We all have precious dreams that lurk in our heart and come to the surface every so often.

But when we’re struggling for time to do the most basic things in our lives, reaching for those sparks of hope and happiness can seem like a lost cause.

It really needn’t be and I want to share two great things that can be done, even after a day running after kids or plugged in at work. These two simple actions can catapult dreams and desires into action.

1. Define Your Dream

To reach for a dream we need to know exactly what we want. We need to be able to imagine it so well that we could reach out and touch it. This is where daydreaming comes in. Daydreaming?  Yes, that’s right, I’m advocating good old-fashioned daydreaming!

I think we can all find five minutes to think through and imagine what our dream looks like. Start thinking about it before you go to sleep, as you’re waiting for your cup of coffee to brew or as you’re walking to the office. If you get into the habit of doing it at a certain time, all the better.

Each time you think about your goal, imagine the big picture, imagine what will happen, how you get there and what it feels like to succeed.

The first time you do it you’ll probably only manage to imagine the big grin on your face as you manage to do the one thing you’ve dreamt of for so long. That’s fine. Each time you come back to your dream, add some details about it. Build up a picture, a story board. Make sure you know every little detail of your dream.

Replay the dream until you are familiar with it and can pick it up whenever you like.

Defining your dream is paramount to actually beginning to reach for it. If you are living life with a vague dream then you’ll likely get pretty vague results.

2. Ramp Up The Inspiration

Most of us have down time even if we think we’re too busy for it. We have time to read, watch television and listen to music. Even if it’s a short period of time, it’s there and if we want to reach for our goals we need to jump on it.

Find and read blogs of people who have been there and done what you want to do. Learn from them. Like reading real books? Look for autobiographies of your heroes. You don’t always need to read the facts about it—read the stories behind the facts!

Television can be terrible at sucking your time away, but if it needs to be on, see if you can try to watch things that remind you of your dream and inspire you to keep it at the forefront of your mind.

Music is the soundtrack of your dreams, or it can be if you make a playlist that reminds you of what you’re trying to achieve! Look out for songs with inspiring lyrics or just make a list of feel good songs to make you smile. If you listen to it often enough and associate it with aiming for your goals, every time you hear those songs it will revitalise your spirit!

Struggling to get time to even do that? How about a podcast? Search to see if you can find a podcast that relates to what you want to do and set it to play while you’re commuting to work or while you’re cooking meals at nighttime. You can find hour-long shows or quick snippet shows, so look for something that fits in with what time you have available.

The key is getting started

As you can see, these two actions are really easy to fit into whatever lifestyle you lead. They won’t get you there on their own but they’ll bring that enthusiasm for your dream bubbling to the surface so much that you’ll struggle to keep the dream inside any longer! By giving these actions a go you’ll also have done the hardest thing and that is making a start.

Go on, give it a go. Life’s far too short to put your dreams off.

Love elephant and want to go steady?

Sign up for our (curated) daily and weekly newsletters!

 Editorial Assistant: Celeste Shea/Editor: Rachel Nussbaum

Photo: Zaharescu Mihaela Catalina