Just like any journey, the journey to achieving your dreams has challenges and temptations that can result in disappointments. These can be anything from a lack of funds to a lack of motivation to misuse of the resources needed to achieve your dreams.
To ensure a successful end to your journey, you need a toolkit that you can carry with you throughout the process. Here are a few ways to ensure you stay on track:
1. Believe in yourself
Before you start going out of your way to find external support systems, start with yourself. You need to be your own number one fan. The best way to achieve this is to follow a dream that you are passionate about and strongly believe you can achieve.
Often people follow dreams that other people have decided for them. It could be studying a course that your parents picked for you or starting to exercise because your spouse made unkind remarks toward you.
Others could be less direct like starting a similar business to someone else without doing your own research and due diligence. In all the above, the risk of abandoning your dream in the face of a slight challenge is higher than if you were to pursue a dream you believe at heart.
2. Find an accountability partner
There is a Swahili proverb that says “kidole kimoja hakiezi ua chawa”, one hand cannot kill a lice. This is true with dreams too. While you can cover some distance through your journey by yourself, you’ll be surprised how much farther you can go if you enlist the help of an accountability partner.
This is someone who you can update on your progress or ask for feedback throughout your journey. They can be your friend, spouse, gym-friend or even a mentor whom you admire.
Charles Newton, the famous scientist, once said “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
He was not talking about actual giants, rather he was acknowledging that he was benefitting from the knowledge of those who came before him and have helped him build on their foundation.
3. Track your progress
Just like you wrote down your goals, write down your progress too. You could use a calendar to mark your start day and circle dates that something amazing amazing happened along the way. Did you lose some weight? Circle the date that you measured your new weight. Did you get your first customer for your business? Circle that!
Or you could take a picture and save it on your phone. Using a diary or a notebook, you could write down the date of this new achievement, list down what’s next on your target list or what you have learned so far. One day, these will give you a story to inspire others.
4. Forgive yourself
Everyone who begins a journey to achieving their dreams, hopes that the best will happen along the way. That things will go to plan and nothing will move away from the plan. But as we all know, life has its surprises. If you find yourself knocked off your progress path, don’t abandon the dream altogether. Rise up, do what’s needed to be done to resume your journey and don’t be too hard on yourself. The person capable of coming thus far, is also capable of going much farther.
We hope that with these tips, you will be well on your way to achieving your dreams. Remember, your journey is unique to yourself. Do not measure yourself against someone else or compare their progress with theirs. With a little discipline and self-belief, you can get there.