Planning Your Dreams For Success

Winter 2011

Planning Your Dreams For Success: learning to look beyond New Year’s resolutions to dream, achieve, and live up to your greatest potential.

There is nothing more important, powerful, and freeing than to dream about the wonderful things you can be, have, and do. Anything is attainable if you make a plan, commit it to paper, and work towards it one step at a time. When your plans and your dreams align, you can achieve your most successful and rewarding life. Stop making excuses and start achieving your dreams.

Happy New Year 2011! Welcome to the winter issue of the Leap Forward Coaching, LLC Newsletter, which is inspired by clients who have worked with me to achieve richer and more fulfilling lives. I hope you find at least one suggestion, thought, or idea to inspire and encourage you.

In this edition, our topic is Planning Your Dreams For Success: learning to look beyond New Year’s resolutions to dream, achieve, and live up to your greatest potential.

May your New Year be filled with peace, joy, and fulfillment,

Melanie Ott

Inspirational Quotes

Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning. ~ Gloria Steinem

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. ~ Henry David Thoreau

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable. ~ Christopher Reeve

Planning Your Dreams to Achieve Successs

The beginning of a new year is a popular time for planning, as we assess the past year and look forward to a fresh start. New Year’s resolutions can be helpful, but so often fall by the wayside and are never achieved.

The starting point for great success and achievement has always been with a dream. It is easy to think of dreams as fanciful wishes for the future, but when your plans and your dreams align, you are on track to achieve your most successful and rewarding life. There is nothing more important, powerful, and freeing than to dream about the wonderful things you can be, have, and do.

The first step in planning for success should always be to identify what you really want to achieve in your life: stronger relationships, a healthier body, or a more rewarding career. This is where your dreams become a vital part of the equation. Begin with the end in mind. By pinpointing what you most desire, you create a clear mental image of what achievement looks and feels like.

Goals that seemed unattainable – become readily achievable. Goals of all kinds, including New Year’s resolutions, ultimately fail as a result of lack of commitment and planning. Hopes and dreams remain fantasies unless they are clarified, written down, given a specific plan for action, and a time frame for achievement. Anything is attainable if you make a plan, commit it to paper, and work towards it one step at a time.

Remember, when working to achieve your goals, resist the urge to "abandon ship" when you suffer inevitable setbacks and deviate from your plan. Instead, step back and evaluate your progress. If you are not moving forward, hire a coach, tap into your support network, or adjust your plan. Stop making excuses and start making progress.

Tips For Planning, Dreaming, and Achieving

Try this plan for bringing change into your life and achieving your dreams.

• Assess your situation. Before plunging into a plan for change, make sure you have a good sense of where you are now. This can be encouraging (if you’re farther along than you thought) or inspiring (if you need a push to implement change).
• Picture success. Create a clear picture in your mind of what achieving your dreams will look like. This will help you develop your plan and build excitement.
• Predict obstacles. By pinpointing problem areas, you can be realistic about your goals and develop a plan for overcoming problems. Achieving your dreams is not always easy. Anticipating and planning for roadblocks makes them less discouraging and more manageable.
• Break it down. If you view your dream as one huge moment of success, it may seem impossible to achieve. Instead, create smaller goals and take the baby steps needed to make your dream a reality.
• Clear your mind. Remove all limiting beliefs that stand in the way of achieving your dreams. Create a mantra or self-affirmation to challenge negative thoughts and self-doubt.
• Form a Dream Team. Develop a support network of close advisers who can cheer you on, hold you accountable for your progress, offer advice, and celebrate your success.
• Evaluate success. Regularly evaluating progress will help you stay on track. Your plan may need regular updates to remain compatible with your life.

Further Reading

• Planning For The New Year (Texas A&M University)
• Getting Through the Doldrums (Hudson Institute)
• New Year’s Resolution Procrastination (Psychology Today)
• Make Your Dreams A Reality Now (Directory Journal)
• Living Without Limits (Brian Tracy)

Focus on the Future …

What do these important issues have to do with you? Planning to achieve your dreams is an ongoing, ever-changing process that can help you live a more fulfilled, successful, and rewarding life. In a well-planned life, you will thrive and grow stronger than you ever believed possible.

At Leap Forward Coaching, LLC, we have a process that will empower you to plan and dream more skillfully by increasing your awareness of the forces and factors shaping your self-image, worldview and your ability to achieve your full potential for success and happiness. By guiding you through your life as it unfolds, we can help you become more fully aware of your strengths, resilience and resourcefulness.

Leap Forward Coaching, LLC

www.leapforwardcoach.com