Have you ever paused for a moment and thought: ‘There must be much more to life than just working to pay bills’?
You simple know that’s now why you were born, don’t you?
The same thought occurs to everyone.
However, most people just feel oppressed by the thought, so they reject it and keep trying to get by in their daily life.
They even go a step further – compromise their integrity and abandon their fundamental ethical and other life beliefs.
All that just to put food on the table day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year while the true life of their dreams is passing them by.
Sounds familiar?
Only the brave dream chasers dare to face their fears and take their life in their own hands. Do you feel it’s high time you started living your dream life and not the life others expect you to live?
And by living your dream life we do NOT mean getting rich quickly and traveling the world doing nothing but having wild parties…
Living your dream life means living a fulfilled life in line with your purpose and passion.
If you’re up to it, the following 5 steps will be of valuable help to you.
Step 1: Adopt the growth mindset
If you’re determined to start living your dream life immediately, you’ll need to focus on adopting the growth mindset first.
Wondering why it’s so significant?
Because the way you live in reality is shaped by your consciousness, which is created by your belief, i.e. how you perceive the world around yourself.
So, you MUST start filtering out the negative thoughts that hinder your success and observing the world as positive so that you develop the right mindset for success.
Here’s how you can do it:
Be aware that your mind only receives the sensory inputs that it believes matter to you while at the same time your brain neglects millions of unimportant details.
Here’s how scientists explained what your mind will not let you see:
“Psychologist Emily Balcetis and her colleagues tackled the issue of the ‘biases of unconscious selective attention’ by holding the pictures constant and changing how much they meant to people.
One group of subjects in the study was told that they could earn extra chances in a lotter for each letter they could identify in their googles. Another group earned extra chances for each number.
Pictures of letters and numbers were flashed to each eye so quickly that there waso only time to see one of the other.
When it paid to see a number, people saw a number. When it paid to see a letter, they saw a letter.”
Your mind functions in the same way when adjusting your inner filters based on the actions you take to create your dream life.
Once you start acting towards reaching your goal, your mind will reveal new opportunities to you. In fact, it will show you the opportunities which already existed but were blurred with your previous mind filters.
So, focus your attention on what brings you closer to your ultimate goal.
Step 2: Visualize yourself living your dream life
Have you ever heard of the Law of Attraction – the one which governs what people, situations etc. we attract to our life?
Well, whether you’re aware of it or not, both your conscious and unconscious thoughts regulate and direct your reality.
If you want something from the bottom of your heart, put all your attention and energy into it, and you honestly believe you can get it, you WILL get it eventually.
Bad news:
You can also attract negative events like a magnet if you truly believe they’re possible to happen and put a lot of energy into thinking about them.
So, be careful about what you really want.
Let your imagination loose and figure out what exactly is your desired life like:
- Describe the home you’re living in.
- Who you’re living with?
- What are your family and friends like?
- Are you in a relationship? If so, what is your significant other like?
- What’s your work like? Describe your job success in detail.
- How do you feel about yourself?
- What do you look like?
- Are you happy and satisfied?
In short, assess where you are at the moment – physically, career-wise, financially and in every other life aspect. Then, decide which direction you want to take.
Here’s how to create your ideal life vision:
(Bonus: You may find these downloadable calendars and to-do/task lists handy.)
So, sharpen and engage all your senses in visualizing the life you want to live. Use the present tense. Go in great detail and practice this visualization regularly.
It may seem ridiculous at first, but if this mental training worked for Olympians when preparing for competition, then no doubt it can be similarly reassuring and empowering for you if you give it a chance.
Also, there are studies that support the belief that you can gain muscle power and strength by employing the power of your mind, that is to say, by visualizing yourself working out without actually performing physical exercises.
So, why wouldn’t you try it?
Come up with a detailed plan of action for creating your dream life, and take some time every day to employ imagery and envision what you want to achieve.
Step 3: Establish the system and step-by-step process of change
Once you’ve developed an adequate mindset to start living your dream life, you are ready to follow through on your vision.
Now it’s the right time for setting up the effective, workable processes and systems that will lead you in the desired direction.
In other words, start forming regular good habits so that you persistently work towards your goal until you reach it.
The sooner you make your dreams a part of your daily schedule, the closer you’ll get to making them come true.
BUT, there’s a trap most people fall into on this journey:
They rely only on their willpower and self-discipline, which are usually strong and motivating in the beginning but vanish over time.
How many people do you know (including yourself) who quit their New Year’s Resolutions till the end of January?
That’s what we’re talking about. Don’t repeat the same mistake!
Ensure you won’t get back to your previous life but follow your dream by creating a step-by-step plan so that you always know what to do to achieve a win instead of counting on exhaustible resources like initial excitement and enthusiasm.
By establishing the workable systems and processes of the change you want to achieve, you’ll be able to minimize the need to use willpower which is proven to quickly fade away.
Therefore, every day take baby steps to make your dream life become your reality. Set attainablle mini goals to trick your brain into taking action without fear blocking your way.
Step 4: Get ready for challenges
You’re a responsible grown-up who is fully aware of the fact that not everything is going to be perfectly smooth on the rocky road to the life of your dreams. Right?
That’s why it’s critical that you get ready to face and fight all the setbacks and challenging situations you encounter on the way.
Fear of failure is among your greatest enemies because it prevents many people like you from taking specific actions and living the life of your dreams.
After all, hasn’t it been one of the main reasons why you haven’t acted so far?
Luckily, there are effective strategies you can employ to help you deal with failure and even turn it into success.
You should NOT try to avoid failure by letting the fear paralyze you.
Fight back to overcome it because your final goal is well worth the effort, isn’t it?
Here are some helpful tips:
Accept that failure is an inevitable part of success, not necessarily its opposite. Use it as a valuable learning opportunity and a source of life wisdom.
Meanwhile, remember to take at least a single step towards your dream life every day even when you’re afraid and discouraged.
Step 5: Become accountable to others for achieving your goals
Whether your dream life involves:
- Starting your own business such as e.g. building your online store
- Pursuing a career as a copywriter
- Adopting a healthier lifestyle
- Paying off your debts or anything else
You’ll be more motivated to keep moving towards your goal if you’re accountable to someone other than yourself.
Tell your friends about your goals so that they can support you.
A trustworthy person who is genuinely committed can help you break your big goals down into more easily achievable mini goals and set due dates.
Then, you can both track your progress regularly and the friend can check in on you to make sure you’re completing your tasks and moving forward.
It’s surprising how effective accountability is.
And speaking of accountability, you can take advantage of a time-tracking tool such as Hubstaff. If you set out to achieve a given goal, Hubstaff will take screenshots of the time you spend on the assignment. That way, you can measure your productivity.
It’s motivating because you don’t want to let your friend or yourself down, so you’ll do your best to keep your word.
That desire to make a good impression is hidden deep inside every person and you can make it work for you in this situation.
Just ask yourself:
Are you going to clean your house more thoroughly when you know no one is coming to visit you or when you’re expecting guests?
Now you see how accountability works?
If your friends don’t seem to understand you, find a life or career coach, or like-minded people you can trust to inspire you throughout your journey. Also, make sure you avoid any negative and toxic individuals along the way.
Now it’s decision (and action) time
Living your dream life requires determination, action and consistency above all.
Now is the moment of truth.
Are you ready for the challenge? Resolved to be a dream chaser?
Or you’re OK with staying just a guy with a dream who once wanted to start living a fulfilled purposeful life, but lacked the courage to pursue those dreams?
The decision is yours only.
So, are you taking the plunge?
