This isn’t my usual type of article. I usually leave the mindset stuff to the pros, but I saw one of those “inspirational images” that kind of makes my blood boil and I can be silent no more!
First, here’s the image that inspired this post.
The image above implies that dreams know the way, so just follow them… as if just having a dream makes some magical connection to the world and as long as you believe in the dream it’s going to come true.
There are other inspirational images and quotes that also imply that anyone casting a doubt on your dreams is blocking your happiness. To some people, the idea of reading and agreeing with this article is a dream killer and shame on me for killing for dreams. But, please continue reading…
Look, all that stuff is fine. Believing in your dreams and staying away from negative people are both good pieces of advice, but life isn’t that simple and as a Productivity Specialist, it’s my job to make sure you keep your head in the clouds AND your feet on the ground. In other words, you need to understand the difference between a dream and a goal.
Let me illustrate the point. Let’s say that I have a dream to create a huge productivity website for real estate agents and other lead generation specialists complete with productivity packages,scripts, videos of all of my courses and … well, let’s just say this website right here…. It was originally a dream. It was an idea that would be helpful and (hopefully) profitable! I imagined all the different sections of the website, all of the products I’d be offering, how it would look and what my marketing materials and strategies would look like. It was a nice dream!
Of course, in order to turn that dream into a reality, it had to STOP BEING A DREAM. I could “follow my dream” After all, according to all the inspirational quotes and images, the dream knows the way. Well, I waited for the dream to build my website but guess what? It never got built! I waited and waited until finally I decided to do it myself.
That’s when my dream turned into a goal. I got out a sheet of paper and wrote my dream down. I laid it out, starting with general ideas and then got specific about each of my general ideas. After it was all laid out on paper, I started to research the technology and costs. I spoke with bloggers and other Productivity Specialists and then I put the team in place, purchased the technology, rolled up my sleeves and got to work.
Even the most inspirational dreamer in the world would eventually have to admit that simply following a dream won’t get very much accomplished if that dream never turns into a goal with a plan.
You may be thinking that I am talking down on dreams. Even the title of this post may mislead you (clickbait, obviously LOL)That couldn’t be further from the truth. After all, if I never had the dream, this website would never have become a reality.
In order to succeed you need dreams AND goals! They go hand in hand!
What Is a Dream
I think we all know what a dream is. A dream is a vision of some grand idea or suggestion that we build up in our brains. (You should see what this website looks like in my dreams!) Our dreams help to lead us in a direction. They inspire us and keep us moving forward. But mostly, they are just a story or an idea. They aren’t anything mythical and don’t have any real power when they aren’t acted upon. That’s where goals come in.
What Is a Goal
Goals are where the rubber meets the road. When I turned the dream of having this website into a goal, I had to get busy. A goal is setting a desired result and creating a “to do” list to turn the desired result into a reality. Goals are powerful and a goal formed from a dream is the most powerful goal of all.
Use S.M.A.R.T. Goals for Best Results
If you are unfamiliar with S.M.A.R.T. Goals then this section is the most important part of the entire post. Just like dreams, goals can be useless. A dream not acted upon is just a dream. A goal that doesn’t use S.M.A.R.T. can be unachievable for a whole different set of reasons. Let’s look at what S.M.A.R.T. means…
S.M.A.R.T. Goals are…
- SPECIFIC –
As I said earlier, I started with a list of my general ideas and then I created a new list of the specifics of each of my general ideas. - MEASURABLE –
If you can’t measure your results, you don’t really have a specific goal. I knew what sections needed to be completed before launch, I knew the size of my beta, my costs, and how many subscriptions I needed to sell to become profitable. - ATTAINABLE –
When I do my Annual Business Planning classes I discuss this one a lot. Just because you have a goal does not mean it’s going to happen. It needs to be attainable. I often watch people in Business Planning & Goal Setting classes setting a goal that is well beyond their means for their current position. This isn’t a goal… it’s a dream! If you can’t come up with a realistic way of attaining the goal, then it just is not a goal. This does not mean the agent can’t hit that goal eventually. It just means this isn’t realistically the year to make it happen. Either a shortage of time, money, or sphere of influence size can easily determine how attainable it is. - REALISTIC & REVELENT –
Make sure it’s something you can commit to. Keeping it realistic helps you stay focused while revelence allows you to stay interested and committed. - TIME-BASED –
While you’re setting specific goals, make sure you set goals for how long it’s going to take as well. For this website, I had to set time-based goals for production and testing. I also set time based goals for how long I would give myself to hit my subscription goals.
Using S.M.A.R.T. Goals is the best way to turn your dream into a reality. So remember to stop dreaming (eventually) and get to work!
