I’m a big dreamer too. When it comes to business and life, I used to live by the phrase, “dream big or go home!” The only trouble with that is that I would often end up at home, just dreaming big and not actually doing big. 

Then, a couple of years ago, I stumbled upon this quote and it hit me… I’m a dreamer, not a goal maker:

“A dream written down with a date becomes a goal. A goal broken down into steps becomes a plan. A plan backed by action becomes reality.”

Dreams are the starting point. Dare to dream and dream LARGE. Manifest them into the universe. But, then, you have to do something about it. You have to make a plan to make that dream a reality. I had to make changes so that I could be a goal-maker and dream-achiever. 

So, here’s how I set goals:

1. I write down the dream – those really big ones, the reach-for-the-stars ones, the all-or-nothing ones. 
2. Now break that dream into achievable steps. Those are the goals that are working towards the dream. 
3. Now comes the plan. This is where you’ll take each of those goals and break them down further. This includes a date you want to achieve the goal by. 

The trick to making the plan successful is having ACTIONABLE items you can successfully achieve. Remember, you want to set yourself up for success, so be smart and specific about them. For example, if you don’t have time to work in the evenings, don’t make that part of your plan. Likewise, if you know you’re not actually going to get up 2 hours early before your kids because you’re NOT a morning person, don’t make it part of your plan. Again, you are only going to be setting yourself up for failure.

Here’s an example for you to see how I work through my goals to make my dreams a reality. 

Dream: Take the month of July off of work completely

Goals:

1) Have a team in place to make sure my business is still going through July

2) Have content scheduled and organized

3) Have a plan for August when I am back working

Here is the plan:

Team:

1. Begin looking at finances and see what I need to achieve to hire team members. This may require further plans, such as onboarding team members, taking on new clients, training, etc.
2. Look at what would need to be taken care of during July and make a list of tasks.
3. Start looking for the right people to join our team so that we know who we want to ask when we are ready to hire!

Content:

1. Brainstorm content ideas
2. Pre-plan your content for July and use a scheduling app so it can be released to go live as scheduled. I try to work a month in advance for all content, so I know I will need to work on this closer to May and June.  

Plan:

1. When content is ready for July, begin to work on August content. Even if I only get a week or two of August done, I know this will be helpful, so I’m not left scrambling to get August content done in August when I get back to work.
2. Schedule all meetings near the end of the first week of return so I can spend the first couple of days catching up on emails and organizing. 

Here is my advice with goals — be OKAY with them changing and evolving over time. Write out your goals and if they aren’t working for you…change them. Have your goals written down somewhere where you see them and can be accountable for working on them. And don’t forget to celebrate your wins along the way. Nothing keeps you more motivated than a little celebration!