How to Believe in Your Dreams – 3 Steps

How to believe in your dreams in 3 steps.

Belief is a powerful word – the state of knowing and feeling certain that something special is coming your way. Through my own personal experience I’ve found that creating that state of certainty – to believe in your dreams – has 3 steps.

Here are 3 steps to believe in your dreams:

Step #1. Love What You Do

Recently I was watching Steve Jobs present his commencement speech to the Standford College graduates. Steve is one of the co-founders of Apple computers.  Although Jobs is not a college graduate himself he had an important message to help anyone create belief in their dreams.

Steve said that many people try to connect the dots looking forward so that they can see what their life will look like in the future.  He said that’s the wrong approach because connecting the dots only happens when you’re looking backward. It’s only after something happens in your life that you realize how it got you to where you are.

He gives the example of when he got fired from Apple.  He spent 10 years of his life building this multi-billion dollar company.  And when he got fired at the age of 30 it turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him because a few months later he met his wife.

Jobs says that you can’t connect the dots moving forward.  You can only have faith and believe in your dreams.  Jobs says that the only thing that kept him going all those years when he faced adversity was the fact that he absolutely loved what he was doing.  The lesson?

Do what you love and love what you do.  To believe in your dreams, make sure to find what you absolutely love to do and the go out and do it.

Step #2. Always Think On Paper

I was at a seminar in Universal City last year and saw some amazing speakers and presenters.  One of them was the rich dad from Robert Kiyosaki’s popular book: Rich Dad, Poor Dad.  He said something that I’ll never forget,

“Always think on paper.” ~ Keith Cunningham

That means taking a pen/pencil and writing out what you want.  Then taking that initial draft and rewriting and refining it until it feels right to you.  Creating a state of certainty starts when you know what you want.

Have you ever been to a restaurant when the server suddenly came by to take your order?  And because you were unsure of what you wanted, you fumbled a bit?

It’s exactly the same with your dreams.  If you’re unsure of what you want, you start to fumble and doubt yourself.  That doubt is a dream killer.

When you know exactly what you want, you create a state of absolute certainty – a belief that cuts through any doubt.

To believe in your dreams, you’ve got to know what you want. One of the best ways to figure that out is to start by writing it out.

#3. Keep the Fire Burning

After a fire has been burning for a few hours all you have left are hot coals.  But if you add some wood and create a little movement, the coals catch fire again.  That little movement is all that’s needed to keep the fire burning.

It’s the same with your dreams.  A small movement or a small action is all you need to keep your fire burning consistently. Take a small action each day to keep that fire alive.

By doing this consistently you’ll start to realize your dreams, one step at a time.  And as those stepping stones reveal more steps, you’ll start to create a more powerful belief in your dreams.

This is far from being a complete list.  What have you done to create a compelling belief in your dreams?

“Success starts with a dream, a thought; but that’s only the first step.  Writing it down is the second step. Doing one specific thing to bring it about is the third step.”
~ Frank Tibolt, A Touch of Greatness

22 Comments

  • Ideas With A Kick

    Reply Reply January 11, 2010

    Hey Steve,

    Solid as usual. I’d like to add one more step, which I find to be critical: pick bold but at the same time, realistic dreams. It’s hard to believe in something if every bit of reality seems to tell you it’s “out there”.

    Eduard

  • Beth

    Reply Reply January 12, 2010

    To above: “realistic” is relative – if you don’t think your dream is realistic yet, find people that have done something similar, in scope if not in detail. EVERY bit of reality can’t be telling you your dream is too “out there” :)

    Love the article – “a belief that cuts through any doubt” yay!

  • Johnny

    Reply Reply January 12, 2010

    Great post. AWESOME analogies!

  • Stephanie Robertson

    Reply Reply January 12, 2010

    Steve, this is an extraordinary post. It was informational and inspirational. For those who have never pondered the concept of a dreamers direction, I am sure that this will be a remarkable first step in the process.

  • Hema

    Reply Reply January 12, 2010

    you are so right, Steve…specially about being unsure leads to doubting oneself and then killing the dream!

  • Steve

    Reply Reply January 12, 2010

    Thanks so much everyone for your feedback and comments :-)

  • Fatima

    Reply Reply January 13, 2010

    well,

    I liked what you wrote and what i liked the most is the positive energy you give to the reader of this article. :)

    well yes, we do need to set our goals and its ok to be bold one and be beyond what we estimate our goals As Leonardo da vinci said once “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

    loved how you put like an action plan for and applicable step ahead to move with achieving our dreams and you started with the most critical one “believing in our dreams”

    Nice Article

    and looking forward to read you next

    Regards,

    Fatima

  • Charles

    Reply Reply January 13, 2010

    Hi Steve,

    This is very true. I would like to comment on step 2 always think on paper. In many instance we fail to practice this very imporatnt habit. Iam currently doing it and it is really helping me to align my goal and dreams. Thanks Steve for a great article

  • Steve

    Reply Reply January 13, 2010

    Hi Charles,

    I think that being a blogger and writer helps with step 2. I’ve always been very creative like my dad. What I’ve been actively doing more recently is writing down those ideas when I get them and flushing them out by writing.

    I think writing is the great brain stimulator as Frank Tibolt once said,

    “Writing a thing down on paper signals the subconscious mind to work on it, to incubate, to gestate, to create… to realize the thing… to turn a wish into a fact.”

  • Angie Lay

    Reply Reply January 20, 2010

    I loved this! Especially the part about the fire, hot coals and a little movement! (That could be a book title, yanno… Remember me when you write it!) :)

    Great as usual!

  • sk

    Reply Reply May 5, 2011

    Thank you very much for sharing a very vital message. keep going on ……

  • ann

    Reply Reply July 27, 2011

    Thank you for the inspiration. To love what you do is so important and most people are searching for it but give up too soon before they find it.

  • wishes4Life

    Reply Reply November 17, 2011

    Steve-insightful post and comments, thanks imagining the future and helping others realize their dreams.

    Best wishes,
    wishes4Life.com
    believe in your dreams

  • JEAN

    Reply Reply February 7, 2013

    can u gave me tips how to be rich ?

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