Dream and convert your ideas into reality...

Are you dreaming frequently? I have been a dreamer my whole life. When I was a boy, I dreamed of being a swimmer someday, and I learned how to swim; I trained for swimming competitions, I never was a champion, but through my passion, persistence, and patience, I competed in Spanish swimming competitions. When I got my first job as an IT Engineer, I was assigned as a project manager by accident, and step by step, I was convinced about I liked leading people. It took me several years to become a junior project manager, but I dreamed I would be a project manager. Nobody in my first organization explained to me what was my role and responsibilities, so I needed to take the initiative through self-learning, asking questions, and being curious, but again I believed in that.

When I received my first formal project management training many years later in 1992, and I joined PMI that year. As I believed in the profession, I found some arguments to get my manager's buy-in to attend my first project management Conference in San Diego. I was amazed by the huge amount of project professionals attending that Congress. When I came back to Spain, I tried to create a PMI association in Spain, contacted some people interested, and joined my efforts with other Spanish colleagues. I learned a lot from San Diego Conference and met some key people who made a difference in my professional life.

I want to share ten good practices that worked for me in converting my dreams into reality:

1. Believe It

To achieve a big dream, you need to believe in yourself. It sounds simple, but so many people pursue a goal that needs to be more significant or achievable. The first step to achieving your big dream is believing it is possible. You can just visualize it periodically, and your mind will give you ideas about how to make it happen. You can do it because you are an excellent professional.

2. Take Daily Actions

Dreaming is nothing without action. Take daily activities to turn your big dream into reality. No matter how small, every action you take gets you one step closer to your big goal, and every day you take action, you build momentum. A small action might not feel significant daily, but little things add up over time. Imagine what you could achieve in a year if you did one small thing daily to move toward your big dream!

3. Put a Time Frame for It

Time flies, and the hours, days, weeks, and months can easily escape you if you still need to get a set time frame on something. Could you put a time frame on your big dream to keep yourself moving and accountable? The best way to do this is to develop a launch date and then work backward, setting specific dates to reach milestones.

4. Dream Big and Vividly

Everything starts with dreaming big! Imagine the most striking incarnation of your dream and dream that. Make it real by imagining what it would feel like to achieve it. What would your life be like as a result? How would you feel every day?

5. Ignore negative people

Whenever you pursue a big dream, there will always be naysayers who will tell you it can’t be done. They might be your friends and family, but just because you hold them dear doesn’t mean they are right. Often when people say something can’t be done, it’s only because, in their personal experience, it hasn’t been possible. Don’t listen to them; you are a unique individual with the drive, motivation, and ability to achieve your big dream.

6. Share Your Dream with Others

Don’t keep your big dream locked away; share it with others. While not everyone will get on board with it, there will be those who do, and these people can help you achieve your dream. The people who believe in you will boost you up when you are down, keep you motivated and inspired, and put you in touch with the right people when you need them most.

7. Drop Your Expectations

It’s tough not to have expectations when working toward a big dream. After all, your vision of the future, with its implicit expectations, guides you. However, there are so many twists and turns on the way to achieving a big dream that rigid expectations can trap you. Drop your expectations, and you’ll set yourself free to pursue your big dream without the weight of disappointment when certain things don’t go exactly as planned.

8. Adopt an Inevitability Mindset

An inevitability mindset is all about knowing that it is just a matter of time before you achieve your big dream. It’s not about if; it’s about when. Success is imminent when you work with an inevitability mindset, and your drive, motivation, and work reflect it. The inevitability mindset is powerful because it can shift your whole perspective.

9. Make Room for Your Big Dream

You need to make room for your big dream to flourish. You need to clear out everything that no longer serves you and make the time and space to work on your big dream. This might mean clearing other commitments from your diary or creating a home office space.

10. Keep the Momentum Going

The most crucial step to achieving a big dream is maintaining momentum. Every day you take action toward achieving your big goal, you build your speed and get one step closer. Once you’ve got speed on your side, you become an unstoppable force, and success becomes imminent.

TODAY IS A GOOD DAY to try; then TOMORROW WILL BE BETTER FOR YOU!

alfonso.bucero@abucero.com