What does the desire for change have to do with wishes, dreams and goals?
Did you know that when you have a desire for change in you life, it really means you’ve formed a new dream? And did you also know that a dream can not come true unless you do something about it? Yes, dreams are wonderful things; they show us the infinite possibilities of everything that we could do, have, or become. They are the screenplays of our imaginations and the precursors to every accomplishment we have ever achieved. But dreams in and of themselves are just possibilities; fantasies with no substance.
The key to giving your dream substance and form lies in moving it out of the realm of possibility and into your own reality, and the first step along this path is to understand what it really means to have a dream, because it is this understanding that will fuel your motivation to go for the gold and do what it takes to get what you want.
A Desire for Change
What is a dream? To me, a dream, at its core, is simply a heartfelt desire for change. There is something in your life that is not the way you want it to be. And the contrast you feel from experiencing this thing that is not the way you want it to be, causes you think of something else that you do want instead. Your dream is the “alternate reality” that you want for yourself.
This does not necessarily mean that something in your life is truly awful or that you hate your current life or that anything in your current life is “broken” or “wrong”; it just means that you are growing and evolving as an individual, and discovering new preferences and desires, and this is a normal, natural and completely good thing. Furthermore, the desire for change can range from simply dreaming of losing ten pounds, or redecorating your house, to dreaming of becoming a published author, or finding the perfect mate, or packing up and moving to a completely different country. Anything that causes you to think of an alternative to what you are currently experiencing can be thought of as a dream, and a desire for change.
Pay attention to your dreams, because they give you real and valuable information about what it is that you truly want in life.
Wishes, Dreams and Goals
Beyond the idea of a dream as a desire for change, the Oxford Dictionary tells us that a dream is “a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal”. I think a clearer, and far more poetic definition comes from Walt Disney, who taught us all that “a dream is a wish your heart makes”. My experience with wishes, however, is that they are usually made when we don’t really believe that what we want is actually possible. Wishes, then, are firmly entrenched in the realm of fantasy.
The definition of a “goal” is similar to the idea of a dream; however, a goal is defined as “the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result”. Now, this is a subtle but very critical distinction between goals and dreams that I want you to understand: a dream is an ideal whereas a goal has an object, an aim, or a desired result. A dream is idle; there is no movement in a dream, whereas a goal is defined by action, energy and direction. This is the key distinction, and this is what you must do if you want to make your dream a reality: turn it into a goal and give it action, energy and direction. A dream is just a wish, a nice little thought with no substance behind it, until it becomes a goal.
In order to turn your dream into a goal and use it as a catalyst or a spring-board to launch yourself forward into wonderful experiences and opportunities, you must get moving. Turning your dream into a goal makes it an agent of change, gives it power and allows you to use both the Law of Inertia and the Law of Attraction on your own behalf via the actions that you take. Once a dream is reframed as a goal, energy is unleashed, gears are thrown into motion, wheels start to turn, and all the unseen forces of the Universe are rallied in your support. Possibility begins to shift into reality, and your dream begins to come true. And it all starts with that initial desire for change.
photo credit: kugel via photopin cc
I love this topic, Nathalie. It is a spiritual one. Western culture often crushes it and stomps on it by the limited human point of view and that is the problem. Without dreams, we are nothing. Just robots following orders, obeying rules so there can be order because of the fear of change (which is only a natural universal phenomenon), because that is really what is going on.
Well, as swamis have said, you are not alive without dreams, for they are the fuel of life. They, along with inspiration, come from the ether and we must respect and flow with it. Going against this actually brings pain and suffering in life. Going after your dreams can indeed be a pain, but at least the fuel and drive are there for you to carry on, with the help of universal forces and LOA, which are always on your side. That is why we can never let go of our dreams and not have anyone else extinguish them. We are tortured if we do otherwise. We must keep going no matter what to fulfill them. This is a very deep topic in spirituality.
Hello A. — Yes, our dreams make us who we are. And all dreams are as unique as snowflakes… no two people have the exact same dream. Even if two people want the same thing, they will each approach it differently, and impart their own unique “flavour” to it. 🙂
Going after a dream gives you a purpose and something to strive for. And there’s always something in a dream that is important for the next stage of your development, or evolution, as an individual. This is probably why it is so devastating when you feel like you’ve missed out on a dream… it’s almost as if you feel incomplete without it. But dreams can, and do, change and evolve along with people and situation. No dream is ever lost; but it may take a different path than the one you first expected. Being open to the new direction can keep you on track to following that dream, even if it happens in a different way. And you never know… the new way might even end up being a million times better than you’d ever expected with the “original plan”! 😀
I’ve had the same dream since I was 3 years old. I’ve added more dreams and wishes since then, but that one has never changed. One day I realized that the dream was akin to a classic car sitting in the garage under a tarp. It was beautiful, but it wasn’t going anywhere!
Turning our dreams into goals and then taking action steps toward it is like fueling that car with high-octane gasoline, taking it out of the garage, and flying down the highway. If Life really is all about the journey, as they say, I guess then we have to be moving… 🙂
Gas it up and go out and drive, girl! That dream wants to fly, so get out there and take action! No one has the same dream that you do — you’re the only one that can give it wings to soar. 🙂
I’m currently working on a program that will help people take their dreams and make them real. It’s designed to give people the information, tools, support and cheering section — everything they’ll need to get their dreams out of their heads and into their lives! I’ll post to the FB page and send out an update in the newsletter as I get closer to being able to launch it.
In the meantime, here’s to the journey! ((hugs!))
Hi Nathalie!
will we be able to read more about this program of yours on the blog?
Hi A. — I’ll put a link in the menu bar at the top of the site over the next couple of weeks that will take you to a page with all the details. Exact date for that hasn’t been decided yet. 🙂