What are your dreams?
Give deep thought to what you want to create in your life. Consider each of the various areas of your life and focus on what you do want, not what you don’t. Get in touch with your inner truth, your authentic dreams, goals, and your heartfelt desires. Honor these and own them without fear, shame, or inhibition. Your dreams and desires are not subject to anyone else’s approval. They are yours and yours alone, but you have to define them in order to achieve them.
You deserve to have whatever you truly want in your life, and all of your dreams are valid if they are important to you. It doesn’t matter if your dream is a romantic relationship, a new car, a new skill, a vacation, or financial prosperity. By the way, contrary to popular belief, there is nothing wrong with desiring financial wealth. You can do a lot of good in the world with greater financial assets in the bank. It is only the attachment to money that can become problematic, so just remember that you must give in order to receive, and keep your intentions high.
Your dreams and aspirations should serve to ignite the passion within you, and this passion will not only inspire you to achieve them, it will also send a positive vibrational frequency out into the world. Naturally, through the Law of Attraction, the universe will respond accordingly.
Remember that all things are possible. Don’t limit or censor your visions for the future. You must believe in yourself and believe that you are worthy. Keep all of your actions, dreams, goals, and desires in alignment with your life purpose. Decide what you really want your future to look like.
We’ve got to have a dream
if we are going to make
a dream come true.
Denis Waitley
There are seven important areas in your life that you will want to consider as you begin to define your goals and dreams.
Do you have any idea what your personal goals and aspirations really are? Have you identified your life purpose? What is it that you love to do? What are you passionate about? What do you want to accomplish? Where do you want to go? What do you want to be? How can you give to others? What causes speak to you? What are your intentions?
Unfortunately, most of us have given very little time or thought to these questions. We’ve gotten so caught up in the hustle and bustle of our daily routines that we just haven’t taken the time. We’re pretty good at itemizing the things that haven’t been going so well and the things we have to complain about. So, we’re pretty clear about what we don’t want, but we haven’t given much consideration to what we do want. In order to attract what you want in your life, you must first take the time to clearly identify your dreams and desires.
To the person who does not know
where he wants to go there is
no favorable wind.
Seneca
Think of it like this. When you go into your local Starbucks® and place your order, do you say “I don’t want tea,” or “I don’t want an espresso,” or “I don’t want cappuccino?” Of course not! You place your order for a tall, nonfat mocha, easy chocolate, extra whipped cream with total clarity and specificity—and the absolute confidence that you will get exactly what you ordered.
To operate in harmony with the Law of Attraction, you must place your order for life in much the same way. You need to clarify your goals, and be specific. Stop settling for whatever just happens to come your way in life, and take ownership of the fact that you can actively participate in the creation of your own future by clearly stating your desires.
The bottom line is, if you don’t really know exactly what you are asking for, then how can you expect to get it? So, it is imperative that you take the time to decide what you really want to attract in your life, write it down, and be perfectly clear about it.
You must see your goals clearly
and specifically before you can set out
for them. Hold them in your mind
until they become second nature.
Les Brown
Create your dream list.
Your dream list will be a comprehensive overview of your dreams, goals and desires. It will represent what you want to be, do, have, and achieve in all areas of your life. Later on you will want to prioritize your list and focus your attention on certain areas, but for now it is best to go ahead and look at the bigger picture. There are a few techniques you can use to help you identify your desires and clarify your goals.
The first technique is the creation of “T-chart.” This type of chart (see the example we have provided) is a very effective way to identify what you do want in your life by looking just briefly at the things you don’t want. Consider each of the seven key areas of your life. Address one area or subject at a time, such as career, personal goals, or relationships, and decide what your particular topic within that area is. For instance, within the relationship category of your life you may want to focus on a topic such as “My Ideal Romantic Relationship” and start by writing down what you don’t want in that area of your life in one column, and then in another column turn it around into an opposite statement, saying what it is that you do want.
I suggest creating a T-chart for each area of your life and listing what it is that you don’t want on the left side, then listing what you do want on the right side, stated in a positive way. There are charts for each area of your life on the pages to follow.
By the way, this is an example of it being okay to start by noticing what you don’t want. In order to really clarify what you do want to attract into your life, it is often helpful to take a brief look at what you don’t want.
Here’s an example of this type of chart:
Use the charts that appear on the following pages for each of the seven areas in your life. This will help you clarify your goals and desires. When you have completed them, go back and cross off the “don’t want” list on the left side of each chart. From now on, just use the right side of each list and stay focused on what you do want in your life. There is no need to give any further attention or energy to the list of what you don’t want. By the way, the simple act of crossing out what you don’t want is empowering, and it feels good!
When you are finished, combine the lists of what you do want into one single list. You can use the Dream List pages we have provided, or use a separate piece of paper. Be sure to write out your dreams and goals in complete sentences, and leave some room for expansion.
This is the beginning of your dream list! By filling in these pages, you will be one step closer to achieving them.
Clarity is power.
Buckminster Fuller
You will want to be thorough when you make your dream list. For instance, you don’t want to get the house of your dreams only to realize that you can’t afford the mortgage—and you forgot to really specify your financial goals . . . so be as specific and comprehensive as possible. Once you are finished, there are a few more questions that you might want to consider when defining your dreams, so take a few minutes to review the questions on page 76, and make any appropriate additions to your dream list.
Here are charts for each of the seven key areas in your life and your Dream List:
The questions on the previous page may inspire you and help you identify any additional dreams, goals, and desires. Take your time; give these questions some serious thought and consideration and add any of these responses that you wish to your dream list.
The first principle of success is desire—
knowing what you want.
Desire is the planting of the seed.
Robert Collier
101 Goals List.
There are no limits on your dreams and goals. The whole world is out there just waiting for you. This is an inspirational technique that you might want to try as well. A great process for clarifying some of your more long-term goals and dreams is to make a list of 101 goals that you would like to accomplish before you die—101 things you would like to do, be, or have.
At age fifteen, John Goddard, the world famous adventurer, made a list of 127 goals he wanted to achieve before he died. They included things like visiting the Great Pyramids, learning to scuba dive, seeing the Great Wall of China, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, and reading the entire Encyclopedia of Britannica. He is now in his seventies, and he has achieved 109 of the goals on his list.
In his late twenties, Lou Holtz, the former football coach of Notre Dame, wrote down 108 goals that he wanted to achieve, including winning a national championship, eating dinner at the White House, meeting the pope, and landing a plane on an aircraft carrier. He is also in his seventies, and he has achieved 102 of his goals.
Inspired by both stories, I made a list of 109 goals seventeen years ago. So far, I have achieved sixty-three of those goals. The goals I have already achieved range from things like typing fifty words a minute to appearing in a movie, learning to ski and windsurf, writing a bestselling book, traveling to various exotic locations, buying my dream house, and having a syndicated newspaper column.
By writing down your own list of 101 goals (see chart on following pages) and reviewing your list every week or so, you will activate the Law of Attraction to set up the circumstances that will help you to achieve them. You will begin to notice all kinds of seemingly miraculous events occurring in your life. Some goals will take you longer to achieve than others, but they can all eventually come true. This list of lifetime goals may inspire some additions to your dream list, as well.
You are successful
the moment you start moving
toward a worthwhile goal.
Chuck Carlson
By the way, if your goals and dreams benefit others, as well as yourself, then the vibration of your intention resonates at a higher frequency. Think of ways to contribute to your family, friends, and community. Be open to finding a cause that really speaks to you personally, and get involved in it. Start tithing with your time and your donations. And because we really are all connected, your commitment to others is also a commitment to yourself.
As you achieve the various goals on your 101 goal list, you will want to highlight them, or note the date of your accomplishment. This act alone is empowering, and it is also a way to acknowledge the Law of Attraction at work in your life.
Vision is the art
of seeing the invisible.
Jonathan Swift
By now you should have a really well rounded dream list going. You have looked at your specific goals in each area of your life, and you’ve looked at goals for the course of your lifetime. You’ve identified your purpose and your dreams, clearly stating what you want to create in your life. Some of your goals may be short-term goals, like losing twenty-five pounds or taking a vacation in Italy. Others may be more long term, such as transforming the educational system, increasing environmental awareness in your community, or becoming a millionaire.
Prioritize Your Dream List.
Take a few minutes now to prioritize your list. Think about which goals and dreams best support your personal mission statement, and which ones are of the most importance to you at this time in your life. Highlight or underline those items. Concentrate your focus for right now on just these particular goals and dreams—the ones that you want to work on first. Your focused thoughts and energy will facilitate the manifestation of those specific goals and dreams.
You will come back to the rest of your list—and the sheer act of creating the list has already sent a message to the universe—but start with the things that mean the most to you at this point in time. Remember that your dreams and goals may change and evolve over the years—and as you continue to grow and achieve more, your goals will probably grow as well.
If you limit your choices only to what
seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect
yourself from what you truly want,
and all that is left is a compromise.
Robert Fritz
Dream Big.
Don’t censor your dreams or vision with practicalities and probabilities. You don’t need to know every single step that it will take to achieve your goals. Just decide what you want. Know that you deserve it. Believe you can have it, then release it, and let it go. Open yourself up to infinite possibilities. Watch the miracles unfold.
Now, consider this possibility—if you can figure it all out on your own, then your dream may not be big enough!
You have created your dream list.
You have placed your order with the universe.
It is your written request for the future.
All our dreams can come true—
if we have the courage to pursue them.
Walt Disney