“A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

I love this quote by the American author Napoleon Hill, best known for his book Think and Grow Rich, which was published back in 1937 and still stands the test of time today.

Much of the content of the original book has since been updated and integrated into Think and Grow Rich for Women by Sharon Lechter, published with permission from the Napoleon Hill Foundation in 2014.  On a side note, I saw her deliver her keynote a few years ago – she truly is a force to be reckoned with in her own right.  She co-authored Rich Dad Poor Dad with Robert T Kiyosaki, along with 14 other books in the Rich Dad series.  She was also the CEO of the Rich Dad company for over 10 years.

Back to goals, dreams and deadlines. When you know what it is that you want to achieve, and put a deadline in place, it really does help make it a reality as you have a framework of time within which to work – and that ignites your motivation.

I would, however, always add a caveat and say that it is important to know everything is moveable as we go with the flow and tune into our lives.  Heck, stuff happens, and it is important, in my opinion, to recognise that we can also flex and bend.  The journey is rarely a straight, uninterrupted one after all!

  • Where are you on your career path right now – do you have a dream job (goal) in mind?
  • What do you want to achieve?
  • How can you make it happen?
  • What steps can you take today to make your dream your reality?

You can chunk up and create a bigger picture to work towards and then chunk back down and create bite-sized tasks to make it happen.  It is all about adjusting and finding out what works for you and following your intuition.

I have many bigger pictures that I am working towards right now within both my career and personal life; however for the benefit of this blog post, I will focus purely on my career goals.

I have a goal to create a holistic retreat in South Wales whereby guests / delegates come along with the aim of changing their life around during their stay. Programmes will include coaching, a range of holistic therapies, yoga, meditation, coastal foraging, rewilding, and nutritious food that is home grown / locally sourced.  One other big career goal to host my own chat show, whilst appearing regularly as a guest on other shows, and encourage viewers and guests to become the best person they can be through living in alignment with their talents and passions, living their lives on purpose, and fulfilling their potential.

Whilst I do not have any rigid timelines in place to make my bigger pictures my reality, I have created deadlines for myself in relation to other work goals and dreams that I am undertaking along the way.  These are all important components that need to be in place to make everything else happen. This includes creating an online course on the www.teachable.com platform; it’s based on the content of my book http://mybook.to/shininglightyou.  The course, which guides users through a series of lectures and exercises that have been designed to help them spend time on themselves so that they can focus on what it is that makes them tick, and think more deeply about how they can find a career path that will bring them greater happiness and fulfilment, is due to go live in December 2020.

Since putting the deadline for the launch of this course in place, I have worked hard at focusing my energies towards making this happen, as I know that I need to get it finished and set it live before I can move on and create more course content and coaching consultancy packages and retreats.  It is an important step from which I have learned a great deal already.

What smaller steps can you take right now to bring your bigger picture that bit closer?

Every step you take is one that takes you closer, and there is always stuff you can learn along the way too.  In fact, as I’ve already alluded to, it is all about the journey, not the destination.

Top tips

  • Create your bigger picture and make sure that it is realistic
  • Review the last few steps it would take to get there and work backwards to see what you need to achieve to aid your progress
  • Tune in to the opportunities that arise along the way
  • Act when needed
  • Flex and bend, and adapt as life takes its course
  • Enjoy the journey and the learning!

And as a bonus tip:

Be kind to yourself – if you feel that you need to move your deadlines to fit with your life, that is fine.  Everything happens at the time it is meant to happen!

To find out more about Napoleon Hill, head over to the Napoleon Hill Foundation via his essay on life – https://www.naphill.org/get-involved/essay-on-life/