Ten Steps to Successfully Achieving Your Dreams in 2015

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By J.Naomi Johnson

The dawn of a new year is upon us.

There are one million reasons why you should not do it. You are safe. You’re okay with the way things are. The job you have pays the bills and so on and so forth.

These are vicious lies. You have to stop lying to yourself.

Maybe, when you were in school and you had the time to fart around ideas, lying to yourself was okay. You found yourself majoring in art history one year and business the next. You said you’d take a year off then came back six years later and completed your degree. There is nothing wrong with that. Hell, I did it. Shit gets in the way. Life happens and it was cocktail hour.

The problem is to not get caught up in putting your dream in the background. Putting your passion away into your pocket is a downright crime.

Well those days are gone. That was so last year. It’s 2015. The time is now. The fate of your world depends on it. I know it’s better said than done but you can do it. I have faith and a top ten list of ways that will help you to chase your passions and achieve your dreams this new year. Yey!

So here we go.

10.) Believe in your talent.
The idea is yours. Others may have an idea like yours but no two people are the same. I can hear you right now. “Well, someone already thought of the idea…so…” So what? In school I once took a marketing class and the teacher said to never reinvent the wheel just make it roll faster! You and only you stand behind your process. No one is as passionate about or as attentive to the needs of your project more than you. You got to believe you have something special. Believe in your vision. It’s yours.

Speak it into existence. Talk about it all the time. Talk about it so much that people tell you to relax. Talking about it puts your dream in the front of your mind and keeps you focused. Passion is the fuel to a dream and when people see how passionate you are they began to believe in your dreams too.






Listen, regardless if someone is already doing the idea God created your blessings specifically for you. Stop looking at other peoples blessings and focus on obtaining your own. Which brings me to…

9.) Stop monitoring your Instagram and Facebook!
Unless you are marketing or launching campaigns do not sit and waste your time feeding into the hype of others. Websites like the ones stated, no matter how entertaining, are nothing but one big ole show and tell. Someone’s fantastic life took a lot of preparation and maybe even some drama to achieve. Do not rate your life based on the online photo albums of others. This is a detrimental mistake. You don’t know if the grass is really greener or if it is just some good looking astro turf. Also, aside from marketing you don’t need to let people know what you’re trying to do because there are some haters out there. A majority of them are on your Facebook. Seriously. Take the achievement of others and refocus that energy as motivation to create your own online show and tell. Here is a game: For every friends accolade add another task to your do to list to make you venture a reality. This really helps when you are trying to develop your marketing strategies for your business plan.




8.) Get a little crazy and take some risk.
Some of the most magnificent people were thought of as smucks, losers, lames and crazy. If everyone had the same dream than it would be a societal norm. I think family can be some of the hardest critics. They cannot see the finish line of your dreams only the fact that you where indecisive in college and when you were sixteen you wrecked your dad’s new car. You get what I am saying? Don’t be afraid to take risk. A lot of the people around you think your nuts anyways and that opinion will not change until you are successful at your venture.
It is the bottom line: try it.

Whatever it is try it and see what happens. You want to say you did try. You are not going to catch anything different fishing around in the pond you are custom to. You have to get the big fish out in the open water.

7.) Stop taking note of what you cannot do and start utilizing your ability.
Not to take it to the streets but I have seen a hustler make something outta nothing. Single mothers do it every single day. The college student figures it out too. I know when I first got to Atlanta I was broke as hell but I would take those receipts from Popeye’s and complete the surveys on the back and get a full meal for like two dollars. So instead of saying I'm not going to eat, I said I have to figure out a way to eat. But anyways, do you see the difference of thought there? I chose that regardless of how IT happened IT was going to happen. I chose this over the can or cannot school of thought. Because believe me your girl was going to eat.




In the real world, people of color are not always born into financial ability. The idea of being able to throw your kid a couple grand to start a new venture is not a reality for most people. If your one who maybe has to figure out how to get your dream don’t limit yourself by what you don’t have instead say, “I gotta whole lotta…(fill in the blank)” and work with that. It’s a definite bonus if you get what you needed for free too. You are only limited by the boundaries that you create for yourself.

6.) Lose faith in the word No.
It means nothing. When someone tells you no it’s because they don’t want you to proceed with what you are doing. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. People say no for a ton of reasons. They say no because they could not accomplish the task. They say no because they don’t want you to accomplish the task. People will tell you no all day long but there are billions of people on this planet and one person will say yes. Lose your faith in the word no and replace it with this person cannot but somebody will.




5.) Get up, get out and meet somebody.
Remember when I said earlier you should be talking about your dreams all the time. Well your friends should also have dreams. I don’t mean they should be dreaming. I mean they should have solid plans in motion. If your friends do not than you need to find some people that do. That’s networking 101. I am not saying that you need to leave people behind. I am saying that you need to increase your circle of connections and connect to people who are trying to do the same as you. Networking can open doors to finance, skill, organization etc. It is a beautiful thing when people from different walks of life come together and create something that society can utilize. A good place to start is Meetup.com. So don’t be shy. Get out there and socialize.

4.) Stay consistent.
If the plan is to wake up every morning at 8am than wake up every morning at 8am. The longevity of your brand or venture depends on your consistency. You must produce the same quality of service and goods each and every time. As humans we appreciate consistency. Think about it. Did you like the person you dated who you could count on or did you appreciate the wildcard ex? Granted I am sure you had fun with the latter but I am willing to bet you viewed the prior long term. One way to stay consistent is to set a schedule of due dates for yourself. Stick to your schedule like the holy grail. Never veer from it. Not even for a second.

3.) Become a dictator of your time.
That is one thing we just don’t have a lot of. You cannot just give people who are not helping you to succeed time. It’s too precious. Be about your business and value your time. One thing that helps most business savvy people is that they equivocate time with cash. Loss of time equals loss of money. Do this and you will be mindful of when people are wasting your time. It becomes offensive because it is not theirs to waste. Take a stand when you are losing time and say it. Plan in advance so you save time. Make sure every moment brings you closer to your goal. You only have a certain amount of hours in the day. Once they are gone, you do not get them back.




2.) Always finish what you start.
You better finish that business plan. You know, if you finish what you start you already surpassed people who were trying to accomplish the same goals as you? You may fail but do not allow failure to be your reason for not finishing your plan. Even if you fail you are still moving in a positive direction. Some ideas may not be so great but by finishing the task you have completed something and that is better than nothing at all. On the other hand if you fail you know what steps not to take in the future.

1.) Plan a celebration no matter how small for every accomplishment that brings you closer to your dream.
Throw a party, go shopping or dine out at your favorite restaurant. You deserve to acknowledge your success. There is a great feeling when you accomplish your goals. Celebrating also helps to remind you of where you came from and how much you have done. This also allows for a mental break and gives you a reset to the next phase of your planning. Pretty soon you will have reached your dream and can begin a new venture.

EXTRA.) Don’t let your past become chains. I will talk more about this in the next post.

I hope this list helps you succeed. Please remember to subscribe and comment to my blog and share!