How to Achieve One’s Dreams

G.P.S. a.k.a. W.A.W.

NLP practitioners love reusing words, so I don’t know why they didn’t decide to call W.A.W. (What do you want? Are you ready? When will you start?) G.P.S. (Goal, Plan, Schedule), instead.  It sure fits like a glove and gives a clear sense of direction (pun intended)!  Here, then, is their idea of how to reach one’s destiny.

Outcome = destiny, dream, objective; what you ultimately want to achieve as the result of your plan.

Plan = program, regimen; the big-picture scheme to achieve your outcome.

Goal = objective, milestone, stepping stone; the smaller goals that make it possible to see the path to and achieve your outcome.

Tasks = Actionable items, actions; the work that must be done to achieve each goal.

Goal! a.k.a. “What do you want?” a.k.a. Destiny

You should start by writing down what you ultimately want to achieve or have in as much detail and with as much specificity as possible.

Bad: A convertible car.

Better: An aquamarine 2015 Mercedes Benz B-Class Electric Drive, with an all-leather light blue interior, stainless-steel framed and sky blue leather convertible top, GPS, Panasonic DVD player, Apple hands-off communication module, Dolby surround-sound stereo system from Blaupunkt, Polytron HUD, Philips 50 watt 2,000 lumen purple underbody light, and Firestone whitewall tires.

The more details you can put into it, the better.  Research it, find out all the possibilities that are available, and write down what you want – you can always add more later.  Use words that are objective (meaning that, no matter what your mood, or who reads them, they mean the same thing, such as colors, materials, size, shape, etc.) instead of subjective (beautiful, cool, interesting, motivating, etc. – words that mean different things to different people).  If you do it correctly, then you can hand the description to anyone and they’ll be able to get/do it for you.  More information is better!

Planning a.k.a. “Are you ready?”

Make a detailed plan.  Go ahead, dig into it and figure out every aspect of what you need to do in order to make it yours.  Again, details, specificity and completeness are key.  Each task may need to be drilled down even further until there is absolute clarity – until you can have anyone do it for you!  Yes, it’ll take time, but success only comes before work in the dictionary!

Choose just one significant (ie: genuinely important) task at a time and then break that large task (which may look like a mountain to you) into a series of smaller tasks that don’t make you feel overwhelmed and aching to run to your video games, blog, your mommy’s hug or favorite mind-numbing chemical comfort (eg: chocolate, ice cream, alcohol, narcotics…).  Here’s a basic idea of what you might create for your plan to buy a car, as a result of researching everything you’ll need. 

Get my dream car!!!

1.       Get a driver’s license

a.       Learn the rules of the road and what road signs mean.

b.      Buy a steering wheel for video games and use a driving simulator on the computer.

                                                               i.      Save up money for the steering wheel and simulator by delivering newspapers, cutting lawns, raking leaves, etc.

c.       Buy “Need for Speed” and other racing games, and make good use of that steering wheel!

d.      Practice driving with Dad and Mom.

e.      Take free written practice tests online.

f.        Get Dad and Mom to pay for the tests.

g.       Go to the Dept. of Transportation and register to take the tests.

h.      Practice driving, especially parallel parking!

i.         Pass the tests.

2.       Earn money needed for car purchase.

a.       Become a local entrepreneur offering gardening and landscaping services.

                                                               i.      Save 70% of the profits for the car, insurance, gas, repairs, maintenance, so that I have enough to cover a year of usage.

                                                             ii.      Save 10% for emergencies.

                                                            iii.      Use 15% for my business.

                                                           iv.      Use 5% for fun.

b.      Research the cost per year so I have a good estimate of how much I need to earn.

                                                               i.      Car insurance

1.       Does where I live require that I have car insurance?

a.       If it’s not required and I don’t get it, what are the risks?

2.       What will the premium be for a new, young driver like me if I get full and basic coverage?

3.       What other options are available that are worth paying for?

4.       How much will the premium go up if I have an accident?

5.       Which companies are considered the best, and why?

                                                             ii.      Emergency repairs

1.       What design flaws does my car have that might cause emergency repairs to be needed?

a.       What can I do to avoid them?

b.      If they happen anyway,

                                                                                                                                       i.      how much will they cost, and

                                                                                                                                     ii.      how long will repairs take?

                                                            iii.      Which dealerships and mechanics have an excellent reputation, but are not too far away?

                                                           iv.      Maintenance

1.       Consult with a reputable mechanic or dealership, or look online.

2.       What are:

a.       standard maintenance services for the car I want,

b.      how much time is required to perform them (how long will I be without wheels?),

c.       how often are they needed, and

d.      how much will I need to save each month to pay for them?

                                                             v.      What are desirable extras for my car?

1.       Which ones should I get at the dealer, and which should I buy somewhere else to save money?

2.       How much will I need to pay, and how long will it take to add them?

3.       If I get it from the dealer, is it a stock option or will they have to custom order?

4.       If I make a custom order, will that increase the price?

                                                           vi.      Gasoline

1.       How economical is my car?

a.       How many miles/kilometers per gallon/liter does it get:

                                                                                                                                       i.      In the city?

                                                                                                                                     ii.      On the highway?

                                                                                                                                    iii.      Offroad?

                                                          vii.      Miscellaneous

1.       Cost of renewing license, registration, pollution examination, etc?

2.       Talk to car owners to find out what other expenses and considerations there may be that I don’t know about.

c.       Find out how much my car will cost.

                                                               i.      Check the bluebook price.

                                                             ii.      Check the MSRP online.

                                                            iii.      Go to different car dealerships.

1.       Take the car for a practice drive.

2.       Practice negotiating the price with those sharks called salespeople.

a.       Haggle them down to a price as close to bluebook as possible, then walk away.

b.      Focus on real and perceived weaknesses of the car, and downplay my interest in it.

                                                           iv.      Look into the possibility of leasing and buying a used car.

d.      Revise savings plans for the car and all related costs based on above information.

e.      …

3.       …

As you research, it is highly likely that you’ll come up with additional tasks to complete to reach your goal.  This is normal, and that’s why using a word processor is a better choice than writing it down.

                If you can, find pictures that represent your goals.  Write things you can look at repeatedly throughout the day and look at them when you wake up, when you are eating, when you are ready for bed and, well, any other time you need to focus.  By this I mean that you should look at pictures of your goal and make affirmational statements about achieving it.

I’m going to be a little repetitive here:  You should be very careful to write down your outcome, each goal (milestone), and every task, and do so in a very detailed, specific and complete way. It is absolutely critical that you choose your words carefully because if what goes in (to your mind) is wrong, then your milestones and ultimately your outcome aren’t going to be exactly what you wanted. This rule also applies to writing down your plans.

                Why do I say this? Well, whether you think with words or pictures, if they aren’t absolutely correct, then what results (your outcome/goal) isn’t going to be absolutely right. If you don’t believe me, then try this experiment on how to screw up achieving your goal – but be warned you’re going to regret that you did it!

Decide on something that you want to buy, but you’ll need a couple of years to save up money first. Write down a description of it exactly as you’d like it to be. Don’t forget ANY details! Now, once you’ve got that description, go out and find a photograph of it but make sure that SOMETHING in the photo (like the color, so at least it won’t be a big deal) isn’t exactly what you want. Every day, be sure to stare often at that photograph so that you can see it as clearly with your eyes closed as opened. Memorize every little detail while imagining finally possessing it and how great that’s going to be! Build up a massive desire for it. Then, after you’ve done that for a couple of years and have the money to buy it, go out and buy it.

                Do you know what will most likely happen? Instead of buying what you wrote in your description, you’ll buy what you saw in the picture!

No matter which way you decide to break down monster tasks into small ones, you’ll find it’ll help a lot in getting rid of procrastination. Oh, BTW, you may want to practice slow abdominal breathing in case you start having an anxiety attack!  PERSEVERE and SUCCEED!

I almost forgot to mention something.   The outcome you achieve – DESTINY -  don’t screw it up. :)

Scheduling a.k.a. “When will you start?”

Once you’ve defined all the main tasks and each sub-task in great detail, figure out the order they need to be done in. If there’s something you don’t know how to do, you’ll need to spend a little time finding out about it.

                When you’ve got the tasks prioritized (yep, that’s what you just did!), you can then figure out when you need to do each of them. Deadlines and scheduling are important! I suggest that, like the second article suggests, you should tackle each task in manageable chunks. If it’s something that’s going to take a long time, make a commitment to work on it X minutes or hours per day at a specific time.
Eliminate all distractions before you start.

After prioritizing your tasks, you need to do something hard – schedule them.  Estimate how long each task will take and which tasks can be done within the same time period.  Then what date you will start and finish need to be written on your plan.  Yes, I know, scheduling seems like a pain but, once you’ve got it all down in writing, then you have deadlines and everything is just like following the dotted line.  It’s easy!

You can format your schedule in different ways, such as:

·         Write in the timeframe for each item on your goals list.

·         Create a spreadsheet or graphic that shows it.

·         Mark everything on a calendar that you use just for this.

·         Program your computer and/or phone to remind you of everything, as often as is needed for your personality.

·         Some other method that works well for you.

·         Or a combination of the above.

Get Started!

Now that you’ve got it all written out, get some R&R, or stage a little party for having completed the task of preparing the plan to achieve your desired outcome.  You will start when your schedule says to start.

BTW, delay any other gratification until later. Whatever it is that you love doing, use it as your reward for accomplishing an individual task by allowing yourself to do it only after you’ve accomplished a goal - but don’t overdo it!  Gratification is another motivation for you – so don’t waste it by doing it any time you want.

                When you complete a major task on your list, it’s time to have a little celebration but, again, don’t go crazy. Save the big party for when  the whole thing is done.

Don’t forget that a realistic timeline is important.  Also, when you start feeling tired, take a breather.  Come back at it in a few minutes.  In fact, take a fiver every hour or so.

                But, hey, if you’re really enjoying (you’re “in the zone” or “in flow”) what you’re doing, it’s okay to keep on doing it. In fact, it’ll improve the results and make it easier for you, as long as you don’t go for too long.  But, be sure to differentiate “zone” from “workaholism”, which will wear you down.  Don’t forget to give your eyes a rest from the computer screen!

So, there you have it – one way to succeed in making your dreams come true.  If this method doesn’t seem to suit your goal (like asking a woman out on a date), remember that the point is that you identify all of the strategies available, map out the strengths and weaknesses of each, weigh them against each other and choose the one that is most likely to cause you to succeed.  Once you’ve chosen a complete plan, don’t second guess yourself, don’t worry and bite your nails or gnash your teeth losing sleep every night – let it go and trust that you’ve got the best plan loaded.   Build your confidence, develop a positive mindset, don’t think too much about the future (unless something unexpected happens that affects your plan) and get started!  You can do it!