5 Things You Can Do if Your Dreams Remain Unfulfilled

Useful Reminders if You Aren’t Actively Pursuing Your Dreams

4 min readNov 27, 2018

Having our dreams remain unfulfilled can affect us in ways we may not be consciously aware of.

Our dreams often define who we become and the impact we make in our communities and the world.

The fact that we all have dreams is proof that fulfilling them is an important part of our lives.

Signs You Aren’t Actively Pursuing Your Dreams

As dreams can influence the course of our lives, there are obvious signs when we’re not actively pursuing them. These include:

Feeling unhappy, stuck or lost.
Having lower levels of motivation.
Questioning whether what we’re doing is the right thing for us.
Finding it hard to be our true selves.
Lacking passion for the things we’re doing.
Having feelings of regret, remorse, guilt or disappointment on a regular basis.
Not allowing ourselves to believe in our dreams.

The Costs of Having Dreams Remain Unfulfilled

Having our dreams remain unfulfilled can be costly and they can include:

Not fully living or enjoying our lives.
Just going through the motions or drifting through life.
Additional strain on our close relationships.
Missed opportunities.
Poor mental health and wellness.

There are things we can do if our dreams remain unfulfilled. As Walt Disney once said, “Dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”

5 Things You Can Do if Your Dreams Remain Unfulfilled

Identify what’s stopping you. We’ll often find that we’ve made up stories as to why we cannot pursue our dreams. Our internal fears play out as excuses or justifications for being responsible or doing the right thing. There may be things we have to learn to give ourselves a better chance of achieving our dreams.
Determine the value of your dreams. This is about being really clear on what the potential rewards are for achieving our dreams. We also have to be more aware of what it’s costing us to have our dreams remain unfulfilled. Knowing how others will benefit from us achieving our dreams can be a huge motivator.
Find a mentor or a coach. If our way isn’t working, we must take a new approach. This is where having a mentor or coach can be valuable, as they’ll be able to offer new perspectives. Mentors and coaches can also hold us accountable for doing the things we say we’re going to do.
Take one small action. We can sometimes overthink things, which can create more confusion or unclarity. When we take one small action, we’ll know what action to take next. The more of these small actions we take, the better our chances of creating momentum. As we generate more momentum, we’re more likely to continue taking action.
Be selective about who you spend time with. If we’re not careful, we can let other people’s fears, limitations or opinions affect us. Being around people who are courageous and actively pursuing their dreams will affect us in a positive way. Being part of a like-minded community will motivate and inspire us to do what’s important.

Conclusion

Having our dreams remain inside us doesn’t serve anyone. Throughout history, people have left a lasting legacy because they had the courage to pursue their dreams. If our dreams remain unfulfilled, it’s never too late to start pursuing them.

All we need is the desire and the commitment to do what’s required to make our dreams come true. Now is the time to get started.

Action Step: Choose one dream that you’ve stopped pursuing. Decide if that dream is still worth pursuing, and if it is, take one small action today. It can be as simple as speaking to someone and telling them why you want to pursue that dream. The key is to make that dream a priority again.

Question: What are other things we can do if our dreams remain unfulfilled?

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