Image by Stefan Jakubowski
So you have a dream.
Say it, speak it, write it down.
A lot of dreamers get frustrated. Have you heard what happens to a dream deferred? Langston Hughes can tell you about that in his poem ‘Harlem’. A dream deferred will give you mental and physical ailments. Don’t let that be you. Instead... make it happen. Do that with a strategy. A lot of things don’t happen for people because they don’t realise that a dream (however bright, shiny and intergalactic) is not going to happen without a plan. I am 100% a dreamer. My head exists in the white fluffy clouds most of the time. Don’t ask me the biological, chemical, social or physical reasons for this. I haven’t the foggiest (I mean I don’t know).
What I do know? Is dreaming is good. It is fantastical. However the problem about desires and daydreams and plans in your head is it in your head. You can visualise it, you know the taste and smell of it (or is that just me, give your dreams and aspirations the meat on their bones that they deserve darling!), you know the full shape of it.
That part is done. The hard part is going from that to making it come to pass.
The bridge over those two not too distant islands is ‘strategy’. How are you going to make it happen? What actions,events,things will lead to that dream coming to past? What will it take?
Get a pen and paper and write the dream down. On that paper write in whatever format you prefer (mind-maps, bullet points, lists, whole paragraphs, sketch it in steps etc) the steps you are going to take to get to the destination called your dream. For some it helps to work backwards from the intended goal.
An example is my strategy at 10 years old. The dream? Three part; be the person who was dressing the celebrities seen in the best dressed pages of Vogue, have my own fashion & culture magazine, help luxury fashion & beauty brands with how they came across.
My strategy at 10 years old to do the above and I broke it down as the dream was threefold so I addressed how I was going to do as when I was an adult (lol wasn’t i a very serious 10 year old?) …
On becoming a celebrity personal stylist (part one of the dream)…
1. Borrow fashion books from the library. Read lots of them
2. Keep an eye on what celebrities were wearing through TV, magazines and newspapers.
3. Watch films for the costume design.
4. Study fashion at University.
5. Read lots of fashion magazines.
6. Continue to make fashion collections for my dolls.
7. Ask Mum to buy me more Barbies and Barbie clothing at Car-Boots, thrift stores and secondhand shops.
8. Practice putting outfits together on myself.
9. Learn to use a sewing machine.
10. Customise clothing.
17. Write to fashion magazines to gain experience over the summer from when I’m 16 years old.
18. People watch more.
19. Keep watching red carpet award shows and ask myself what I would have done different per each celebrity outfit.
20. Surround myself with everything fashion!
The list went on and each point had sub points. This was just for the dream about becoming a celebrity personal stylist. I did the same for the part about working with brands and for the third part which was having my own magazine someday too.
The lists had sketches and doodles, I added inspirational quotes and text from newspapers and magazines.
You don’t have to add that. What I do encourage you to do is simply write down the dream and then write down how you plan to achieve. Here are some points to use to inspire …
1. What stands in the space between the dream and realising it? Address this by making those the things to achieve so they no longer block the dream.
2. What will help you achieve this dream? Write it down and work on them one by one.
3. Who has achieved a similar dream? What did they do to get there? Each person, each dream is specific to you but sometimes some things are common to more than one person. Example.. dreaming of starting a restaurant like your favourite chef? Did they go to culinary school? It may benefit you to do the same (do your research, is it necessary? Check the facts). Did they work under certain greats? See if this industry requires that etc etc.
4. What can you do from every angle? The trick is to fire at your target with all cylinders. This is not a drill. This is your dream. Attack it from every angle; fill your hobbies with it, make your life work about it, let your social life be centred around it, let that be what you read, eat, sleep, think about etc.
It can get a lot more than this but the basic outline is once you figure out the dream strategise how it will happen. Don’t just do this in your head. Physically write it somewhere you can keep going back to and updating and amending. It is imperative to write it down. It helped me. It will help you.
Write down the steps you will take to achieve your dream. Put them in order of what you need to do first. Think in the long term and short term here right now. Now? Get to work. You can do it. If you can visualise it, you can do it.
Read about having a dream here.
All the best.
Glam kisses,
Marian.