When people tell you to “follow your passion,” it sounds so easy. “Just follow your passion and everything will turn out great.” Make a wish and it will come true. Right?

What you don’t hear is that it takes work to make your wishes come true.

I don’t want to downplay wishing. Dreaming big schemes is the first step to creating a new reality. But once you come up with a terrific vision, how do you get from “energy bubble” to “done?”

1. Give yourself time to ponder. What’s your best time of day to brainstorm? Morning? Evening? Middle of the night? The more you think about your idea, the more real the picture will be in your mind of what you want to do.
2. Once you’ve got the big picture, it’s time to get more specific. Rather than saying, “I want to write.” Or “I want to paint.” Or “I want to get more education,” what specifically would you like to do? Your plan’s going to change as you get going, but having a solid idea under you helps when you’re ready to make a leap.
3. Now comes the fun part: What’s the first baby step you can take?
4. When you’ve got the first step in place, think about the next five steps. Five steps in and you’re starting to build a habit. And you’ll start to see how much time you need for your brilliant work. Where do you get the time? You steal it from something that’s less important than your big wish!
5. As you work, track your progress. This could be minutes spent per day or per week, words of output, paint on canvas, pounds lost, glasses of water drunk, the number of contacts called… Tracking progress, and lack of progress is your way of self-reporting to see what’s working and what’s not working. Then you can re-tool and do more of what’s working.

If you’re motivated by community, bringing someone else in on your plans can also be fun. Can you find or form a group to help you stay accountable to your dream? I’ve been meeting with a musical writer’s group and just hearing what other writers are up to is inspiring.

I had a wish to direct a musical. My wish is coming true thanks to the Portland Players board. And can I mention – a LOT of work as we enter Week #4 of rehearsal and start building the set! All good.

Sending you good vibes to help turn your wishes into reality.

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I welcome your thoughts and suggestions for future posts!