Last week, while searching the bookshelf for an old note, I stumbled on one of my old study notes and I flipped through it.
I smiled as I read the lessons I learnt from books I read and was amazed when I got to the page where I wrote my DREAM LIFE and GOALS to achieve them.
Would you believe that I achieved some of the goals I listed? While the remaining are ones I’m still working towards in order to live the life of my dreams.
If you are an adult, you should have an understanding of what you want from life.
If you don’t know, how will you know what your dream life is let alone knowing how to achieve it?
Because the #1 secret to living the life of your dreams is to IMAGINE yourself living that life.
This isn’t wishful thinking but a realistic imagination of your desire.
Let me share a bit of my story with you.
I was working as a nurse in a government hospital and earning just fine.
I never really wanted to be a nurse. In fact, I’d never imagined myself as a nurse.
I only ended up in nursing school because I couldn’t get into the college of medicine to study medicine.
Even now, I’m grateful I didn’t get to study medicine because I later discovered how much I hate(d) hospital environment as a practising nurse.
Imagine if I’d studied medicine. The wasted years and efforts.
During the process of my self-discovery, I had an understanding of my dream life, and working in the hospital as a nurse wasn’t part of it.
After summoning the needed courage, I quit my nursing job and went back to school to study psychology fulltime.
I was one of the oldest in my class but I didn’t care.
We may be classmates but we are not lifemates.
I had my eyes on the goal. I knew why I was in school. Comparing myself with classmates wasn’t part of it.
My story is a long one but the part I shared is what’s needed for this article.
Am I living my dream life?
Not YET.
But I’m on my way to achieving it. I’m working towards it because I know what my dream life looks like.
I daily imagine myself living that life.
This is the secret to living your dream life – imagining yourself living that life.
What is your dream life like?
If where you are now or what you’re doing now will not get you where you imagine yourself to be, don’t you think it’s time to restrategize?
It’d be painful climbing to the top of the ladder only to realize you’ve been leaning on the wrong wall.
Your building will determine the foundation to lay. You can’t build a duplex on a one room apartment foundation. It’s sure to crumble.
Are you laying the foundation for the life you want to live?
Maybe you’re stuck in a job you hate or a career you’re not passionate about, just like I was, don’t you think it’s time to PLAN for a change?
Imagining yourself living your dream life isn’t mere daydreaming. It’s picturing the future you desire, so that you will:
1. Understand what it’ll cost you to achieve it.
2. Plan and write out realistic goals that will bring your dream to fulfillment.
3. Take the necessary actions.
4. Know and connect with the right people to help you achieve your goals.
5. Have a standard to measure your progress and life outcome against.
You can see now that the secret to living your dream life – imagining yourself living that life, isn’t wishful thinking but a practical way to make you end up living the life you want.
What’s your dream life? What do you imagine yourself doing in the next ten years? What do you want your daily routine to be like?
I believe your answers to these questions will help you to figure out what you want from life.
P.S: Self-discovery is a lifelong process. You have to be flexible. Your idea of your dream life may change in two years. But, don’t stop dreaming and imagining until you are eventually where you want to be.
Also Read
What to Do When You are Tired of It All
10 Things You’ll Regret Not Doing Now in Five Years
8 Ways You are Wasting Your Life Without Knowing