The top regret in the book The Top 5 Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware is: I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

That made me think about my own life and possible regrets in the future. What different actions could I take today in order to achieve a life true to myself and make all my dreams come true? This question motivated me to write down steps to take to achieve your wildest dreams.

I feel like I have achieved quite many dreams so far, but since I’m a dreamer by heart, I’ll always have many more dreams in store for the future. So here’s what I’ve learned so far.

5 steps to achiev your wildest dreams

5 steps to achieve your wildest dreams:

1.Get clear on what you want

The first thing you have to figure out is this: What do you REALLY want? This is probably the hardest step. If you have no clue, just think about what makes you happy? What are you passionate about? What would you do even without earning a penny? What are your strengths? What do you do on your free time? Collect ideas for your life that make you feel excited about the possibilities. Then pick a passion, write it down and pursue it. It is tempting to pick the perfect dream and this need for perfection can paralyze you. You may have many dreams, and eventually you can fulfill them all. So just pick one and understand that this is not a one time deal.

2.Educate yourself and brainstorm goals

Knowledge is power. This could be a book (I listed some of my favorite books at the end of this post), a training course, or even a mentor. There are lots of options out there, so make sure to do your due diligence.

Just be careful that you don’t over consume all the different sources of information and then end up not taking any action at all. Don’t take courses one after another. Figure out how you’re going to make your dream a reality with actionable steps. Find the exact information that you need right now. For example: If you know that your first step is to create a website, just find information about that, nothing else. If you want to create a life of your dreams, you have to move forward strategically.

3.Take action and use your time wisely

Even though your vision wouldn’t be crystal clear yet, start taking some kind of action towards your dream.

Once you do this, you will get clarity along the way. You may feel confused and overwhelmed once you start taking action, but this only happens because you’re embarking on a new journey. It’s a sign that you’re growing and breaking free from your old way of being. So don’t be scared and intimidated if you feel these feelings.

Once you’ve figured out what you need to do to make your dream happen, take one tiny step in the right direction preferably every single day.

I like to write down my next day’s tasks before I go to bed at night. I only write 3-5 of the most important tasks, so I can make sure they’re something that I can truly accomplish. That really helps me stay focused. You can also benefit from a goal planner like this.

Understand that every little decision, every single thing we do, matters.

And you may even have to give up on something in order to achieve your dream. For instance, I haven’t been watching tv for 8 years now. Instead, I educate myself on topics that I’m passionate about or on things that I need to know in order to achieve my goals.

We all have the same amount of time each and every single day. What we do with that time is entirely up to us.

Think about how you allocate your time everyday, and pay attention to all the excuses you make in order to avoid doing things you know are good for you. I often ask myself: Is this the best use of my time right now? That helps me prioritize.

4. Surround yourself with positive people and use other’s success as inspiration

This is so important! You may have heard the saying: You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.

If you change your life influencers for the better, you can dramatically increase your chances for happiness and success. Think about the people you know who could be positive influencers in your life, and try to spend time with them. They are people who will inspire you, motivate you to achieve your goals and cheer on your success.

Also, there will probably be people around you who will discourage you. When that happens, try to evaluate the source: Is she/he someone you admire? Has she/he done something you hope to achieve in life? Has this person achieved her/his own dreams? That helps you evaluate if you should listen to them.

Take responsibility for the energy that you allow in your life and fend off negativity as much as possible.

Also, it’s natural to look to those who know what they’re doing in order to learn from them.

However, it’s important to remember not to compare yourself to those who have been doing something for longer than you. One of the greatest temptations for us is to compare the start of our new adventures to the middle of someone else’s. If you do that, you’ll always struggle to celebrate your accomplishments. Just concentrate on moving forward with your own path and you’ll see big results. Look to others for inspiration and guidance, but leave it there.

5. Don’t give up!

The more successful you are, the more mistakes you will make. People who don’t do anything, don’t make mistakes. A powerful key to our success is getting over the thinking that making mistakes is bad. Making mistakes is inevitable. We spend too much time trying to wait for the perfect moment, when we should be out there making a decision, taking action, and then looking at it and reflecting, did that work or not? If it did, do more of it. If it didn’t work, what can I change? How could I do it differently next time?

So be patient with your dream and don’t give up! Great things don’t happen overnight.

Whether it takes a year to achieve your dream or a lifetime, keep going. All dreams can come true if you work hard, have patience and keep the faith.

Here are my book recommendations (affiliate links). I believe you might find these books really helpful and inspiring: