How to Decide Which Dream to Pursue First
You’ve got dreams…and lots of them. Maybe you want to write a book, start an online store, open a coffee shop, launch a dog walking business. ALL EXCITING STUFF! But how do you know which dream to pursue first?
In today’s post, we are walking through 3 things to consider when you’re deciding which dream to start with.
First all let me just tell you right off the bat: CAN RELATE TO THIS. I am still learning how to navigate this myself. There is no shortage of ideas over here and girl let me tell you, when I have an idea I’m gung-ho to take it from an idea to a done deal like umm yesterday. I’ve been told a time or two that I’m not super patient and I can’t really argue that honestly, lol.
Before you read this post or later on after you read if you can’t do it right now, I encourage you to write all your dreams out on sticky notes. One sticky note per dream. I’m going to tell you what to do with these throughout the post, cool?
3 Things to Consider When Choosing Which Dream to Pursue First:
1) Which one makes the most logical sense to pursue right now?
As in, which one can you afford financially, time-wise, and energy-wise?
Which one is a good starting point?
Which one are you equipped to pursue right now?
I know this isn’t a glamorous thing to think about but hey, not all dream work is glamorous. I actually remember one of the gals in the Hustle Sanely Program this summer was asking about how to determine which dream to pursue first and when I told her this she said it made her feel like she had permission to put her focus on the less “fun” dreams in order to do the one that she felt the most prepared to start with.
We talk about this often, but we see people going after really extravagant dreams on social media right? Writing books, starting businesses, making planners - these massive dreams that make us feel like maybe we can only go after shiny dreams too. Well that’s not true.
First of all, comparing dreams is pointless. Really, it is. But more than that, starting with a “smaller” dream can be wise depending on your current season.
Maybe you’re working full-time, in school full-time, and a mama. You have a dream of writing a book. But you barely have the time to brush your hair before you run out the door most days. Mmmm doesn’t seem wise to me to add “write a book” to your task list right now, because, although I haven’t written a book yet, I can imagine that it’s a pretty high energy and high time commitment with deadlines and things like that.
However, you could totally start a blog right now because that probably requires less time and less energy than writing a book - plus the deadlines, at first, aren’t as intense. Not to mention, the blog is a great stepping stone for the book because:
~ You’ll be building a community online as your blog is read by others who will probably want to support your book in the future and
~ You’re actively working on your writing which is pretty important when it comes to being an author.
Another example - let’s say you have 2 dreams: one is starting a dog walking business and the other is starting a photography business. It’s pretty safe to say that starting the dog walking business will cost less up front, right? So if you can’t afford the camera equipment right now to start a photography business, starting the dog walking business sounds like an obvious choice.
Okay so your first sticky note task:
Spread out your dreams on sticky notes on a table in front of you - then separate them into 2 categories:
~ could pursue right now (time, energy, finances) and
~ not ready to pursue yet
I did this with my Hustle Sanely dreams and seeing everything laid out like this really helped me create a road map for my dreams. I was able to see which dream made the most sense for me to pursue right now and then I was able to “dream stack” and visualize which dreams would best lead to the others so I could pursue them in an order that makes the most sense.
The next thing to consider when choosing which dream to pursue first:
2) Which one are you the most excited about?
This one is pretty straight forward right? But I just want to make sure that you’ve actually taken the time to think about this because sometimes we get super jumbled up in our brains that we forget to actually ask ourselves very simple, straight forward questions like this.
Again, spread out all those sticky notes on a table in front of you and read them one by one. As you read each one, pause for a moment, close your eyes, and imagine what it would be like to pursue that dream right now. Give yourself 30-60 seconds per sticky note and let your imagination roam.
One of my sticky notes says “Write a book.” so I want to walk you through this exercise with that specific sticky note so you have a tangible example:
When I read “write a book” on my sticky note, I imagine what it would feel like to write the book - I love the writing process so this is exciting to me.
I picture myself choosing my favorite oils to diffuse - Envision, NLBS, Valor and Grapefruit.
I see myself brewing coffee and pouring a cup into my favorite “Have the best day ever” mug and carrying it into my office in my comfiest Lululemon align leggings.
The sunshine is streaming in through my big office windows and I open my laptop and sit in my comfy desk chair. I hear the click of the keyboard as my thoughts stream out of my fingertips.
I imagine going back through the manuscript and getting to name all the chapters.
I think about who I’m going to dedicate the book to.
I think about how giddy I’ll be when I get to chose what the cover will look like and what the title will be.
I think about getting to tell the Hustle Sanely Squad that I am finally going to be putting out my first book.
I imagine planning a fun book tour event where I get to visit different cities and meet you guys in person and hold the book together.
I think about walking into Barnes and Noble and seeing my book on the shelf.
Okay getting a little emotional over here but I hope you get an idea of what I mean when I say to really envision what it would look and feel like to do each dream! Now ask yourself again, after you do this for all of your sticky notes, which one am I the most excited about?
The next thing to consider when choosing which dream to pursue first:
3) Which one are you willing to do the work for?
Now this one takes the second one - which one are you most excited about - to the next level. You can be excited all day long but which dream are you actually going to take action on?
I’ll be the first to admit that I have some dreams that I’ve hung up because after thinking about it in detail, I just don’t want to do the work that is required to accomplish it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that and it doesn’t make you a failure or lazy. Sometimes dreams just don’t align with what we want our lives to look like.
Example: I went through a short phase where I wanted to be a lawyer - I blame Legally Blonde honestly, lol. When I realized what was required to become a lawyer - all the time in school, passing licensing exams, having a butt ton of student debt - the dream wasn’t worth the requirements to me.
So here’s what I want you to do - lay out all of your sticky notes in front of you again and one by one read through them and list out (either in your head or on paper) the requirements to go after the dream. Like mentally, emotionally, and financially - what is required?
Do you need a degree?
Do you need internship experience?
Do you need to buy a new laptop?
Do you have to commit 10 hours a week to it?
Lay it all out.
And then ask yourself, “Am I willing to do these steps to make the dream happen right now?”
And make it a no judgement zone, girl. If it’s no then it’s no.
Decide which dream you are most equipped for, most excited about, and/or willing to put in the work for when you’re trying to decide which dream to pursue first!
Dream work isn’t a race and it’s not meant to be rushed.
If you enjoyed this post, tune into episode 048 of The Hustle Sanely Podcast to listen into this topic!
