RUN WITH YOUR DREAM!
“There is no thrill in easy sailing, when the skies are clear and blue. There’s no joy in only doing things everyone can do. But there is some satisfaction mighty sweet when you reach a destination that you thought you’d never make”.
Every youth has something they want, some place they want to go, something they want to learn or do. Every youth has a mountain in life they must climb over to get to the next level they so much crave for. In this New Year, almost everyone is drawing a new plan or adjusting old ones to explore new opportunities to achieve their goal(s). While some young people busy themselves scribbling passionately on their diary some pursuits towards which they hope to direct their efforts, others claim they are not good at setting goals. Yet, I ask them if they are going to spend the whole year moving with the flow and watch the world move on without them.
It is a New Year, so many dreams are yet to be dreamt and realized. But what we need is an ability to dream, plan, pursue and realize our dream with diligence. For me, there are a lot of things I proposed to achieve last year which I did not achieve, of course I did not droop like a flower as a result or feel bad about myself because I believe every new dawn is an interval of opportunity provided by God for the pouring out of another portion of ourselves until we have exposed all His precious treasures in us that makes us unique.
Some youths want an easy life, good for them. But there are some others who have dreams, aspirations, and ambition. They have to learn how to make their dream a reality and one of the first steps is to write down their aspirations and set goals accordingly. Before you can move a step to accomplishing your goals, you must have a clear understanding of what you are doing and why you are doing it. Don’t always ask “what is more important”, but ask “what am I suppose to be focusing on right now?” For instance, if you are pursuing to be the best student in your school this year, listening attentively to lecturers is more important than taking notes during lectures, but eventually, all the listening in class won’t matter if you don’t have notes to reflect on during your private study.
Aside having a written goal and knowing why you want to achieve this goal, it is also necessary to know how you can achieve this goal and have practical idea of resources you need. You have to believe you can achieve your goal and don’t wait for others to believe it for you. Then you move on to making baby steps plan on how to achieve this goal(s) and set realistic deadline for yourself. It is said that Rome was not built in a day, so the journey of a thousand mile must begin with one step. You may need to solicit for family support and surround yourself with encouraging friends and like minds. If your goal is to Improve on your computer skills, you will need to spend more time studying computer related books or get acquainted with the machine with the help of a skilled instructor. If you want to improve on your savings, you may need to cut down on your spending/expenditure or get a better paying job.
Lack of resources, pessimists and goal bullies are tools that can prevent you from accomplishing your goals, so avoid discussing your goals with negative confidants. Also, it is very important to avoid wrong environment or bad associates that can distract you from your goal. For instance, if one of your goals is to quit smoking, it will be defeating to surround yourself with people that smoke when you know you can easily be lured into bad habit.
Achievement of our goal(s) increases our self esteem and builds our confident. Learn to celebrate little achievement and progress you make with your goal as this will motivate you to aim for more challenging goals. Failure in the achievement of your goal should not discourage you instead use the setbacks and unexpected challenges as stepping stones to adjust your goals and set new deadlines. Be conscious of the fact that no one can dream your dreams for you, your goals this year should not be limited by others, stay connected to people and things that will draw you closer to realizing your dream, accept personal responsibility and take positive action. If you cannot sit, crawl. If you cannot crawl, walk. If you cannot walk, run. If you cannot run, hop. If you cannot hop, fly, soar and keep moving to realize your dream. Stand up and be counted.