Three Essentials For Achieving Your Dream

Do you have a dream?  I hope so!  I'm reminded of the song from one of my favorite movies, South Pacific.  The lyrics go something like this:  "You got to have a dream.  If you don't have a dream... how you gonna-have-a dream come true?"  At the Called Woman Reinvention Convention 2014 we had a lot of dreamers who are invested in making their dreams come true!!

The Dreams of Conference Participants

This year proved to be one of the most exciting conferences yet as we listened to speakers, gave away books and other resources and shared our stories.  Everyone had a story to tell of overcoming great odds;  depression, negative mindset, difficult family situations, financial problems, lost jobs. Nevertheless there were plenty of dreams expressed.  We had each participant write down their dream and drop it in a bowl as they came in.  At lunch we read them and gave away inspiring  books.  Here are some samples of the dreams:

• Retire, travel the world, live at the beach
• Have a full time ministry of a children's ranch
• To have financial security
• To have a successful speaking and writing career
• Transition to my own business
• Write a devotional on Isaiah
• Be successful in selling and writing educational and fiction books for children

 Everyone left renewed in spirit and empowered to take the next step in making their dream a reality.  Listen to one of our participants who attended the conference the day after learning that her job was being eliminated:

Three Essentials to Take the Next Step

In my presentation on, "Where Do I Go From Here? I shared the three essentials that you must have to take the next step and turn a dream into a reality.  Here they are:

1. Be a learner--It is so important to continue to learn through books, classes, online training and conferences.  At the present time, I'm taking three classes; one at a local university and two coaching/training programs which I access online.  As long as you are learning you are growing.
2. Be a risk taker-- Just learning new things isn't enough.  You have to take action.  It doesn't have to be perfect.  It doesn't even have to be big.  Just a tiny step counts.  But it takes action to achieve a dream.  No one ever finds themselves in a new place by sitting still.
3. Finally, find and join a supportive group.  Nothing is harder than going it alone. For many dreamers, our co-workers, friends and family members don't have the same vision and don't offer support.   It is necessary to find or create a supportive group.  Here are some possibilities that the Called Woman offers:
1. Join our Facebook page.  You can comment and ask questions:  www.facebook.com/thecalledwoman
2. Join www.48days.net and in particular our Called Woman Group.  It's another great place to get support and advice.
3. Join our Reinvent You Mastermind Group just starting up in April 2014.  You will have three coaches devoted to making sure that you have the support and information you need to achieve your dream.  You can read all about it and sign up on our website here:   www.acalledwoman.com

Do you have a dream?  What is your next step?  How can I help you achieve it?

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Be A River Not A Reservoir

One of the teachers I work with told me about  how her child had reported to her after a lesson on saving the environment, that smelly feet cause world wide pollution.  While we might all agree that smelly feet could stink up our personal environment, it's hard to imagine this being a global problem that would have been discussed in a first grade class.  After a little investigation, it turns out the student had learned about 'carbon footprints' and how we all leave behind pollution in our wake... Note to self:  always check out that students are learning the concepts I am teaching!


This example got me to thinking about a recent article I read by John Maxwell, one of the premier teachers on leadership and being a positive influence in the world.  In the article,entitled, The Two Greatest Days of Your Life, he makes the statement: "Highly successful people know their purpose in life, grow to their maximum potential and sow seeds that benefit others.  They don't live for themselves.  They're a river, not a reservoir.  They understand what significance is.  Significance is adding value to others."  This concept is so powerful. It encourages us to move beyond the importance of finding our purpose and following our dream.  It encourages us to move into how we can benefit and add value to the lives of others.  If becoming all we can be destroys others and costs us relationships, then we are being self serving and self-centered. Maximizing our God given gifts and talents should not just satisfy us and give us a sense of purpose and happiness.  It should benefit others as well.  Think about it... Are you a river or a reservoir?