Started This Over Ten Years Ago and Still Going Strong

 This is my "hope and dreams" journal. (Sorry I had hoped to have a photo posted - but just won't be able to get it done. So just imagine a pretty journal please)  I began writing in it 8-11-2015 and I have been writing in it off and on ever since. To be honest the very first dream I wrote about has not come true and I am totally OK with that because it is something that was totally out of my wheelhouse. But I am thankful that I wrote about it because it opened up my thinking to set up hopes and dreams and goals. 

There is something about writing your goals down. For one thing you aren't likely to forget about them when you write them down. It also helps you stay focused on those goals. When you write them down you are more likely to also write a plan as to how to go about reaching the goal. When it's written down you are able to refer to it every now and then and that helps refresh the desire to reach that goal.  

I have found that it is also very helpful to break the goal into smaller sections. That way each time you reach a goal it helps propel you on to the next one. If I have started my weight loss goal by stating I wanted to lose 88 pounds or 100 pounds - I would have been overwhelmed. But because I broke up my goal into bite sized pieces, it has seemed like an easier task to tackle. 

I have already reached and bypassed several of the goals I set out to achieve. And because I set my goals into smaller steps to reach - and since I have reached several of my goals- It has helped me to have the courage to set a goal of possibly shooting to lose 111 pounds. But had I set that goal at the beginning, it would have been SO overwhelming. 

But this goal of losing 111 pounds was actually inspired by a dream I have in which I stood on a scale and the number on the scales - complete with a point 5 - as in .5 is exactly 111 pounds from where I started this weight loss journey. 

When you write down your goals you cement them into your brain. You are more likely to work on a plan in order to reach your goal.  

Ten years later I still refer to things I have written about in my hopes and dreams journal. And it is fun to see how m any things have been achieved. Some things still haven't been achieved but that is OK. It just hasn't been the time or space for them. 

I hope this post will encourage you to find a pretty journal and start writing what your hopes and dreams are. Pray about them and ask God to guide and direct If the things are within His will- trust me HE will provide what is needed and He will give the wisdom needed.

Every so often when I need some inspiration - I pull my hopes and dreams journal out and I read through different entries. I write little nots beside the ones that have been achieved. Alot of times I even write down the date that it was achieved. This is a treasured journal, and I am so glad that I started this journal years ago.