Seven Tricks to Work on Your Dreams
Dream is a powerful word. Every day, we dream about how we can make our lives better, make more money, be more successful, be a better person, contribute to a better world.
In a wealthy country like France, we have better opportunities to realize our dreams. However, less well-off people are more at a disadvantage regarding money and chances to succeed in school. But this does not make it impossible to reach our goals. As usual, everything depends on context. Some people have a better chance than others, but it doesn’t mean that is impossible for the others.
So, how can we reach it?
I don’t have the arrogance to say that I have the answer. However, I hope those shining lights which in I believe, can help you as they had helped me.
Keep your eyes on the stars, but keep your feet on the ground
- Theodore Rooselvt
KNOWING YOURSELF
The first step, knows yourself. Never stop discovering who you are. As human beings, we constantly evolve, but only a few of us realize a meaningful change.
Don’t waste your time, thinking about the past, or fretting about the future. Think about the present and what you can achieve with what you currently know and have.
Don’t waste your time thinking about what other people think of you. Invest in yourself: spend time getting to know yourself better, and reflect on your actions. You can’t change what people say about you, but you can change how you react to it. So if someone, he’s harsh with you, don’t pay intention and respond with calm.
Don’t waste your time thinking about things you cannot control, but rather focus on things that you can control. You can’t alter the facts that you're in a pandemic, but you can focus on working on yourself, like taking up a new hobby, instead of complaining. You can’t change that your train is delayed, but you can choose what to do (be angry, stay calm, read something, …).
DEFINE YOUR DREAMS
We are all different, that's what makes this world so beautiful. You can be whatever you want: an actor, a president, a plumber, a speaker, a fireman, an ecologist, a farmer… there are no set rules or one path to become that person. Success does not rhyme with money or power. I personally define being successful as being happy with my life's choices and enjoying the journey, rather than focusing on the destination. Everyone has their own definition of success, and you have to find your own.
Remember, your dream's biggest enemy is yourself. So never stop introspecting, never stop discovering yourself, never stop growing.
WORK TOWARDS YOUR DREAM
“Doing the same thing again and again, and expecting another result”, that is the definition of madness. This sentence is starting a song from The Hives.
We have to remember that in order to succeed, you must first fail, and fail again. This pattern will follow you until the rest of your days. It is always better to try, fail as you will learn from it, rather than doing the same thing and expect something to change.
If you want something, just work towards achieving that goal: try something new, embrace failure and, above all, learn.
“Improvise, adapt, overcome” is an unofficial slogan among the U.S. Army Marines made popular by Clint Eastwood’s character Sergeant Thomas Highway in the movie Heartbreak Ridge.
This motto means that we can overcome anything if we keep fighting. We all have moments when we want to quit everything because we are feeling overwhelming. In those moments, we have to take a break, and figure it out.
After all, do we want to look back at our life with regrets? Or taking our dreams to our grave? Or rising every time we fall to move forward?
This way doesn’t mean, to not give a fuck about the past nor our emotions. It means to accept things and our feelings, but don’t be consumed by them all our life. See a problem as an opportunity to grow.
THE FIRST STEP
In this world, nothing is free. Self-discipline is one of the key, talented is rarely enough. All the greats, like Kobe Bryant, Djokovic, Ibrahomovic, are machines. Not only the athletes, Abraham Lincoln, Gandhi, Thomas Edison, Darwin, all of them kept refining and improving their skills over time.
Denzel Washington once said: “Without goals, dreams are just dreams”. It is as simple as that.
Love quick wins and do not always expect immediate results. Be patient and smart. Some obstacles are higher than others, as you take the first step to overcome them, you are on the right path.
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” — Confucius.
Do not think that you will remember everything. Track your goals, track your progress. Decompose the biggest goals into small ones, after all, Rome was not built in one day.
Writing a journal can also help you to reflect on your life journey. As meditation can trigger some ideas. Reading is one of the last key to enhance ourselves, if you are stuck regarding one topic, read about it.
Working hours is not making everything, the way you work is. Don’t think you can be focused if every minute you’re talking on Slack about what you will eat for lunch. Don’t think you are fully present with your girlfriend if you are texting every five minutes.
Every time you have the opportunity, focus.
BE CURIOUS
Seek for the unknown, don’t stay too much in your comfort zone. Find the right balance. Once we are too much in it, we don’t realize it, and we are staying in it too long or forever.
We have a tendency to think that we are naturally open-minded. We think that a person who has travelled all around the world is open to people, but that’s not true. Once again, the “how” is the most important thing. The way we are travelling is what matter, if we stick with the same bunch of friends or just partying, well that is not discovering. Don’t get me wrong, travel with friends and partying is great. But as we said before, we need to balance it. Meaning, how can we say we're discovering a new culture when we visit just one temple?
We are not curious because we said so. Curiosity is something which need to be cherished and take care of. Like a muscle, if you don’t work on it, you lose it. Once it lost, it is going to be hard to find it again.
Ask questions, look to the why, make your best to understand people around you.
Act always as a student, which is eager to learn. Don’t think you know everything. Never stop the learning curve.
DEFINE YOUR VALUES
We all want a better world. For that we have to follow Gandhi’s steps, as he said we have to be the change we want into this world.
Find your values and stick to them. Through your life, you will be tested everyday on it, stay strong. Make the good, we all have defaults, we all have lied, we all have made mistakes. The point is: we don’t have to do it over and over. Truth is always the best way to grow, but sometimes you may have to lie to protect something you cherish or love, and that’s ok. Just keep in your mind if you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation it is on you, and you have the power to go out of the storm.
Walk the talk, bring your values everywhere, in any circumstances, be harsh with yourself but stay flexible. Don’t manage to rearrange your values to make you more comfortable. Have discipline and a good heart. Every time you can, make the good.
REST AT THE END, NOT IN THE MIDDLE
Kobe Bryant learned this motto from his former school teacher. This quote make us remember that we don’t have time to be lazy, to procrastinate, to give up after the first fail and to rest after a success.
Of course, breaks sometimes are useful, otherwise without rest we are burning ourselves out.
We have to find the right balance between our dreams and our pleasures. The right balance between doing the same things and doing new things. The right balance between pushing ourselves hard and take rest.
Life is hard, life is short, but it’s on us to make it beautiful. Don’t complain, don’t look for excuse, just move and learn. We will rest when we will dead, because tomorrow is a new day, you will be not the same as yesterday.
Tomorrow might be too late.
CONCLUSION
You have many ways to achieve your dreams. I just listed a few which helped me to be a better person that I was few years ago. Life is a journey. We face death, sadness, joy, happiness, the good and the bad. Sometimes we will make mistakes, even if we are better than a few years ago.
Even when we face difficult times, we have to try to be good as possible in our life using the tricks we need.
Remind those things help us to navigate through our life, as Aristotle said, “when we are in the dark, we must focus on the light.”
