Do not let your dream die before it is born

In this post, I am happy to share my top tips to help you give birth to that one, life-changing dream. Enjoy reading and please share your thoughts.

  1. We all have dreams, what’s yours?

What is your dream? Don’t make the universe wait any longer. What have you always wanted to achieve? What has held you back? Why haven’t you realized that one life-changing dream yet? If you don’t take action now, when will you? Remember, tomorrow is not a given. Today is yours, and you are capable of taking actions which move you towards your dream. Take action right now. As Martin Luther King said, “The time is always right to do what is right.”

 

  1. Start your journey by writing down your dream

The first step to giving birth to your dream is writing it down and putting it in a place where you can see it every day. When you write your dream on a piece of paper you connect with your spiritual level. You also make a commitment to yourself. And you gradually grow into your dream. If you haven’t done this before, just give it a try.

You may have doubts about taking this first step, but remember it will take you less than a minute. Write your dream on a piece of paper every day and always keep it with you. The power of your dream pulls you towards it.

 

  1. No dreams? Who are you kidding?

Of course you have dreams. Psychologists claim that more than 60,000 thoughts cross our minds every day. Some of those thoughts carry your dream. They truly do.

Try it right now. Close your eyes and imagine you are in your favorite vacation place. You have a drink in your hand and you are sitting on a chair relaxing. The only noise which prevents you from sleeping immediately is the beautiful sound of the ocean. Now imagine you don’t have any problems. You are in perfect health and you have plenty of time. What would give you a fulfilled feeling? What else would you like to achieve before departing to your final destiny? What would make you feel really happy?

A lottery win? Plenty of money? A much higher salary? That may be. But I believe you need to dig a bit deeper. Your dream may be something you can achieve with money. So money is a device only. Like an airplane, which can take you to your vacation place. Make a note of what you think your dream is. Ask yourself: why must I realize this dream? How would it feel if this dream came true? The more you focus on your answer to the “why”, the more layers you unpack to discover your underlying dream.   Start dreaming NOW! And if you have one already, give birth to it. Let the world know what you want to achieve. And see what happens! I promise you, magic will happen. The universe appreciates the steps you take towards your dream. All kinds of help will come your way. You only taste this amazing experience if you take the first step.

  

  1. From dream to success, this is what you do

Share your dream with people you like

Some people are naturally supportive. It can be motivating and it strengthens your commitment to your dream. When your motivation and commitment are at a solid level, then share your dream with people you know who will be constructively critical. You will receive consulting free of charge from these people. They can help you polish your dream and identify your challenges. They may even give you some great advice.

Be careful with toxic people

They always have a problem for every solution, and only see challenges and impossibilities during your journey to your destination. They may even belittle you because they cannot see beyond a certain point. Bigger does not exist for them. Remember, you don’t have to listen to everything you hear and you don’t have to believe whatever you listen to, particularly when it comes to toxic people.

Don’t think too much, take small actions instead

Many people want to think things completely through before making a decision. And that’s why the majority get stuck thinking about why they should and or shouldn’t do something. A Persian expression says, “A half action is worth more than hundreds of words.”

When you leave a motivating event, you’ve usually picked up some ideas about how to move to the next level. You bring your ideas home and discuss it with your partner and friends. Sometimes they support you with phrases like, “Wow, what a great idea, you should do it, you can do it.” However, many people often jump into the middle of your dream and create chaos for you, leaving you feeling confused. As they don’t fully understand the context, and are not aware of all the ins and outs, they add more questions to those you already have. The result? You postpone your decision. And what happens when you postpone? You run the risk that it may never happen! The bottom-line: you miss another chance.

When you want to make an important decision ask yourself one question: is this the right decision to make right now? If the answer is yes, and you really want to achieve this, make it first SMART. Then make your decision using your emotions before applying your logic to make it work. Instead of getting stuck in a closed thinking circle, take small actions. Record all the possible ways that can help you realize your dream. When this is done, select the easiest options. For example, write down all your skills which can help you achieve what you really want. Then write a list of skills you need, but you don’t possess at the moment. Next write down how you can acquire those skills.

How? Break it down into mini-goals

You may ask yourself, “how”? What’s next? When you have identified your dream, book an hour with yourself. For you and you only. Be as creative as possible. Think about a reasonable timeline. When do you want to realize your dream? When you do so, then your dream becomes a goal. Let’s imagine you aim to achieve your dream in 10 years. What part of your dream do you want to achieve in the first two years? What will you achieve in five years, seven years…? To make it tangible and achievable, you need to think of journey goals and baby steps. What are you going to achieve in six months, three months, one month and even in two weeks? It may be too much of a stretch to have the overview now of all you need to do in the coming 10 years. What you can do is define milestones with realistic planning. This can keep you on track. Make a close connection with your dream by committing to two-week goals and taking action to achieve those mini-goals.

Example: You want to climb Everest

Imagine your dream is to climb Everest. You turn your dream into a goal by putting a target date on it. “In two years’ time (6 Oct 2018), I will have climbed Mount Everest.”  The next step is to set your mini-goals. What do you need to possess to achieve your ultimate goal? The first thing you need to be sure of is, for example, your physical health and condition. Another thing may be making sure you can devote the necessary time. If you have a job which currently does not allow you be away longer than a week, what can you do to make time to climb Everest? What can you do to make sure you have the necessary physical condition? Yes, you are right. You need to set an appointment with your doctor to check your health status. Now you need to answer this question, leading you to a baby step: When will you schedule the appointment with your doctor?

Set mini-goals

You understand it is extremely helpful to set mini-goals. One mini goal might be: You want to be in perfect physical condition in 6 months. The goal needs to be defined by time. So, it should be, for example: By 31 March 2017, I will be in perfect physical condition. The first step towards this sub-goal is identifying your current physical condition. The immediate step for achieving this goal is meeting with a professional to help you identify your current condition. The second action is setting an action plan to achieve the physical condition you need to be able to climb Everest. For example, starting tomorrow, I will train every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 06.00- 07.00.

Reality check

Frequently conduct a reality check. If you are a smoker, you may need to quit smoking if you really want to climb Everest. The mini-goal is, for example: By 31 October 2016, I will be a non-smoker. Again you need an action plan to become a non-smoker. What are you going to do to achieve this mini-goal of becoming a non-smoker?

Dream big, but take baby steps every day

The idea is to keep your big dream in mind while breaking it down into tangible and manageable pieces. Then you can take action to realize those smaller goals. It is hard to foresee all the details that will be required over the coming 10 years. But you are definitely capable of foreseeing the coming two weeks, aren’t you?

 

 

  1. Turn I can’t into how can I

Instead of beating yourself up and constantly whispering to yourself, “I can’t”, “Why can’t I?”, “I’m not good enough”, I always fail” etc., move yourself to a resourceful state. Instead of saying “I can’t”, ask yourself “How can I? Can you recall the day you decided to take driving lessons? You knew you could not pass the driving test before taking driving lessons. So instead of sitting down and beating yourself up, you unconsciously asked yourself “How can I pass the driving exam?” Then it came to you, “aha I need to take some driving lessons before applying to take the driving exam.” Sound familiar? You may need some support with this transformational thinking. ImOcean can help you move from frustration to a resourceful state.

First class leader, Martin Luther King said, “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

 

  1. Keep calm and ask for support

Please promise yourself deep in your heart that you will not let your dream die before it’s even born. Giving birth to that one dream will change your life. It is crucial that you start unpacking and realizing your dream. You won’t grow any plant on your own if you don’t put the seed in the ground first. And then you need to nurture your seed. Yes, start but stay committed.

If you don’t know how to give birth to your dream, the best way to realize your dream is to hire a qualified coach. The coach can help you not only in the phase of unpacking your dream, but also throughout your whole journey. A coach will not only help you to create and benefit from opportunities, but will also help you to find shortcuts and overcome challenges.

Please reach out to ImOcean Academy and come to us hungry to succeed. That way we can feed you with food to nourish your soul and mind. Then you are only steps away from realizing your dream. We help you accelerate and take the elevator to your destination. Our proof? Take a look at our testimonials.

 

What do you think?

Do you agree or disagree? What would you add to the above? Please feel welcome to share your ideas. They are always appreciated.

Did you like this post? If so, follow me – on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook – for more insights.

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About the author

Hamid Safaei is the author of the upcoming book First Class leadership: www.FirstClassLeadershipBook.com. He is the founder of ImOcean Academy. Hamid is a qualified executive coach helping executives and budding entrepreneurs make breakthroughs. He has led successful business transformations for a number of Fortune Global 500 companies.

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7 Leadership qualities to help women break through

7 Leadership qualities to help women break through

Leadership is about mastering the art of human know-how. First-class leaders surround themselves with people who are better than themselves. In an interview, Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba Group, said: “If you want to win in the 21stcentury, empower others, making sure the other people are better than you are. Then you will be successful. I find that women think about others more than they think about themselves.” Is this  a good foundation to become a great leader? What if women focused on themselves a bit more than they focused on others?

As Dan Goleman also said: “Emotional intelligence has four parts: self-awareness, managing our emotions, empathy, and social skills.” Emotional intelligence tests indicate women tend to score better than men on these skills. During the last decade, we have witnessed multinationals fighting to attract top-performing women to their executive positions. Many women have proved the tests are partially right. Shining examples are Angela Merkel, Sheikh Hasina, Oprah Winfrey, Indra Nooyi, and Meg Whitman, to name a few. However, it is not that black and white. There are elements of emotional intelligence in which men perform better than women. While women tend to score better in emotional empathy men are inclined to score higher in managing emotions.

If leadership is about mastering the art of people knowledge, why do we still not have enough women at the top? In my upcoming book, First-Class Leadership, I demonstrate the premium qualities which have helped first-class leaders achieve breakthrough results. In this article, I share 7 qualities which can help women boost their leadership results.

  1. Vision, the why

First-class leaders start their journey with their why. Or as Stephen Covey said in his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, with the end in mind. What gives meaning to the vision of great leaders is their belief in their vision and why they pursue it. They are clear about where they are heading and what they want to achieve. Due to their broad range of interests, it is challenging for many women to focus on one life-changing destination. A qualified coach can help them polish their main why.

  1. Passion

What great leaders have in common is their desire to take action towards realizing their dreams. Great leaders succeed not because they are more talented or wealthy, but because they love what they do. They use all their inner power to break through barriers, frustrations, and failures. They are fueled by deep passion to achieve what for many seems to be unachievable. While many give up when the going gets tough, first-class leaders determinedly step up their drive until the universe responds and magic happens. For passionate women, often the challenge is identifying the one life-changing vision on which to focus.

  1. Decisiveness

“Confident walking is more successful than confused running.” – Rumi

Great leaders know: “If it’s not a HELL YES, it’s a No”. The quick thinking of first-class leaders amazes many. It is neither complex math nor a miracle. Great leaders follow sound algorithms for decision making. They simply follow a system they created based on their values, standards, and principles connecting their strategic decisions to their biggest why, their vision. They quickly analyze if and how – in the long run – a certain choice contributes to attaining their primary objective, the why. Influenced by their powerful empathy, many women may hesitate. First-class leadership, however, requires making quick, and sometimes, unpopular decisions in tough circumstances.

  1. Focus

Billionaires Warren Buffet and Bill Gates were once asked to write down one thing they felt attributed most to their success. They both wrote the same word: focus. We can put our attention only on one thing at a time if we want to draw the most from it. When we have too much to handle, we lose focus. There is a Persian expression: “You cannot hold two watermelons with one hand.” If you have ever seen 20-kilogram watermelons, you will follow the logic. Here this expression means you cannot handle two issues simultaneously. Many women claim they can multitask but in reality this is distracting and causes loss of focus.

  1. Communication

In his book, Unlimited Power, Tony Robbins said: “The way we communicate with others and the way we communicate with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives.” In the end, effective teams make organizations great. To inspire teams successfully, leaders need to inspire through communication. All first-class leaders are communication masters. Instead of using jargon and complex terms, great leaders use simplified language to connect with their followers. Using emotions, authenticity and body language, they create fire in the bellies of their followers. Consequently, people around them wish to move forward. This can attract millions of followers. Women can generally harness the power of their emotions and body language when they communicate. If they overcome their limiting beliefs and gain self-confidence, they can attract millions to share their vision.

  1. Confidence

Confidence is a pre-requisite for all leaders wanting to succeed. When almost everybody has lost hope and is about to give up, first-class leaders stand firm and their confidence and strength is something others lean on. If women can overcome any limiting beliefs and manage their emotions in tough circumstances, they can become the greatest leaders we have ever seen. Angela Merkel and Oprah Winfrey are notable examples.

  1. Highly effective teams

Great leaders train their team members to think in team terms by demonstrating how important it is to enjoy, cooperate, and play together. First-class leaders create well-respected roles and responsibilities for each team member. Everyone counts and is proud to be part of the team. Great leaders encourage diversity and recruit team members with complementary skills and expertise. They inspire their teams, make difficult decisions, and set high performance standards, which they continuously adjust and upgrade to reach higher heights. That is why they build great companies that delight customers with amazing products and services. Developing highly effective teams can be a challenge for many women as their strong empathy may be a barrier to building their dream teams.

Bringing it all together

All these leadership qualities are learnable. There is enough evidence indicating women have the potential to claim the highest leadership positions if they master the abovementioned qualities. Overcoming limiting beliefs, building self-confidence, and strategically employing their powerful emotions are perhaps the first steps towards self-actualization. And a qualified coach will help motivated women break through.

 

Originally published in Global Woman Magazine

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About the author

Hamid Safaei is the author of Your Journey to Fulfillment and the upcoming book First Class leadership. He is the founder of ImOcean Academy. Hamid is a qualified executive coach helping executives and budding entrepreneurs make breakthroughs. He has led successful business transformations for a number of Fortune Global 500 companies.

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