How do you make a dream come true? I read a quote recently that really got me thinking. It’s from Earl Nightingale who was a speaker and writer in personal development. I’ve been reading a vintage business management manual he wrote called Lead the Field. While it is dated, and assumes that everyone in a management position is a man, it is full of personal development gems. This one quote in particular stood out to me.

Everything in the world is a dream come true, a goal reached.

Think about that statement. Every object that you touch (besides those created by Mother Nature) was someone’s idea that they brought to fruition: the laptop I’m writing on, the water bottle I have on my desk, the tissues in a box by my side, literally everything. Someone got tired of laundering handkerchiefs and invented the tissue.

Many of my readers are women entrepreneurs. They have ideas, they have dreams, and they want to see them come true. They create products and services. They have goals. They saw a need in their lives — and in the marketplace — and decided to do something about it.

Mr. Nightingale goes on to say that most people don’t work with any real direction. Only about 5% of the population are leading their lives with specific goals in mind. They have general goals like they want to make money or they want to be successful. But to really make progress, to make your dreams come true, you need to have very specific goals.

He goes on to say that you need to choose one goal to work on at a time. Write it down to make it real. Then think about it all the time. Think about it first thing when you get up in the morning and as the last thing before you go to bed. Think about how you are going to accomplish your goal, and then take specific actions to make it happen. Turn your goal into a clear-cut plan.

If you only spent one hour a day working specifically on your goal, you will be far ahead of most of the population.

So, I ask you: What is your big dream right now? And how are you going to make your dream come true?