Carol was in my office the other day, talking once again about the dress shop she dreamed of opening. Carol, a mythical name, comes once a month to talk about how unhappy she is, and more importantly, to dream.
I asked her if she was dreaming or scheming about the shop.
She laughed. Then sighed. “Dream… at the moment…”
It was a dream because she hasn’t taken the trouble to work out any steps toward her goal. She’s been talking about it for over a year. I challenged her to stop dreaming. It was wasting her time. She disappeared for a month, then came back, and now we work together to turn her dream into a scheme. She’s creating a step-by-step plan to open her shop.
Can you distinguish between your dreams and schemes? Dreams only come true if you turn them into schemes.
Can you accomplish your schemes? Yes, you can with action. Thoughts begin the process, but if it all stays up in your head, they’ll stay their. Thoughts begin the process. The Universe provides opportunities to act on your thoughts, but you must take the action to make those opportunities real in the material world. The miracles are in the opportunities, the pay off is in your actions.
Can you describe in detail what you imagine life will be like, minute to minute, day to day, once you have your dream partner, the business you want, the income you want, and landed the deal to write that bestseller?
If not, you’re dreaming.
Start scheming.
Begin with thinking in detail about that future life now. Pretend you’ve achieved that goal you’ve been dreaming about for so long. What have you been imagining life would be like, every day, once these goals had been realized?
Factor in the all-round sustainable life. Even when you’ve achieved your dreams, some aspects of life will still be there. Money and materialism won’t make you happier or healthier over and above a certain point. And that point isn’t that high.
Then, write the history of how you got there. Actually write it down, backwards, step by step. When you do, you have created your blueprint, your roadmap to success, as it unfolded. Now, all you have to do is start at the beginning, the now point, and follow it a step at a time.
And, factor in your need to be stretched and challenged. Your need for meaning through working toward a success goal is still going to need to be met once you’ve become successful.
Dreams come true when you take the action steps, blessed by the Universe. It’s the combination of dreaming and scheming that makes things happen. Dream, then scheme your way to it.