23 Dreams in 2018

As I write this, we are exactly two months into 2018. For many people, that means that
you are two months into your journey, adventure, or possibly failure (hopefully not!) of
what many people call “New Year’s resolutions.”

New Year’s resolutions have become synonymous with humor because, in so many
cases, the enthusiasm that comes with these resolutions grows dim, and disappears just a
few months into the year.

Over the past few years, I have developed a system to where I not only write out my
“dreams” at the first of the year (I prefer the term “resolution.”), but I strategize and
have put a system in place that will guarantee that I do not forget the areas in my life that
I dreamt of growing in on January 1st .

I have heard it said that “if your dreams don’t scare you a little bit, then your dreams are
too small.” Dave Ramsey, in his book Entreleadership, says that dreaming is healthy,
because people who dream are people who believe that “they can win.”

On January 1st of this year, I wrote out 23 dreams that I planned to pursue. (To this point,
I have made progress on all 23, and I believe that pattern will continue all of the way
through this year).

Of those 23 dreams:
– 6 of my dreams are related to personal development.
– 9 of my dreams surround my family and my home.
– 8 of my dreams are connected to my professional life (in my case, my ministry).

Each dream (and again, I have written them out, actually typed them out, which is very
important) begins with the statement, “I would like to…” Then each dream is followed
by a statement which begins with, “I plan to accomplish this by…”

Essential to seeing these dreams move toward realities are a couple of practices that I will
not detail here, but will list in bullet point form:

• The weekly review – This is a set time each week when I look at all 23 of these areas
  and I grade myself, strategizing for continued good progress, or in some cases, how to get
  going again. I believe that this is absolutely essential to any person who would like their
  life to look different in the future than it does now.
• Project lists – These lists take a dream, a direction, and break those dreams into
  manageable and doable steps.
• Planning/Goal lists – This part of the process is when I take those doable steps and
  plug them into my plans for that week.

As Martin Luther King famously said, “I have a dream.” As you now know, for this
year, I have 23. Do you?

Written by Pastor DeAngelo, Pastor of Youth and Outreach