Becoming Your Dream - Tomorrow's Star

We will talk about how to visualize what we dream of, seeing it manifest in our minds eye before it really happens. Without that mental picture of what we want, it becomes difficult to keep our focus on the dream and gravitate towards it.

People do not perish because they were born poor in a village or they are in a third-class world; they perish because they have no vision.

What do you see? (Not what you see with your eyes but what you see with your mind and your faith). If you can see the brighter tomorrow, you can survive the difficult today. It is therefore important to be able to visualize your dream. You should see it with your mind sight. Create a mental picture of how beautiful the destination will be. This will give you strength in overcoming the challenges today because you see a better place. This mental picture will guide you as you journey to the dream.

DEFINING THE DREAM

What is a dream? Among the many definitions, I will highlight these two for emphasis:

NOUN:

1. A dream is a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep.
2. A dream is a cherished aspiration, ambition, or ideal. This is synonymous with ambition, aspiration, hope, etc.

VERB

1. Experience dreams during sleep
2. Indulge in daydreams or fantasies about something greatly desired

At points in our lives, we all have had dreams in our sleep. Some we remember when we wake up, others we don’t. The dream here is not what we see when we sleep but a desire or an ambition which may even keep us from sleeping. To dream is to imagine tomorrow or desire something which is not present now. We all have to dream to have the hope to live for tomorrow; without dreams we are basically living for nothing. Look within, there is something you have so much desire to see come true. There is something you really want to do; what is that thing which seems to take hold of you and never let’s go?

What is it you are desiring or having the aspiration for? That’s the dream, be clear about it and define it.

Why do we even have to dream?

Dreams fuel us to the future. Dreams are born out of our inner being. You may see it in your sleep, you may see it whilst walking on the street, you may see it in times of trouble, you may see it in animate and inanimate objects. A dream could hit you anytime. You just have to recognize it.

Dream! Yes, dream big! Imagine all the good things you want to do. Look around, what do you want to change? What do you wish was done today in the world? You want to do something differently? There is no restriction on dreams, dream all you can, beautiful ones of course. In dreams, everything is possible.

Dreams keep us going forward. We gravitate towards the dreams we have. Don’t be afraid to dream. What is it you want? Keep dreaming of the good things, because it is the fuel which sustains our lives. We must dream of something to wake up to every morning.

WISDOM POINT #1: It is important to be clear on what you are dreaming about. Have an exact mental picture of it. Whatever your dream is, visualize it in your mind, see yourself doing what you are dreaming of.

As described early on, you have to imagine it. You have to envision. Envision your songs on the top of the charts if you want to be an artiste; envision your book among the best— I envisioned this book as I wrote it. I envisioned all you who will read, will be imparted with all the things you need to reach your dream. My goal is to touch lives and help people pursue their goals. I don’t see the success of this book to be when it becomes a bestseller alone but when it changes a life. I am looking to shine the light for many to go on to walk the path to their dreams. It may be 100 people, a thousand or millions; the number doesn’t really matter but the impact made.

How do you know this is a dream worth following?

If you can see it, you can get it. There are times I questioned myself as to why I should even do this but I saw a finished book that’ll help thousands and generations to come. I had a dream and I could see it in my mind.

I will use the biblical account of how the Israelites left Egypt to the “promised land” to emphasize envisioning what we seek and knowing if it’s worth pursuing.

The people of Israel were slaves for over 400 years in Egypt and in terms of their welfare they were satisfied. They ate and slept well. They only had to work for their masters. They wished to be free when their burden increased, they dreamed of leaving Egypt; then the promise came from the prophet Moses sent by God almighty that there is a “land” where they wouldn’t have to work as slaves but live as freemen and enjoy abundance of resources.

In spite of this promise, many disobeyed and died on the way. They couldn’t get to the promised land. They couldn’t become their dream of leaving Egypt. You would ask why on earth wouldn’t anyone want to escape slavery and leave to live on a land as a freeman?

It was like a dream, they had no physical evidence of this land but they had to trust God and His prophet. I always say that those who couldn’t visualize this land where they didn’t have to struggle died on the wilderness. They couldn’t get to the land because they couldn’t visualize it. Their problem wasn’t their disobedience. The problem was that they couldn’t visualize this land neither could they imagine; should they have, they would have held on and not disobeyed. Their imagination of the land would have propelled them to journey on. It would have helped them to overcome today’s struggles because of the brighter tomorrow.

They complained of the circumstances on the wilderness, disobeyed and died because they lost touch with imagining the future. They allowed the present circumstances to determine their attitude.

Most people give up in school because they are not able to imagine themselves graduating and doing well. They focus on the struggles in school and the challenges not being able to visualize their dream. Dreams are very important to give us hope for the future but we have to keep it in mind, visualize it. Create that mental picture and once you do that, follow it.

Don’t Just know, scribble it down

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I have a dream!” You should have your dreams. To add to it, write it down. This is a ritual I have done over the years. Writing down your dreams is an important step in visualizing them.

My mind is for creativity not storage. I listened to Dr. Mike Murdock say, “a short pencil is better than a long memory”. Whatever you dream of, write it down. Have a book, a journal or a diary where all your ideas go. This is part of visualizing your dream.

I have a folder on my laptop titled IDEAS BANK. In it are detailed documentations of ideas I get and writing this book is one of them. You can have a book where you write your dreams down. Keep it with you, read it once in a while. It gives you a reason to get up to work at it.

Life would have been easier if you got a mail in the box one morning with your Life Manual telling you what to do. This is so you can keep this manual with you and use it when you are confused on the next step to take; you just flip to the page and read it again to assure yourself on what to do. Life doesn’t come with a personalized manual.

It is never like that, but even though it doesn’t come with a manual, every day we get answers about what to do in various capacities but we fail to recognize and write them down. Writing down your dreams and ambitions makes it easier to know what is next. Don’t just wish, dream or desire, write it down.

I have a personal diary with the inscription; “DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES?”, I carry it everywhere and I find a silent corner to write down every thought I get in the day.

“And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.”

Habakkuk 2:2 KJV

Write down every one of your dreams. As you visualize your dreams, make sure to write them down. Put your thoughts down into writing. Store them — I can’t emphasize it much louder. When it is written down, it makes a lot of difference as to how serious you are on wanting to achieve the dream. Studies reveal only 3% of adults have their goals clearly written down and this 3% earn more than the 97%. A goal when written down forces you to act.

“Write down on paper your goal in life. With that down in black and white, we can get somewhere. Few can define goal, much less write. You cannot find happiness until your goal is clear and in view”

Ross Byron

ASSESSING YOUR ABILITIES

There is the need to assess your abilities, in visualizing your dreams. To see myself becoming a teacher or an engineer, I have to look within myself and ask the honest question: “what do I have to become a teacher or an engineer”.

This is very important. This assessment will help you to determine;

• Your strengths and weaknesses
• Identify what you can do best and do with ease
• Consider the things you don’t really like to do or hate to see.

Are you interested in reading much more than talking? What are things which make your eyes light up? What makes you glow? Take a paper and write them down.

Growing up, you might have realized...