Bringing your dreams to life is not an easy task. Resources, time, energy, and knowledge all play a role in how quickly your passions and ideas can become reality.

But you have passions and ideas. You have dreams that reside within and you want nothing more than to make those dreams part of your reality. You believe in them. You believe in yourself. Now it’s time to set a plan of action that will take those beliefs and bring them to life.

In this guide, you will strategically plan where to invest your energy and how to organize the dreams and ideas you have within. You will create a plan that will give you opportunity for success. The only thing you are lacking is knowledge. If you give of yourself fully, believe in yourself completely and learn all you need to learn, there is nothing stopping you from making your dreams a reality.

Step 1- Clarifying your dream

Dreams are often not achieved because of lack of clarity. Clarity opens the door to opportunity and empowers idealism. You must clarify exactly what you are wanting to create, why you are wanting to create it and how you will make that happen. Once you have clarified these three elements, you will be able to create a plan of action that will move you forward.

What are you wanting to create?

Why do you want to create this idea?

How will you go about creating this idea?

Step 2- Defining the how

Once you have clarified what you are creating, why you are creating it and how you will create it, you must now define the how. Defining the how begins with listing what you currently have to begin creating your dream and what you will need to fully step into your dream. This process is called building your toolbox.

When I was a child, my dad had a large toolbox in the bed of his pickup. He seemingly had any and every tool needed to fix everything from tires to engines to farm equipment. I rarely witnessed him going to his toolbox and walking away empty handed.

During step 2, you will be building your toolbox for bringing your dream to life.

List everything you need to bring your dream to life. Don’t worry about how big some of these tools may be. Simply list everything you can think of that will help you be successful. (Examples: coach/mentor, money, materials, specific equipment, certifications, etc.)

List any type of knowledge you may need:

List someone you know or know of who is doing what you would like to be doing:

Who is someone you can share your plan with? A coach, mentor or supportive friend.

Step 3- Take your first action

You have clarified your dream and defined your how, now it’s time to take an action step. No matter how small this step may seem, the goal is to simply take action.

This first action may be enrolling in a class to attain more knowledge, contacting an accountant to set up your structure, purchasing a new piece of equipment needed to begin work or hiring a coach to help you organize and bounce ideas to. Regardless of the action, name it, take it and celebrate it. This is your first step into making that dream become reality.

What first action will you take? -Name it-

Who will you share this action with to hold you accountable?

Why is this action step important to bringing your dream to life?

When will you take this action? -Take it-

What will you do to celebrate this action? -Celebrate it-

Step 4- You are the expert

Many people struggle with considering themselves an expert. But that is exactly what you are. This is your dream, your passion, your idea and you are the expert in exactly that.

Now it’s time to position yourself as the expert. This doesn’t mean posting an announcement stating ‘I am the expert!’ What you are going to do is position yourself as the expert.

This is done through social media platforms, blogs, videos, publications or your website. You are going to create content on any of those platforms that shares two things:

1- the story of your journey
2- content based on your expertise

Content documenting your journey can be done by posting updates of what you are learning, sharing the story of why this dream is important to you or sharing daily updates of your progress. Think of it as your before/after picture. You are sharing where you were, where you are and where you are going.

Content based on your expertise is developed from you sharing your knowledge with others. If you are a baker, you are going to share some of your recipes or favorite utensils to use or why you prefer certain types of products. This system can be used regardless of what dream you are building.

Creating and posting content built on these two foundations will position you as the expert in your dream. It takes consistency and diligence over time. But with consistency over time, you will soon find your audience and they will find you.

What platforms are you currently posting on? (Facebook, Instagram, etc)

What type of content could you post on these platforms related to your dream?

Have you created a blog? If so, what are you currently posting? If not, are you willing to create a blog to share your journey/knowledge?

How often would you post on your blog?

What part of your journey would you share with people?

Publications are a great way to position yourself as an expert. Writing articles based on your experience and knowledge can introduce you to a large audience quickly and without much effort.

What publications/magazines focus on topics related to your dream?

What are your favorite publications to read?

Where could you publish an article or blog about your work?

Who could you talk to about publications and writing articles?

Step 5- Find a mentor

Ask any great leader, CEO, entrepreneur or influential person about mentors and they will tell you to find one. The most successful and healthy people always have a mentor of some sort. It may be a coach, councilor, pastor or boss. Regardless of who this mentor is, the reality is you need one to be as successful as possible.

A mentor will serve as a guide, sound board, teacher, cheerleader and most importantly, will hold you accountable to your commitment. Mentors want the best for you. Whether you ask someone you already know or hire a coach to guide you, your mentor must be someone who can push you forward.

You will face challenging times during this process. A mentor will remain your anchor voice of hope during these times. You will also arrive at moments that must be celebrated. Your mentor will make sure celebration takes place and affirm within you the success you might not take not of yourself.

Have you had a mentor before?

Are you ready to hire a coach/mentor?

Do you know someone who has hired a coach before?

What is stopping you from hiring a coach?

If you have responded to each of the questions in this guide, you are well on your way to making your dream a reality. Much of the hard work needed to prepare you for this journey is now done. All that is left is implementing the plans you have made.

Review your guide. Take the steps you noted. Begin the work. You are now on your way to bringing that dream to life!

Congratulations! Many don’t take the time to make it this far. But you are ready. You are now prepared. Now it’s time to get to work!