Big Dreams and Giant Goals? How to Map it out. Planning for success.

Do you ever feel like you have no idea where this journey is taking you? Do you know where you want to be in 5 years or 10? What about all those goals and dreams you have? Do you find it hard to just start? Are you like me and you see the end game as this unattainable, almost transcendent place and there is just no way you could get from point A to point B so you just give up?

To illustrate my point I want to give you a quick summary of my first trip to Disney and my last trip to Disney. On my first trip we booked our hotel, bought our tickets, jumped on a plane, and just showed up. It is a magical place, right? Just the atmosphere is impressive and pleasing but we soon could not make a decision on where to go first, what to ride, or where to eat. Did I mention I go to Disney with my entire extended family? That makes for 13 of us. We soon would either split up or spend an hour debating what to ride and finding out that we should have made dinner reservations 3 months ago. It was tumultuous. But I digress.

I learned my lesson in a big way. Our last trip to Disney could not have gone smoother and our family had grown by two. That makes 15 if you're counting. Well, we lost a child for a quick minute but then it went smooth.

I used this awesome tool called the internet and found, you guessed it, a road map, or guide, and a perfectly laid out plan on how to plan your trip to Disney even down to the best time to go to Disney. This trip was so close to perfect. It was so organized and it eliminated all the arguing on what to do next plus we got to realize our "perfect" trip to Disney. Thank you Dad's guide to Disney.

Friend, a map is a powerful tool! It's so much easier to get where you're going if you have something to follow and I don't know about you but my dream has been done before. I'm not the first person to write to a book or start a blog. The Idea of obtaining a Wix hosting site and blog did not just arbitrarily pop into my head. I have researched probably 10 different websites and blogs and read hundreds of books plus taken classes on how to write a book. I'm currently taking a webinar on how to story brand.

If you're still thinking, "That's great but where do I start?" I have an easy solution. First, YOU HAVE TO NARROW YOUR FOCUS. If you're like me you might have 20 different dreams out there. Quick truth: You will not even accomplish one if you are thinking about 20 so start by choosing one.

I have dreams that still have not been realized yet. I want to blog, to speak, to write, to podcast, to conquer social media outlets all with the same goal of helping women who were abused or are stuck with faulty belief systems or teen moms to realize their value and accomplish their dreams but I started with writing my book. Oh my gosh it was so hard to focus on just one thing. I had to totally turn my brain off to my other goals for two solid months.

I started my book over a year ago but my focus was on 20 different goals so I never even accomplished one. When I set my goal on just writing my book. I finished it in 45 days. That is how powerful narrowing your focus can be.

I also started taking tiny steps. I'm going to quote Jordan Lee Dooley because this stuck with me. "Incremental, implementable, imperfect action." So many people say go big or go home. But I think this is Bull S***. I say if you just start small, take an actionable step, and if you can stop worrying about being perfect you can actually get somewhere. It's a joke in my family that my husband went through the 26th grade to become an oncologist. He didn't start as an oncologist just like I didn't start out an author.

This is my second blog post so I am putting my money where my mouth is. It's not perfect and I'm sure I will look back at this blog and laugh just like I will look back at my first book and laugh but you have to start somewhere and you will never start if you're worrying about being perfect.

Be Intentional. Take a look at your habits, both good and bad, and see where you need to make to a change. Plan in advance so bad habits don't diverge you off your path. Ex. I have a bad habit of taking my morning quiet time to social media. Solutions, silence my phone while I'm working or having my time with God. You can check in later and all those notifications will still be there.

Ask good questions and brainstorm. If you don't know the path or the resource for where you want to end up Google has the answer to literally almost anything FOR FREE! Don't worry about if it's a good idea or bad one just right down possibilities. Then, start from the top and again... NARROW YOUR FOCUS. Pick one, two, or three things that will ultimately get you to your end goal and start chipping away at it.

YOU GOT THIS!