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Dreams: The Stuff that Goals are Made of

“All our dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.” Walt Disney
 
When was the last time you had a dream? Not the kind we have when we go to sleep, but the kind we have when our mind awakens and listens to the inner desires of our soul. Does this sound deep to you? It is and it is not. It is actually step one in determining the next step in your personal and professional life.

Young children are encouraged to dream. They envision what they want to be when they grow up. Games like dress up and pretending to be a doctor, teacher, or ballerina all cater to imagination. Imagination is the thing that brings the dream alive. Somewhere along the line, we grow up, become adults, and the imagination stops. The dream goes from what is possible to what is practical. We encourage our children as they age to stop imagining and to start thinking about what is real.  Then something happens in our life. Maybe it is a life changing event, like a job loss or personal struggle, or a change in self thought. We are searching for something. The something is the dream.

As workforce development professionals, we are in charge of dreams. We ask our job seekers to envision their lives and how they want to live in the future. Part of the dream is figuring out what the dream is and how to get there. With job seekers we use formal and informal assessment to aid and assist us in our process. Then we provide information, counseling, coaching, case management, education, and training to help the job seeker get to their dream.  The dream that we are working with is not our own, but we become part of making that dream a reality.

Do we do the same for ourselves? In our workforce development career, we spend so much time working on the dreams of others, that we do not remember our dream. When was the last time, you took an assessment. When was the last time you evaluated what you want to achieve in your career or in your personal life.  Those that work in case management services may make plans for their job seekers, but are plans made for themselves. When was the last time you evaluated your dream? What are your goals? What steps have you taken to achieve them? Goal setting is another topic in itself, but it all starts with figuring out what the goal is. The goal is based on the dream.  So many people make statements about their wants, but do not take steps to get there.

It does not matter if we are helping a job seeker or working on ourselves. The thing that makes us motivated to move on, to grow and develop, is the dream. It is the vision in the motivation that helps us move forward.  I challenge everyone to go home and discover or re-discover your dream. I challenge you to challenge your job seekers to find their dream.
 
I can be reached at kcirincione@gmail.com for any questions or comments. You can also post below.  ~Karen Cirincione

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