Pursuing Dreams is not Daydreaming

When most people think of a dream, the vision is lofty with clouds, in a sunset or shooting stars. It’s a great picture to envision, but it’s not the reality of it. That beautiful experience will happen after you truly submit to your dream, and you’ve had completed several milestones. Until then, you are only dreaming about the dream.

To get started, you need to fully submit to your dream. Eat, sleep, drink, and think about it all day/night long. Pursuing a dream requires all of you. Meaning, you have to be 100% committed to it- nothing less. Once you begin the journey, the natural process of thoughts and feelings will turn into a swirling emotional wind of impatience, confusion, happiness, anxiousness, loneliness, and zeal. In some instances, you may have nothing to show for it at this time. But how do you know if you’re on the right path? Here are some indicators:

• You will do it for free if all your responsibilities were sufficed
• It will change the world you live in
• You can’t stop thinking about it
• Depending on the dream, there are no business models or blueprints to follow
• You may have few, if any, supporters
• You can write about it all day
• There’s not an answer to a question you can’t find
• Not quitting when it success is not expedient

Unfortunately, most people quit before seeing results. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED! Plan on spending at least 100 to 150 hours on your aspiration before you start seeing the results you need. The vision will become clearer, and the pathway will be created for everyone to see. And that’s just the beginning!

As a parent, it is important to encourage our children to reach for the stars. Children are natural dreamers and before criticism and life challenges set in, children see no limits. Subconsciously, parents because of their own life experiences, feel that it is their job to show our kids reality but at what cost does that come with?

Part of growing up is using our imaginations and dreaming of what we may one day become. When kids feel limited in what they can strive for they can feel stifled, and no longer feel safe enough to set goals for fear of failure or disappointment. That is why parents or mentors need to step in and encourage our kids to set those goals high; and if they become unattainable than we encourage them to learn from the experience and create new goals.  At times, we can learn more from trial and error than we do from our successes. It also teaches resiliency which is a very important skill to learn in life.

So, while as a parent or mentor we may feel that burning need to protect our children from failures or disappointments, the best gift we can give our children is encouragement to pursue their ideas and the guidance to take every experience, whether positive or negative, and learn from it. I challenge you to sit down with your child tonight and talk to them about what goals they have in mind. See how you can help them nurture that goal. Our children are our future, and the sky really is the limit on what they can and will become!

Begin the new year by helping a youth pursue their dream. Encourage a 12 to 18 year old to submit an essay to our Essay Contest. The essay forces the student to make their dream tangible by articulating it on paper. For the essay to be judged, here are the criteria:

• 12 – 18 years old
• Enrolled in school within the Vancouver – Portland Metro Area
• The essay has to be 350 to 500 words
• Must be submitted 11:59 electronically, or postmarked by 3/1
• Award winners are required to claim their prize in person

Our Essay Contest opens on January 1, 2012 to March 1, 2012. The reward is a $100 gift certificate to either: Target, Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer, or Best Buy. Click here to go to the essay contest website.