{"id":43482,"date":"2016-08-24T19:40:39","date_gmt":"2016-08-25T03:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=43482"},"modified":"2017-05-27T08:48:38","modified_gmt":"2017-05-27T16:48:38","slug":"pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/","title":{"rendered":"From Pipedream to Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

\u201cA single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>JRR Tolkien<\/p>\n

\u201cSail round the world \u2026!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sound familiar? It\u2019s a common answer to the question \u2013 \u2018What would you do if anything<\/em> was possible?\u2019<\/p>\n

It\u2019s exactly what Heidi said to me on a self-confidence course<\/a> about 18 months ago. Then in the next breath she called it a pipedream \u2026 \u201cimpossible in reality because I\u2019ve got zero sailing experience\u201d.<\/p>\n

But wait! Since then she\u2019s successfully completed a 3,600 mile Leg of the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. \u00a016 days at sea in the South Atlantic racing from Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town \u2026<\/p>\n

Something didn\u2019t add up.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sailing might not be your thing. It doesn\u2019t matter. The principle is the same if you want to turn a dream into a reality.<\/p>\n

Heidi pushed the boundaries. Here\u2019s how she made it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cBegin with the end in mind\u201d \u00a0<\/em>Stephen Covey<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Dare to dream<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Be brutally honest. Do you ever think seriously about what you want to achieve during your lifetime? Do you ever take time to reflect and ask yourself if you\u2019re making the most of your life?<\/p>\n

    Or are you, dare I say it, \u2018normal\u2019, like the vast majority of people \u2013 existing day to day, busily doing the things that need to be done but never really thinking seriously about why you\u2019re doing them<\/em>?<\/p>\n

    Coming to terms with this and working it out does matter. Especially if you want to convert a dream into a reality.<\/p>\n

    This was how it started for Heidi.<\/p>\n

    Try projecting your thoughts into the future. Look between two and five years ahead. Look \u2018strategically\u2019 at your life. Most people don\u2019t ever do this \u2026<\/p>\n

    And then they wonder why their dreams never come true.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Open your mind. Think about what you\u2019d like to achieve over this strategic period of time. A lot of people struggle with this. Heidi certainly did. She told me she ended up staring at a blank piece of paper for ages. I suggested she tried a mind map. It worked. Here\u2019s how she did it \u2026<\/p>\n

    Mind mapping is a practical creative thinking process; it means brainstorming and jotting down all of the things you\u2019d like to achieve.<\/p>\n

    Don\u2019t write a list. Get a blank piece of paper and write the title in the middle (something like \u2026 \u2018Ideas for the next X years\u2019. Have a free-for-all. Let your mind go wild. Create a map with lines linking ideas. This will help you to think creatively. Mind maps only work if you think positively<\/a>\u00a0and challenge yourself to be bold and imaginative.<\/p>\n

    You must dare to dream.<\/em><\/p>\n

    Pipedreams aren\u2019t out of bounds on your map. Don\u2019t be scared to write down everything you\u2019d like to do. You\u2019re not \u2018contracted\u2019 at this stage to achieve anything. You haven\u2019t promised yourself anything. You\u2019re just generating ideas.<\/p>\n

    One of Heidi\u2019s ideas on her map was to sail round the world.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      Get Real<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Your dreaming has achieved what you needed. It\u2019s presented you with ideas.<\/p>\n

      Now\u2019s the time to inject a degree of reality. The time to get real.<\/p>\n

      Reality comes in the form of credible aspirations. Right now, you\u2019ve probably got a piece of paper with ideas scribbled all over it. Filtering your mind map and coming up with credible aspirations will help you to convert the scribble into something meaningful. Let\u2019s call these aspirations \u2018objectives\u2019.<\/p>\n

      Creating personal objectives helps you to reconcile your dreams. Sounds a bit weird I know. But it\u2019s the best way to find the balance between striving for something aspirational and setting yourself up for failure.<\/p>\n

      So challenge yourself but don\u2019t be so ambitious that deep down you know you\u2019re just kidding yourself.<\/p>\n

      Heidi did exactly this. She started to get real. She accepted that sailing round the world was a big Ask. But daring to dream in the first place created the spark for a more credible personal objective.<\/p>\n

      She decided she would aim to complete one Leg of the Clipper Round The World Race. She investigated the possibilities and worked out that it was feasible. She didn\u2019t need any sailing experience.<\/p>\n

      She applied for the South Atlantic Leg and got accepted.<\/p>\n

      Her pipedream had led to a credible aspiration which had become a reality. <\/em><\/p>\n

      Now she started to think shorter term. It was happening!<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \n

        Knuckle down<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Knuckling down means working out what you need to do in the shorter term to gets things moving. Heidi started to think about what she needed to do over the six months before the Race.<\/p>\n

        She created some specific \u2018tactical\u2019 goals for each month. From these she worked out what she\u2019d need to do day to day \u2013 Attend sail training sessions, get fit, buy clothing and equipment etc.<\/p>\n

        To some this might seem like a very regimented approach. And that\u2019s exactly what it is. Heidi knew exactly what she needed to do. Being crystal clear about your tactical goals will help you to feel more motivated to achieve them.<\/p>\n

        Following these three logical steps; mind map, strategic objectives, tactical goals, helps you to feel more in control of your life. It disciplines you to break down your strategic plans into manageable chunks that actually feel achievable and believable.<\/p>\n

        It\u2019s the secret to converting dreams to reality.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. \n

          Use your gears<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Life is life; things change. It may well be that something completely unforeseen happens that you could never have predicted when you created one of your personal objectives. Don\u2019t let this affect your self-esteem<\/a>\u00a0and don\u2019t use it as an excuse to give up.<\/p>\n

          Just reflect on what it means for the objective and reset it. In other words, change gear; you might even have to engage reverse gear if necessary. You\u2019re better off having a plan that changes than no plan at all.<\/p>\n

          So review your objectives regularly, take account of any unforeseen eventualities, make amendments where necessary and set new objectives and goals when others have been achieved.<\/p>\n

          Heidi\u2019s now building her own house on the coast in West Wales, UK. She came up with this \u2018dream\u2019 while she was on watch one night in the South Atlantic.<\/p>\n

          \u201cYou are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream\u201d <\/em>\u00a0Paulo Coelho<\/p>\n

          \n

          Mike McClement, Founder Think Confidence<\/a>, Self-confidence Author and Coach. Passionate about helping people achieve their potential and enjoy life to the full. Creator of the 4 Step online Confidence Plan.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Be brutally honest. Do you ever think seriously about what you want to achieve during your lifetime? Do you ever take time to reflect and ask yourself if you\u2019re making the most of your life? Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11392,"featured_media":43608,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[205,5,17,21,6],"tags":[1171,233,2099,91,5415,5405,66,4652,207,5342],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Pipedream to Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Be brutally honest. Do you ever take time to reflect and ask yourself if you\u2019re making the most of your life?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Pipedream to Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Be brutally honest. Do you ever take time to reflect and ask yourself if you\u2019re making the most of your life?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thinkconfidence\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-25T03:40:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-27T16:48:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_4314-460x277.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"460\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"277\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThinkConfidence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mike McClement\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_4314.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_4314.png\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1232,\"caption\":\"From Pipe Dream To Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/\",\"name\":\"From Pipedream to Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-25T03:40:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-27T16:48:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/181c5ea433012f5234b63eeb2ab62cab\"},\"description\":\"Be brutally honest. Do you ever take time to reflect and ask yourself if you\u2019re making the most of your life?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From Pipedream to Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/181c5ea433012f5234b63eeb2ab62cab\",\"name\":\"Mike McClement\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8376fe50391eb714fbf65132057b9028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8376fe50391eb714fbf65132057b9028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mike McClement\"},\"description\":\"Mike McClement, Founder Think Confidence, Self-confidence Author and Coach. Passionate about helping people achieve their potential and enjoy life to the full. Creator of the 4 Step online Confidence Plan.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.think-confidence.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thinkconfidence\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThinkConfidence\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/mikemcclement\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From Pipedream to Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen","description":"Be brutally honest. Do you ever take time to reflect and ask yourself if you\u2019re making the most of your life?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Pipedream to Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen","og_description":"Be brutally honest. Do you ever take time to reflect and ask yourself if you\u2019re making the most of your life?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thinkconfidence\/","article_published_time":"2016-08-25T03:40:39+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-05-27T16:48:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":460,"height":277,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_4314-460x277.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThinkConfidence","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mike McClement","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_4314.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/IMG_4314.png","width":2048,"height":1232,"caption":"From Pipe Dream To Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/","name":"From Pipedream to Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-08-25T03:40:39+00:00","dateModified":"2017-05-27T16:48:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/181c5ea433012f5234b63eeb2ab62cab"},"description":"Be brutally honest. Do you ever take time to reflect and ask yourself if you\u2019re making the most of your life?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/pipedream-to-reality-4-simple-steps-to-make-it-happen\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From Pipedream to Reality: 4 Simple Steps To Make It Happen"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/181c5ea433012f5234b63eeb2ab62cab","name":"Mike McClement","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8376fe50391eb714fbf65132057b9028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8376fe50391eb714fbf65132057b9028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mike McClement"},"description":"Mike McClement, Founder Think Confidence, Self-confidence Author and Coach. Passionate about helping people achieve their potential and enjoy life to the full. Creator of the 4 Step online Confidence Plan.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.think-confidence.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/thinkconfidence\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThinkConfidence"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/mikemcclement\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43482"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11392"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}