The Stuff That Dreams are Made Of

Flipping through glossy travel magazines always inspired Atlanta lawyer Melinda Renshaw, who diligently kept a list of all the exotic destinations that she and her husband, Suneel Tummala, dreamed of visiting. They assumed it would take years of planning before their trip could come to fruition.

But not long after their research and planning began—much sooner than anticipated—the couple’s dream became a reality: The duo recently returned from a six-month global tour—from safari excursions in Botswana to glacier climbing in New Zealand. Though the odyssey, itself, was the event of a lifetime, they brought back a suitcase of souvenirs to ensure that their trip would live on in memory.

“Whether it’s a trip around the world or starting your own business, you have to decide how much you really want to do it,” explains Melinda. “You have to be willing to make the choice and plan for it.”

Like Melinda and Suneel, if you’ve pinpointed your life’s ambition—say, traveling the world, climbing Mount Everest or launching a business—you’ve accomplished half the battle. Even if you aren’t exactly clear on the details yet, it’s possible to pinpoint your dreams through self-reflection and create a plan to reach your goal. Through hard work and determination, the first 30 days of pursuing your dream will ensure long-term success.

Your Dream, Defined

Most of us have a vague, general ambition in our lives, but this vision might lack clarity. Therefore, the first step to living your dreams is to define what you hope to accomplish. Ask yourself: “What do I dream about doing with my life right now?” This may sound like a pie-in-the-sky question, but approach it seriously. You may have toyed with the idea of someday opening a bookstore café or running a marathon, so seize this opportunity to take the future into your own hands.

Set aside time—perhaps, a half-hour a day to start—to define your dream and write down your ideas in a dream journal. Listing your passions—what gets you charged and fired up—allows you to identify common threads. You should also tune into the things you enjoy doing as you experience them, whether it’s playing the guitar or woodworking. When you write in your journal, be as specific as possible; forget about undefined goals like “fame” and “fortune,” as these abstract concepts are ultimately the byproducts of accomplished goals.

Believing that you can attain your dreams is essential to your success, yet self-doubt can be a difficult hurdle. Artist and art therapist Sandra Magsamen, author of Living Artfully: Create the Life You Imagine and host of the PBS show “Living Artfully with Sandra Magsamen,” advises people to stop making excuses about why the timing isn’t right. “People have millions and millions of reasons why they never do the things they believe they were meant to do,” she says. “If you really want it, you can create it.”

Though journaling will help you get in the right mind frame, getting what we want out of life takes more than daydreaming, adds Leslie Levine, author of Wish It, Dream It, Do It: Turn the Life You’re Living into the Life you Want. “Your dream might be very, very big,” says Levine. “So it’s really essential to believe in yourself. One of the best ways to believe in yourself is to know why you’re doing something.” Therefore, you need be willing to do the hard work necessary to make your dream a reality.

The thought of hard work didn’t deter Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Meredith Brooks, best known for her edgy anthem “Bitch,” when she decided to combine her musical talent with her love of educating children. Following the birth of her son, she was inspired to record her first children’s album, “If I Could Be…,” and produce a music festival for kids. “I didn’t go to sleep when the idea for the festival started hitting me,” she says. “I saw the vision completely—the stadium, the booths, the colors. I got up and spoke to my husband. We both committed to it and are doing it together.”

Pursuing Your Dream

After defining your goal, the next step is to carve out a dedicated time and space to pursue your dream. For instance, if your intent is to write a novel, you may need to adjust your schedule to get up an hour earlier or go to bed an hour later every day to work on your opus. Focus on establishing a set schedule and finding a serene workspace that meets your needs.

For some—including those with work commitments—this step is easier said than done. Let’s face it; most people can’t cut down their work hours to train for marathon or write the next best-selling novel. With that in mind, figure out the necessary steps to reach your goal and develop a timeline that works around your job. One practical strategy is to set up a dual track that allows you to keep up the work necessary to pay the bills, while simultaneously creating a new path to incorporate your dream.

“Most people who successfully pursue their dreams understand that they can’t jettison their responsibilities,” explains Levine. “You still have to put food on the table. A lot of people go bankrupt pursuing their dreams because somebody didn’t sit them down and say, ‘Don’t quit your day job.’”

Likewise, financial restraints are a consideration. When Melinda and Suneel set their sights on a whirlwind world trip, they turned their vision into a reality by taking practical actions like checking out books at the local library and drawing up a financial spreadsheet. Melinda advises, “Figure out your pain threshold and work around it.”

Once you have your plan in place, you should structure your ambition by creating a calendar with small milestones to chart your progress. “Set up a structure where you can’t lose,” advises Debbie Ford, bestselling author of The Best Year of Your Life: Dream It, Plan It, Live It. “Even if you fail, you’ve got a net beneath you to pick you up and launch you again.”

Take your momentum a bit further by setting up a system with built-in incentives and rewards: This could be as simple as giving yourself a gold star on your calendar for completing a task on time or scheduling social outings as a reward for your efforts. “Take pride in the small successes. That’s really important,” says Levine.

Build a Dream Team

Successfully reaching your dream is up to you, ultimately, but that doesn’t mean you have to go it alone; surrounding yourself with like-minded people is key to achieving your goals. Build a support system by asking all of your friends, family and acquaintances about who they know who has accomplished a dream similar to yours. By simply reaching out, you’ll be shocked by the number of people who come out of the woodwork to help you. You may also seek out mentors who have knowledge in your area of interest and who can provide guidance along the way.

Author Jennifer Remling credits her success to asking for help in the right places. “People have been so generous, even people you think are not accessible,” she says. “The key is calling people you don’t know who are experts in the field.” Jennifer dreamed of writing a book, but could never find the time while toiling away at her job as a recruiter. Last summer she quit the nine-to-five grind to start her own recruiting firm—a change that gave her the freedom to create her own schedule. She now travels around the country interviewing people who have redefined work and are pursuing their dreams. The interviews are the basis for an in-progress book entitled Carve Your Own Road, and her web site Carveyourownroad.com.

In an unusual turn of events, Jennifer pitched the concept to the CEO of Airstream, which makes home-away-from-home silver trailers. The CEO loved her idea and gave her access to an Airstream trailer, which has become her and her husband’s temporary dream-pursing home.

If your dream involves a change in position or profession, contact your local Chamber of Commerce or trade organizations to see if they have mentoring programs. Another great option is the Service Corps of Retired Executives, which offers free business counselors. Often networking through organizations like these can help build your knowledge base and shorten your learning curve.

However, not all valuable contacts are made through trade organizations. Heidi Krupp, a former marketing, promotion and production executive at ABC, met Jan Miller at a colleague’s wedding. “She loved my energy and said I should leave ABC and work for her,” Heidi remembers. “I said, ‘no.’ I loved what I was doing.”

About a year later, when she decided to strike out on her own, she got back in touch with Miller. The confidence and coaching Miller provided helped Heidi become CEO of Krupp Kommunications Inc. “Having a mentor really helped,” she explains. “Jan encouraged me and gave me confidence. In that first year, I really felt like I was working for her, which made it easier. Without a mentor like that, it would have been very hard,” she says. “I’m really blessed.”

Dream With Determination

No one said that living your dreams would be a breeze: Like most things in life, it takes a combination of hard work, determination and commitment. Keep in mind that it took Harry Potter scribe J. K. Rowling nearly six years to complete her first book and it was rejected by 12 publishers before finding a home at Bloomsbury Publishing. If this proves anything, it’s that listening to your gut and sticking out difficult circumstances are instrumental to success.

Perseverance is a trait that Ben Saunders has in spades. In 2004 at age 26, he became the youngest solo skier to reach the North Pole, despite being told by “experts” that he was trying to achieve the impossible. “I made hundreds of mistakes along the way,” he explains. “I learned to trust my instincts, to believe in myself, and to know that there’s always a way to achieve what you want, even if no one has done it that way before. I always tell myself that if it were easy, anyone could do it and ‘impossible’ is only an opinion.”

Nevertheless, Ben did doubt himself. “During the expedition, moments of self-doubt were nearly daily occurrences,” he remembers. “But the knowledge that I was benefiting others—through the charities that would benefit and because hundreds of thousands of children were following my trip—kept me going even when the odds seemed overwhelmingly stacked against me.”

Magsamen emphasizes the importance of not giving up when the going gets tough—and it’s going to get tough, in all likelihood. “Pursuing your dream is simply following your heart, with heavy emphasis on the word pursue,” she explains. “You have to keep pursuing and pursuing and pursuing. It doesn’t happen overnight. You have to just believe in your dream so much that you’re going to passionately keep at it.”

Living Your Dreams

Life is all about choices, and the power to shape your dreams lies in your hands. In the first 30 days, it’s critical to open the doors of possibility, take steps to discover what you want to do and find ways to move forward by writing down your ideas, doing research, seeking mentors and building a support system. Keep motivated and reward yourself for steadily moving forward, even after 30 days.

“The first 30 days is a running start,” explains Levine. “It’s important that [the momentum] doesn’t end after 30 days. Those first 30 days, that’s your launching period to see how much you can get done.”

Jennifer agrees, “If you take small steps towards your dream, you gain momentum over time. Every day take an action, like making a phone call, and you will build momentum over time.”

Wherever your dream may take you—whether it’s to a far-flung destination or to the career of a lifetime—know that you are paving a personal path. Taking action during the first 30 days will lead to a world of new opportunities and possibilities, and the payoff may be greater than you’ve ever imagined. “My journey was something I had wanted to do for so long,” says world traveler Melinda. “There were times on the trip when I was actually like, ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this. I am living my dream.’”