7 Steps to Achieve Your Dreams

By Ron Edmondson

I love and encourage dreaming.

I think dreaming is healthy for our emotional well-being. It’s a process that helps us accomplish great things personally and for God.
We are told we serve a big, creative God, whose thoughts will always be bigger and better than ours. We are to walk by faith. We are to trust God into the unknown. Dreaming should be natural to believers. Dreaming stretches the vision of churches and organizations, it fuels creativity and many great opportunities develop first as a dream.
The reality is, however, that more people have dreams than attain them.
Perhaps you have dreams you have yet to accomplish. I certainly do. One reason dreams never come true is that we don’t have a system in place to work toward them. I love to be an encourager for people with great dreams, so with that in mind, here are some steps to help you move toward reaching your dreams:
Identify your dream—This is where you list specifically what the dream would look like. Obviously it needs to be attainable. If your dream is to create a new moon, you may be disappointed, but don’t be afraid for it to be a stretch either. For example, suppose your dream is to be to be an author. That’s a dream you can accomplish, but it may not be realistic to write the next Purpose Driven Life.
Make an action plan—Write down specific action steps you can take toward attaining your goal. (The writing down part is important.) Sticking with the idea of being an author, perhaps you could start with a blog, for which you write post regularly to build the discipline of writing. Then move to outlining chapters. Then you might set aside a few hours a week to actually write the book. Record realistic dates to begin/complete each step.
Develop accountability—Most of us work harder when we know someone is going to challenge us to do so. Consider the success of programs like Weight Watchers. Accountability works, so share your plan of action with a few people who will continue to challenge you to completion.
Share the load—Even though it is your dream, the best ideas are accomplished when people work together toward a common vision. Don’t be afraid to invite others to help you accomplish your dream as needed.
Take a risk—If you really want to succeed, you must be willing to risk failure. Every great dream has an element of risk involved, and the ones who achieve their dreams are the ones wiling to assume the risk.
Stay consistent—If you want to achieve your dreams, you will have to keep at the task, even during the set backs. Push yourself to complete scheduled action steps even on days you may not want to do anything. These is how habits are developed. Many give up too soon, often just before the tipping point toward success occurs. Unless you know it’s time to try another dream, stay consistent with the one in front of you.
Get started—The longer you wait, the more you delay achievement and the less likely you are to begin. If you know the dream is worth achieving, if you are confidant it’s a God-honoring, morally right and worthy dream, then start today!
What is one dream you have yet to attain? Why not take one meaningful step to get started today?  

Ron Edmondson is a pastor and church leader passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. Ron has over 20 years business experience, mostly as a self-employed business owner, and he's been helping church grow vocationally for over 10 years. More from Ron Edmondson or visit Ron at http://www.ronedmondson.com/