Don't Just Dream, ACT

Tuesday, July 24


I recently shared about dreams and awakening our dreams. There is a creeping dream buster called inaction, which can also be labeled mediocrity. Life sometimes happens, some say. Time went too fast, after college, job(s), marriage, kids, grandkids; there was never enough time to pursue your dreams.

If it were an analogy we would probably agree that “The dream got drowned in the vast ocean of life.
The question that would naturally arise is, Who submerged the dream in that vast ocean of life?Was it the job(s), perhaps the responsibility that one has in marriage...or are we probably just finding comfort in blaming everything and everyone but ourselves?

Action is not 'easy' but it is the only thing we have to do, take specific actions on our dreams. We fear that we might fail or that people will ridicule us if we fail.

Most of the time when on a dance floor, the ones criticizing your moves are those sitting on the sidelines.

There is no short-cut to realizing our dreams. It takes work and deliberate specific action on your part.
I wonder if you've ever seen a baby learning to take their first steps. They move from one support object to the next being really careful not to trip. It takes time to learn and they will surely fall severally while learning the tricks. Eventually, they walk without any support objects.

What if the baby decided to sit and crawl simply because it was too hard to walk? What would you do as a parent?


Begin taking baby steps to achieve your dreams


Secrets to taking action:

  • It won't be easy but it will be worth it. Nothing good comes easy.
  • You have to be your own best friend and motivator. The dream is yours so no one will help you if you don't help yourself.
  • It will take time to learn the tricks. Don't be in a rush for quick-fixes.
  • Be prepared to trip while taking action. You will make mistakes, learn the lessons and push forward.
  • There will always be people who ridicule you, most of the time, they don't understand the dream as you do. “You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ― Winston Churchill
  • Ask for help when the going gets tough. There are always people who have been through the road you are on.

Goals are dreams with deadlines.

Specific steps:

  • Write down the dream.
  • Write the specific actions that need to be undertaken to achieve the goal.
  • Write down dates when you hope to have achieved each goal. This will help you measure progress.
  • Share your dream with people whom you can trust. This will keep you accountable.
  • Adjust the goals and deadlines appropriately as you progress.

To live your life fully, you have to take action. Take it now! As Jim Rohn said, "You do not find what you need, you find what you search for."


Matthew 7 (PHILLIPS)

7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. The one who asks will always receive; the one who is searching will always find, and the door is opened to the man who knocks.”

14 comments:

  1. great post Jep, and great action steps.

    I like this "no one will help you if you don't help yourself".

    i know that if we got this (esp our country folk!), we'd go so far and achieve so much more. We are sorely responsible for our own success.

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  2. These words just say it all: "We are sorely responsible for our own success", it is true that even as a country we need to learn to own the problem and then begin to find solutions.

    On helping oneself - Jim Rohn in the audio series 'Take Charge of Your Life' says, "Self motivation is key. Don't ask that someone comes to motivate you, what if they don't show up?"

    Always a pleasure having you read and share your thoughts. Thanks Ngina.

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  3. Wow girl!, don't i love your new look!!! it is super fantastic!

    Congratulations! You goin' places!

    I love the color (i like pinks and purples!), design and layout. it's super clean and airy, easy to navigate.

    Awesome awesome job gal!

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  4. Always love Jim's words.

    Yeah, what if? Sad day it is!

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  5. Thank you so much @Ngina Otiende am blessed to have you as a mentor. You are truly a firelighter!

    Amen to going places, I have been working on it today, am also soaking myself in the outcome. Change is truly like rest. The challenge was doing it on my own and I overcame it.

    Truly appreciate your remarks!

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  6. That's true. Sad day for those who wait for others rather than just get up, go and fail forward.

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  7. You did the design from scratch yourself or was it a blogger theme that you tweaked around?

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  8. I tweaked around with a blogger theme I got from the internet.

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  9. really really beautiful, great job!

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  10. Beautiful design Maureen. I love it. Very clean.

    Interestingly, I just tweeted about dreams this morning. Counterintuitively, I think dreaming is one of the ways to ensure you act. I think a dream without action is a dead dream just like faith without works is dead. Living faith must produce action. You cannot claim to believe if you are not acting. A true dream spurs us to action.

    A true dream is like fire shut up in your bones and you cannot sit still with it. It becomes a case of "woe is me if I preach not the gospel." From my experience, my times of inaction have been times of abandoning the dream or not dreaming at all. The more I dream and rehearse my dream, the more I need to act.

    I also think that one of the reasons for inaction is dreaming small. We were not made to be motivated by small dreams that we can accomplish. We were made in the image of God to carry God-sized dreams not humanly accomplishable ones.

    And I believe in writing down the dream, writing down the vision and speaking it. When written down and spoken, it begins to take on life, for life begins with words. Dreams must be measurable so there must be tangible goals, so that we know when the dream begins to materialize.

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  11. Truly appreciate your kind words, Tolu. This blog design was a part of inaction on my part :) am elated how it's turned out after acting!

    You have really expanded the aspect of dreams and its quite accurate how faith and dreams correlate with action. A dead dream results from no action.

    I agree with your analysis from experience. When we abandon the dream within us, it is when we are not engaged in the dreaming process.

    I love the part that we were "made in the image of God to carry God-sized dreams not humanly accomplishable ones", we are serving an infinite God and attempting to reach Him through finite resources -- when we are dreaming small, we are limiting God to only what we can do, when through Him, the humanly impossible becomes possible.

    Giving life to our dreams truly does begin with words and writing and speaking our dreams is an absolute necessity. I am blessed by your extension to this discussion.

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  12. Great post and action steps. I really like your statement, "You have to be your own best friend and motivator." If we want to reach our dreams then we need to be self motivated. It also helps having people around you who believe in you.

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  13. After getting motivation from others, self motivation helps one get to act. Even when no one else believes in you, self motivation is key.

    I am grateful to have you reading and sharing Dan.

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