5 Ways to Chase Down Your Dreams
“The choices you make today will impact your circumstances tomorrow” (Lysa Terkeurst, The Best Yes). I wholeheartedly believe every person contains a God-sized destiny woven within the blueprint of our identities. But not everyone pursues this destiny.
Are you surprised when you keep making the same harmful decision – you know this choice isn’t helpful but yet you keep doing it? What is even more shocking and disheartening is when this pattern is fixed on repeat.
Frustration, exhaustion, and doubt become life’s companion thwarting the pursuit of our dreams.
I’d like to share you 5 ways to break out of patterns of frustration and exhaustion empowering you to grab ahold of your destiny.
Here are 5 ways to chase down your dreams:
1. Do what makes your heart sing
Dare to dream and pursue what makes your heart sing. I heard this phrase from the book Talk like Ted. The writer shares, this phrase is more profound and exciting than merely saying what we are passionate about.
Doing what makes your heart sing is about doing something insanely meaningful because this is a part of you, it’s your identity. You are literally not yourself if you are not doing what makes your heart sing.
When you do what makes your heart sing, it’s not about a title, promotion, or paycheck. This is about your identity and you being you.
2. Set goals that are realistic
A simple way of looking at this is SMART goals – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Based.
• Specific – target a specific area for improvement.
• Measurable – quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
• Assignable – specify who will do it.
• Realistic – state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
• Time-related – specify when the result(s) can be achieved.
3. Write it down
Study after study shows that writing it down significantly impacts your likelihood of success. One study stated you have 95% greater chance of achieving the desired outcome simply by righting it down.
Writing your goals down not only makes it more real but it also helps to hold you accountable.
4. Get a friend involved
In school, we had the buddy system. Somewhere along the way, many of us developed a mantra that we gotta do it ourselves. Our western culture reveres independence. God did not intend for us to be self-sufficient. Quite the contrary.
We are made for connection. Connecting with other people provides accountability, encouragement, and support.
Technology affords us friendships and connection like never before. In addition to your local support system, I recommend following inspiring people on social media. I love Jon Acuff. This guy is all about chasing down dreams and working hard. Every morning, I wake up and have an email from him in my inbox. Many mornings, I choose not to read it right away. But when I do, I start my day inspired and ready to purpose my dreams.
5. Believe in yourself
As a teen, I knew that I wanted to be a counselor and help other people. This was my vision, my calling, my dream. When an advisor told me I would never be a counselor and would never make it to graduate school, I remember thinking – no, she is not right. It would have been really easy to listen to her words of doubt and discouragement.
It’s even easier to believe my doubts. To be honest, I’m not sure that insecurities fully depart from our minds and emotions. Faith provides tools against our insecurities and doubts. For example, Jeremiah 29:11 says that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives.
I believe that He has a plan for you and for me. When we understand and believe in this plan, we begin to live differently. We become empowered to step over our doubts and insecurities and step into freedom, joy, and peace that He intends for us.
Keep discovering, Keep dreaming, keep pursuing.
