transformational part - moving from vision to objectives and action plans. Clear goals help prevent confusion regarding what you want to achieve and doing activities that lead to stagnation. Clear goals can give you momentum and focus on your life's purpose. Here are 4 tips to help you develop your goals and action plans:
- Understand what you want to achieve. In order to define clear goals, your first step is to determine exactly what you want to achieve. If you don't know where you're going, you can’t figure out a route to get there.
- Determine a timeline. Setting timelines will prevent procrastination and spur you on to action to meet your goals. Having a timeline for your goals also helps to clarify them because now you know what you want and when you want it!
- Ensure your goals are realistic. With realistic goals, you can almost guarantee that you’ll be able to achieve them, and you won’t stress yourself out trying to accomplish something that’s out of reach. A clear goal is a realistic one.
- Be specific. Clarify your goals with the details of exactly what you want. Avoid vague generalities. When you make a specific goal, you’ll be better able to accomplish it.
Share/Comment & Subscribe
I hope you enjoyed this article. Please leave a comment or share it to help someone else through their journey with change. Is it time for you to pivot? Change can be difficult, but you don't have to walk that path alone.
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I completely agree that journaling can be a powerful tool in achieving your dreams. It allows you to capture your thoughts and feelings, and can even serve as a way to connect with a higher power and pray for your dream. I also think it’s important to keep your goals private, at least until you’ve made some progress towards achieving them. Sharing your goals too soon can potentially make you feel like you’ve already accomplished them, which can lead to a lack of motivation to put in the hard work necessary to make them a reality. It’s also important to define clear goals and create action plans to help stay focused and motivated on the journey towards achieving your dream. Thanks for sharing this informative and inspiring post!
Angel, you have an amazing mind and you are a wonderful writer! Thanks for a great post on the power and how-to of journaling.
Great tips perfect for the New Year and I will be sharing them with my son who can use these in his Homeschool Creative Writing Class.