The easy trick to living your dreams
If you really want something, announce it to the world
Day 1: So, I have taken the first step. Despite the circumstances, I decided to take that flight and move to my dream city in the middle of a lockdown. If I take a step back to connect the dots, this move was long coming. I fell in love with this city in 2017, but instead of getting a role in Melbourne — I had the opportunity to move to Sydney.
Life has taken a full circle and now when I had the chance to move, I decided to put all my energy into the pursuit of this dream. Job applications, networking, taking more trips to make sure the feeling persists — I was putting all my eggs in a basket with tens of people against it. 2020 wasn’t kind to Melbourne, with months spent in lockdown. The weather is colder (mostly unpredictable and the four seasons in a day is no joke), the commute is longer, more expensive and most of all, I had it good. I was living in the sunshine state, I was working in a field with huge growth potential and if I stayed a year longer I would have probably bought a house.
So why would someone decide to leave all of it, a good job, quaint social circle, active lifestyle and might I add, beautiful weather in the search of something new? Change. While most people would be running away from it, I was chasing it. 6 and half years in Brisbane and I knew I had become comfortable. While in the eyes of my social circle back home I was pushing myself too hard, the last year spent working from home I got too comfortable. It crept in slowly but I could see myself lose interest in things I enjoyed most. Freelancing seemed more painful than coding emails, I wasn’t grateful for the abundant opportunities and the turning point, I would dread writing.
That’s when I knew it was time to try something new. In an ideal scenario, I would have probably moved to Europe but since Australia decided to shut its borders indefinitely, I settled down to moving cities. But how did I make this happen?
If you are serious about your goal, make it public:
Most people don’t announce their moves before they make it happen. They say you should protect your dreams because someone could ruin them for you. However, I decided to take a different approach this time. On the 2nd of January 2021, I decided to tell my parents that I am considering moving to Melbourne. I didn’t seek permission or validation, I told them my decision. I was taking accountability and eventually giving my word so if I tried to back out, the two most important people in my life would make me stick to my word.
When I went back home, I told all my friends, my mentor and even the barista downstairs (okay maybe that was TMI). Most people were against it, they felt that I had met a guy and I was willing to move cities for a situationship. Only my best friend who was living in Melbourne at that time knew my journey. She knew how long I had been talking about this.
Set a deadline for your goal:
If you’re a pseudo-procrastinator or an overly organised individual, one thing we both need is deadlines. I went a step ahead in the declaration of my goal, I set a date for my decision. I told everyone that I’ll be moving by the end of May. This way I was not only giving myself a deadline to work towards my goal but also giving people around me enough time to get closure.
Find a creative outlet:
One thing that made this transition easy for me was the pursuit of new hobbies. Whether it is joining a new fitness class, honing a new skill or simply meeting new people, take the time to walk away from your goal to truly engage your mind.
While this might seem like a distraction, it’ll help you stay out of your monkey brain. When you encounter delays in the pursuit of your dream, having a creative outlet will help you release those negative thoughts. As humans, nothing brings us more joy than giving back to people. There are numerous benefits to giving back including an increase in confidence, self-awareness and building new connections.
Enjoy the present, before you get the future:
Universe has its own weird ways of making things work for you. You might start to question it, wonder why you aren’t able to manifest what you truly desire. You’ll even question the timeline when you’re putting your best foot forward. The one thing I learnt from this experience is that I couldn’t receive something till I was truly grateful for what I had.
If you hate your job, current relationship or your body, you will continue to get more of what makes you unhappy because you are focussing your thoughts on it. To truly change your narrative, you’ll need to foster gratitude so that you continue to attract more of it. Start every day with gratitude. You won’t even realise when optimism would be deep-rooted in your personality. You’ll finally get to see that things are working for you when you focus on the good.
Keep knocking on those doors:
When you are chasing a goal, you forget that the journey comes with ups and downs, rejections and redirections. Through all those falls, through all the moments that you let the self-doubt creep in, you’ll have to fight back. Don’t let the setbacks get to you (trust me, they will and you’ll find it easier to give up than to follow your path.) In those weak moments, you will need to remind yourself of your goal and garner all the strength to keep going. It will all be worth the sweat and tears.
It could take more time than you anticipated but if you keep putting in the effort with the right attitude, every action will bring you one step closer to your goal. To summarise:
- Get a set of accountable buddies to make sure you stick to your goal
- Set a deadline so you know what you are working towards
- Find a hobby to ensure you are constantly engaging your mind
- Nurture gratitude and optimism
- Eventually, it comes down to a game of odds. The more doors you knock, the better your chances of encountering the one that is right for you.
