For instance, this past Saturday, I came one state closer to to living dream #90 on my ‘111 Until Heaven’ dream list.  This particular dream is to compete in some sort of competition in all 50 states.

Here are the races I’ve completed so far:

1. Marathon in North Carolina.
2. Half-Marathon in Maryland.
3. Marathon in Virginia.
4. Marathon in Illinois.
5. 15k in Florida.
6. Marathon in South Carolina.
7. 15k Trail Race in Georgia (just completed on June 5!)

I gotta tell you…I thought I was in shape–until I hit that trail in Jackson, Georgia on Saturday.

The heat and humidity and hills and rocks and mud and roots made my toughest marathon seem like a lovely jog compared to this single-lane trail.  At least I was able to stay in the shade of the woods most of the race.  I’m not sure how long it would have taken me to run if I had to deal with the direct heat of the sun!

Before I started, my goal was to finish the race in an hour and a half.  I didn’t exactly hit my time goal.  My pace was about a minute slower per mile than I was able to run on the trails around home, so I finished the 9.3 mile race in 1:40:31 instead of the 1:30 time I anticipated. 

I did hit my goal of FINISHING the race to the BEST of my ability.  This race wasn’t easy for me, but I LOVED the challenge this race provided.  It gave me a chance to push myself and find out just how tough I am.  There were times I felt like quitting, but quitting wasn’t an option.  I had a goal—to finish the race—and I was DETERMINED to do whatever it took to accomplish that goal no matter how sore or tired or worn out I was.

What have you done to challenge yourself lately?  Leave a comment and let me know!

To your dreams,
Bonnie Jean

P.S.  It turns out my time was good enough for a 4th place finish in my age group.  Now I’m hooked on trail races because I’ve discovered they provide a new and different challenge than regular road races.

The next one I have my eye on is this Navy SEAL Extreme Challenge in Tennessee in October.  Now this is a challenge:

http://www.smokymountainendeavors.com/SEAL_Extreme_Challenge.html

And one of the best things you can do for yourself today is to decide what you want to accomplish by Saturday.

I have three main goals this week:

• Write at least 25 pages on my novel.
• Run three 8:00-minute miles on Saturday.
• Record a video for you that shares my secret confidence building formula.

I’ve already started on the first goal.  I outlined the section of my novel that I want to write this week, so I’ll be ready to start writing like crazy tomorrow.

I’ll be doing strength and cardio workouts everyday to prepare to hit my fitness goal on Saturday.

I have a script for the video written, but I’ll need to edit it before I record anything.

In other words, I didn’t just set goals for this week; I also created an action plan.  That means I know what I need to do in order to hit all my goals.

Setting goals and creating an action plan is a good start, but a Champion Dream Doer actually follows through and TAKES ACTION. 

Are you a Champion Dream Doer?  What goals are you going to achieve this week?  What is your action plan to make them happen?

Now that you’ve got that figured out, go TAKE ACTION!

To your dreams,
Bonnie Jean

That’s why I’m making achieving my goals—like writing my second novel—into a sport.  I get to practice my writing.  I get to play games with my writing.  I get to earn points for my writing. 

And the sport of Dream Doing begins today.  Game on!

But it’s not going to be much fun if I don’t get to be part of a team.  After all, belonging to a team is the best part of any sport.  Your teammates encourage you, support you and challenge you to always be better.

As a team, you get to work together to achieve your goals.  That’s what being part of the Dream Doer Team is all about…belonging to a group of people who want to help you make your dreams happen.

If you’re reading this blog right now, you’re my Dream Doer Teammate.  Our team’s mission is to find a way to do what we dream every day.

Your dream to do something about can be anything you want it to be.  You also don’t have to wait to live your dreams.  No matter how old you are, you can find a way to do something you enjoy doing every day.

I enjoy writing, so my personal mission is to work on my novel every day.  Except Sundays.  I’ll take a break from writing on Sundays to keep from getting burned out.

Between now and January 28, I want to complete a very bad first draft of my second novel.  To get me closer to that target, I wrote a very basic outline of half the story today.

I like to outline on index cards, so I put the major action of each chapter at the top of the index card.  I now have 28 cards with a one-line summary of each chapter.

Then what I like to do is summarize the action in that chapter on the card.  I find the system that works best for me is to write out the action of about five chapters at a time.  Then I’ll write the actual story, summarize the next five chapters, write, etc.

I filled out five index cards today and plan to write those five chapters tomorrow. 

That’s how I did something about my dream of writing my second novel today.

How did YOU find a way to live your dreams today?  Leave a comment and let me know!

To your dreams,
Bonnie Jean

It’s Find a Way to Do What You Dream Day!

To find a way to do what you dream, you have to be a person capable of making anything happen. Like we talked about in last week’s post, that starts with being yourself.

The next step or Dream Doer Rule, is to be trustworthy. This involves four characteristics or ‘champion traits,’ and we’ll talk about Champion Trait I today: live with INTEGRITY.

Why should you live with integrity?

Why should you live with integrity?

And what does that have to do with living your dreams?

Well, you should live with integrity because it makes trust possible. When you live with integrity, it is possible for other people to trust you and for you to trust yourself and because you know you are a truth teller.

When you live with integrity, you know you’re being true to who you are and going for dreams you are capable of achieving.

What is Integrity?

Integrity is being honest and truthful and devoted to a moral code.

When you stay true to your values (values like telling the truth), you become a person whose dreams are honorable and worth chasing.

You also understand your own potential and your own limits. Then you’re able to focus your attention on goals you can achieve instead of goals that aren’t possible for you.

How Can You Live with Integrity?

To help you be honest and live with integrity, answer these three questions for every goal you set as you chase your dreams:

1. Is this goal possible based on my talents?
2. What will I have to do to achieve this goal?
3. Am I being honest with myself and willing to do whatever it takes to reach this goal?

What Can You Do NOW to Live with Integrity Today?

One thing you can do now to live with integrity is to set some standards to follow as you find a way to do what you dream.

Start by thinking about things you are not willing to do to get what you want. For example, you can choose to never lie, steal or cheat to get what you want.

If you know you’re willing to be honest as you pursue your dreams, choosing to live with integrity when you’re tempted to break the ‘BE TRUSTHWORTHY’ rule will be easier, and you’ll improve your character.

In next week’s post, we’ll talk about the second champion trait you need to develop to follow Dream Doer Rule #2: depend on your consistency.

Until then, remember that you always find a way to do what you dream when you stick to your strengths.

To Your Dreams,
Bonnie Jean

P.S. Have you signed up for your FREE audio novel yet and your FREE 14-day Dream Doer Crash Course? If not, CLICK HERE now!

How do I know you have a gift that makes you talented in a special way? Because you got your gift from God, just like I did.

God has blessed every single person in the entire world with some sort of special gift. Since you’re a person living in this world, YOU have a special gift. It says so right here in I Peter 4:10:

“As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

The cool part is that your gifts/talents ignite your passion AND make a positive difference in other people’s lives…when you use them.

So it’s your job to find out what your talents are, then use them to do what you dream.  When you’re living your dreams, you’re happy and you make the people around you happy, too!

To your dreams,
Bonnie Jean

(You can read the transcript of the video below, but make sure you watch the video if you want to see a Chihuahua try to walk in a diaper!)

Attention Dream Doers Ages 9-12:

Today we’re going to talk about the top five goal setting mistakes that keep you from living your dreams.  Now I’ve never heard anybody else talk about these particular mistakes, but I have made them all.  That’s how I know they’re real mistakes that stand between you and your dreams. 

Because I made these mistakes, it took me ten loooong years to figure out how this whole goal setting, dream doing thing works.  Once you learn what these mistakes are, though, you’ll be able to set goals and do what you dream, too. 

Two of the mistakes have to do with who you are, one of them has to do with who you hang around with and two of them have to do with how you see yourself.  I think that’s enough of an introduction, so let’s dive right in to mistake number five.

#5:  You’re a Great Dreamer But a Lousy Doer

 In order to explain this strange-sounding mistake, I should probably introduce you to Alex.  She’s one of the main characters in my book, The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets. 

She’s 11, and she’s a big time Dreamer (kinda like me).  She loves to imagine who she can be, what she can do and where she can go.  Most of all, she loves to dream about being a great tennis player and someday winning a gold medal in the Olympics. 

But because she’s a lousy doer, she freezes when it comes time to take action.  She would rather dream about what could be possible than do anything about her dreams. 

And when you’re too scared to do anything about your dreams, you can’t make them happen.  If this doesn’t sound like you, though, perhaps mistake #4 will make more sense.

#4:  You’re a Great Doer But a Lousy Dreamer

To help you understand this mistake, let me introduce you to Tyler.  He’s Alex’s best friend in the story, and he’s 12.  He doesn’t have a problem with taking action.  Actually, he’s always on the go and doing something, which means that he’s always busy, busy, busy. 

But Tyler’s usually so busy taking action that he doesn’t think things through.  And because he doesn’t consider the consequences of his actions, he often gets himself and Alex into a lot of trouble. 

Or he’s so busy being busy that he never really accomplishes anything.  He also gets distracted easily, and that makes it hard for him to live his dream of becoming a fantabulous baseball pitcher.

#3:  You are Surrounded by Normalites!

Normalites are everywhere.  Normalites are people who want to be normal, overlook their dreams and stay the same.  Some Normalites are Dreamers.  Some Normalites are Doers.  And some Normalites are Duds (like Zach, the kid that bullies Alex and Tyler). 

Dreamers and Doers can become Dream Doers, but the Duds are the ones you have to look out for.  They are the people who tell you that you can’t be who you want to be and do what you want to do. 

Being around such discouraging people is, well, discouraging.  And when you’re discouraged, you’re not motivated to dream or do anything about your dreams.  Which means you make mistake number 2.

#2:  You Don’t Have Confidence in Yourself or Your Dreams

 Without confidence, living your dreams is practically impossible.  I should know.  Since I was a kid, I’ve always dreamed of being a #1 bestselling author, but I never shared my stories or my dreams with anyone until I was 21. 

When I finally published my first book nine years later, it made it all the way to #13 on one of Amazon’s bestseller lists.  Then I did something a Dream Doer should never do; I stopped sharing my story.  I was afraid it might actually make it to the #1 spot. 

Crazy, right?  You see, my self-confidence was shaky.  Because I had shaky confidence, I let my dreams break.  But a few months ago, I found my confidence and learned how to dream up unbreakable dreams.  Still, though, I had to deal with mistake number 1.

#1:  You Have No Idea What Your Strengths Are

Just so we’re clear, a strength is something—like a skill, ability or characteristic—that you’re excellent at.  In order for that something to become a strength, you have to have natural talent in that area. 

For example, I’ve always been naturally good at writing.  I just didn’t realize it until after I graduated from college.  Now that I have spent a decade practicing writing, writing has become a strength for me. 

So when I set goals related to writing, I know I have the ability to achieve those goals.  But if you set goals that don’t match your abilities, living your dreams isn’t going to happen. 

What about you?  Which of these mistakes are keeping you from living your dreams? 

• Are you a Dreamer who freezes when it’s time to take action on your goals? 
• Are you a Doer who is too busy to set goals? 
• Are you surrounded by Normalite Duds who discourage you? 
• Do you wish you had more confidence in yourself and your dreams? 
• Do you know what your strengths are? 

No matter what mistake you’re making, you can fix it.  To help, I want to give you three FREE gifts.  All you have to do to is fill out a simple form, and you can do that right now at TheDreamDoers.com.  (Make sure you get your parent’s permission first!)

And remember, you always find a way to do what you dream when you stick to your strengths. 

To Your Dreams, 

Bonnie Jean

***Featuring audio book Chapter 25 of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets, a YA Novel about best friends Alex and Tyler who must battle bullies, face their fears and keep strange secrets the summer they learn to DO what they DREAM.***

(Note:  Only Dream Doer League members can hear the audio chapters of this Amazon bestselling young adult novel, but joining is completely, totally, 100% FREE!  Just fill out the short form on the right or click here to sign up.)

In chapter 25, Alex is devastated because the tournament did not turn out the way she wanted it to.  She didn’t get the result she wanted.

But even though she couldn’t control the results of the tournament, she can control how she reacts to her loss.  She can choose to be happy that she did her very best, and she can choose to keep practicing tennis. 

Or she can choose to pout and give up playing tennis just because the results didn’t turn out the way she wanted.

The same thing is true in your life.  No matter what happens to you, you can always control how you respond.

What you say and what you do is more important than the results you end up with.  Because results don’t determine champions; the way you respond to results determines whether or not you are an unshakable, unbreakable unstoppable Dream Doer.

But losing the tournament isn’t the only challenge Alex has to deal with in chapter 25. 

A series of strange events begin to unravel.  But they start while Tyler and Alex are separated from each other:  Tyler is on his family vacation in Colorado and Alex is home in Winston-Salem. 

Without each other to rely on and talk to, they have trouble making sense of these events.  Then things just get worse in chapter 26. 

But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what happens in the conclusion of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets.

Until then, enjoy the story!

To your dreams,

Bonnie Jean

P.S.  Don’t risk missing a day of the Dream Doer Crash Course or a chapter of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets.  Join the Dream Doer League for FREE now to get every crash course lesson emailed to you along with the members only link to the audio chapters.

P.S.S.  What about you?  Have you ever been disappointed with your results?  How did you react?  Join the conversation by leaving a comment below! 

***Featuring audio book Chapters 22-23 of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets, a YA Novel about best friends Alex and Tyler who must battle bullies, face their fears and keep strange secrets the summer they learn to DO what they DREAM.***

(Note:  Only Dream Doer League members can hear the audio chapters of this Amazon bestselling young adult novel, but joining is completely, totally, 100% FREE!  Just fill out the short form on the right or click here to sign up.)

In chapter 22, Tyler finally has a chance to live his summer dream.  But he never would have had the chance without weeks and weeks of practice. 

He had to practice thinking positive thoughts about his pitching, and he had to practice DOING the right pitching motions. 

If he just thought about being a good pitcher, that wouldn’t get him anywhere. 

And if he pitched without getting his mindset right, he wouldn’t make much progress. 

He had to practice both thinking the right thoughts and doing the right things.

He also didn’t just practice one or twice.  He worked hard day after day, even when he was not doing well.  He believed that he would find a way to get better and live his dreams.  He kept practicing and never gave up (for good, anyway!).

Like Tyler’s dream, your dreams require action, too.  You can’t expect to dream something and have it true just because you want it to.  You have to be willing and able to DO something about it everyday.

That’s why your dreams need an action plan.

To create an action plan, start by writing down one dream you want to make come true.  Now that you know what you want, write down everything you can do to make that dream happen.

Got your list yet?  Good! 

Look at your list.  What three things will make the biggest difference?  Those are the three things you want to focus on doing because they will get you to your goal the fastest.

Since you know what you want and how to get it, go!  Start taking action now and live like a Dream Doer.

Then tomorrow, you’ll find out if Alex is able to live her summer dream, too.

Until then, enjoy the story!

To your dreams,

Bonnie Jean 

P.S.  Don’t risk missing a day of the Dream Doer Crash Course or a chapter of The Dream Doers and the Summer of Secrets.  Join the Dream Doer League for FREE now to get every crash course lesson emailed to you along with the members only link to the audio chapters.

P.S.S.  What about you?  What is one thing you can DO about your dreams TODAY?  Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!