This could be striving to achieve academically, this could be becoming a published author, it could be buying a house and raising a family. Whatever your dreams it is up to us to decide what dreams we actually have, and which ones we would like to pursue. Some dreams might be something that you want to achieve, but you don't necessarily actively pursue. For example, I actively pursued the idea of becoming an author — and have published two books and several essays — however, I'm still trying to figure out what makes me truly happy and fulfilled in life. That is not something I can necessarily actively pursue without knowing who I am in my entirety as an individual. It all takes time. It is important that we discover for ourselves what we deem to be important; a dream or goal. What I mean by this is somebody else might also want to publish a book, but it may be something that they want to pursue later in life — and therefore they put it aside. Whereas the buying a house maybe more significant for them Therefore, becoming their main goal. In order to have goals, we need to have dreams. So, how do we make these dreams come true, how do we achieve them?
What if we don't have any hopes and dreams?
There will be some of you reading this who are questioning whether you do actually have any hopes or dreams. If you are such a person, I would invite you to consider the fact that just because you do not yet know what you want to do in life, does not necessarily mean you don't have any dreams. What do I mean by this? For example, you might want to move abroad — but might not know what that actually looks like, or where you would actually like to move. In this case, it requires a bit of ‘living life’ intentionally, in order to figure out what you want, who you want, and how you want to do it. It is still a dream if you feel as though you do not know what you want to do in life. It may also be your dreams are more related to emotional fulfilment. So, a feeling of fulfilment in happiness and contentment. From there, it is a matter of working out what actually makes you happy. So, your goals and dreams are not necessarily career-related (as you might expect with somebody who has intentions of becoming a lawyer or doctor).
What if we are going through hard times?
Do you really what we want if we are going through hard times? Depression is worth considering here because part of depression — in my experience — is our world becoming much smaller and much more about survival. Getting through every day, every hour, and every second. It can also be thinking about who we are as a human and where we fit amongst everything else. Potentially leading to us feeling woefully inadequate; losing our sense of self. I found that any hopes or dreams that I had suddenly become smaller and smaller, shrinking until they did not exist anymore. What I'm trying to say is depression can make us feel as though we do not have any dreams, and as though we cannot strive to achieve those dreams. As though those dreams mean nothing. When we are going through a hard time, it can be hard to picture what we actually want, and the depth of what we have achieved. Using publishing a book as an example again, we may understand that we want to publish a book, but have no idea where we want to progress from there. This doubt and fear can just feel almost completely separate from ourselves as a human being — as though our hopes and dreams are completely separate to us, and they are not part of who we are.
What if going through hard times is just part of the process of trying to get where we want to be?
I mean this in the sense that nothing is ever achieved by going the easy route or doing nothing. We have to go through hard times in order to learn and develop, and be able to achieve the type and level of his success that we are striving for. Sometimes, going through hard times allows us to reevaluate what we are achieving, what it actually means to us and why we are working this hard to achieve what we want to achieve. For example, when writing a book, there are several moments where someone would doubt themselves. It is reminding ourselves of the finished product, being able to share it with others, that helps us remember the value of what we are writing in the first place. As a writer, everything can be used as grist to tge mill, to a greater or lesser extent. Going through a tough time whilst writing a book allows us to reassess what we have written, and see if we can improve it, or if there is a slightly different direction we can take the book in the next steps. The point being that going through hard times can allow us to work towards our dreams and goals in a way that even we thought impossible. It could also be said that going through hard times can act as motivation to get where we want to go. All an opportunity of making the hard times feel more worthwhile.
Put yourself in position
What do I mean by ‘putting yourself in position’? As I have said, nothing is achieved by doing nothing, so we need to put ourselves in a position where we can achieve. For example, if we are looking to achieve in an academic setting we need to make sure we have all the resources necessary. This could include the correct stationery, a laptop or computer, and the necessary textbooks. We need to make sure we have all the resources that we can work with. This way, we are utilising our knowledge and our brain — rather than feeling as they were overcompensating with the lack of resources that we have. Though this is a literal example, this could also be used as an analogy. We need to put ourselves in the best position to achieve our potential.
All this to say that we must work to get where we want to be. Before doing this, we need to work out what that is, and then the best way to get there for us. There will obviously be obstacles, but these can an opportunity, and are simply part of life. Ultimately, it up to us to get ourselves to where we want to be. You cam do it!
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