“The key to happiness is achievable dreams.” ~ Nicholas Sparks

That quote has stuck with me over the years. I remember when I read it for the first time. Something about it resonated deep inside my soul and made sense to me.

Some could look at the phrase “achievable dreams” and see a negative connotation. It could read it as “be realistic”, “don’t dream too big”. I don’t see it that way. When I think about achieving my dreams, I know that to get to the big dreams, I need to have smaller goals in between. Having achievable goals will lead me to my dreams.

You want to be a writer? An athlete? Singer? Actor? These are achievable dreams. You just need to put in the effort and take the steps to get there. You need to believe your dream is achievable and you need to be willing to do the work to get there.

Pro athletes don’t just wake up and get signed to a team without effort. Some start as kids and continue through school. They practice and keep going even when it’s hard. They learn how to play the game and the fundamentals. They make their way up the ranks.

Taylor Swift didn’t just wake up one day and make award winning albums on a whim. It took years of practice, writing, being told no, and trying again and again. Playing small shows, opening for big acts and not giving up.

Steven King started writing for a school news paper, holding odd jobs to pay for his education. He wrote short stories and sold them to magazines. His big break was the novel Carrie, which was his actually his fourth novel, but the FIRST to be published!

I wasn’t clear on my dreams after college. I just knew it was a 9-5 job with insurance. Neither of which I had. I got a entry level position at a corporate office, that had absolutely nothing to do with my college degree. I went from knowing nothing about this company, in an entry level position to a specialist position in six short months.

It wasn’t luck.

It was a goal. During training I had the chance to meet with managers of various teams and I asked them questions about their roles and the benefits of staying with the company and raising through the ranks. I knew I didn’t want to stay in the tiny cubicle that was lined up with all the other call center agents. I didn’t want to work holidays and be tied to a phone all day long.

ImI wanted to have a salary and not be an hourly worker. I wanted more vacation time, the ability to work from home and I wanted to make a LOT more money. So, I made my list of achievable goals to get to my “dream”.

I knew I couldn’t go from entry level to a salary position with a snap of my fingers. I needed to learn the in and outs of the company. I needed to network and build my resume. I made a list of the job levels from entry to director. Then I wrote out what departments were a part of those levels that would take me to where I wanted.

Guess what? I made it there. It took time and effort. But I made it to remote position with all the bells and whistles I had written down on my check list.

You can apply this to any goal or dream!

You want to get in shape and lose weight? You can.

You want to start your own business and be your own boss? You can.

You want to get your PHD and become a world renowned surgeon. You can.

Here is how I got started:

Take out a sheet of paper. Yes, I’m going old school here.

Write down your big dream and the bottom of sheet and at the top write where you are now.

Filling in the space between with steps you know you can take to get to the dream.

Do this as many times as you need. Break down goals as much as you want.

Give yourself something to work towards and the right stepping stones to make it there.

And believe in yourself! Believe in your dreams. You know that saying, “dress for the job you want, not the job you have”? Same goes for your life. Live like you have the life you’re dreaming of and know you will get there!