Kickstart your new year by turning your dreams into reality with a simple, actionable process that will help you create a life filled with purpose and joy.
As one year comes to an end and another begins, we often spend time reflecting on the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. For myself, I'm thinking back on a year that had it's ups and downs, it's struggles and victories, and lessons learned that can help bring me a greater degree of success as a person and leader...if I take the time to apply those lessons to my life moving forward. The new year is a time when we begin to dream about how we would like our life to be and set about finding ways to make that happen. As I reflect on the potential power of having a dream, I'm reminded of a story of a man who knew a thing or two about making dreams come true.
In the mid-1940s, Walt Disney began to reimagine what fairs and carnivals could look like. This work was inspired by the Saturdays he spent with his daughters, Diane and Sharon, at Griffith Park. One particular Saturday, as Walt sat on a park bench eating peanuts and watching his little girls ride the carousel, the thought occurred to him that there really should be a place where adults and children could have fun together—something like a carnival or a fair, only better.
Over the next 15 years, Walt dreamed of what such a place could look like. He envisioned a theme park that offered high-quality entertainment, attractions, and immersive experiences all in one location. His dream was to transport people to other lands, introduce them to great moments in history, and immerse them in the magic of storytelling.
To bring these ideas to life, Walt assembled a team of incredibly talented artists and engineers that he called the Imagineers. Together they reinvented the traditional amusement park, creating a clean, family-friendly destination that became the gold standard for entertainment. That park, of course, was Disneyland.
Walt described Disneyland as “a place for people to find happiness and knowledge. It’ll be a place for parents and children to share pleasant times in one another’s company, a place for teachers and pupils to discover greater ways of understanding and education. Disneyland will sometimes be a fair, an exhibition, a playground, a museum of living facts, and a showplace of beauty and magic. It will be filled with the accomplishments, the joys, and hopes of the world we live in, and it will remind us and show us how to make these wonders a part of our own lives.”
On July 17th, 1955, after a year of construction, Disneyland opened to great fanfare. It quickly became a testament to one of Walt’s favorite sayings: “If you dream it, you can do it.”
A Call to Action: What Are Your Dreams?
Walt’s vision wasn’t just about creating a theme park—it was about bringing a dream to life and making it something that could inspire generations for years to come. With that in mind, let me ask you: What are your dreams? How are you actively pursuing them? If you’re not, what will it take for you to remove those dreams from the shelf, dust them off, and start living them out?
Here’s a simple process to begin:
Write Down Your Dreams Taking ideas from your head and putting them on paper makes them tangible. Write down your biggest dreams. What do you hope to achieve in your personal life, career, or community?
List Action Steps Once you’ve written down your dreams, jot down a few actionable steps to move you closer to achieving them. Remember, even the smallest steps can lead to significant progress over time.
Create Visible Reminders Transfer your dreams and action steps to a Post-It note or an index card, and place it somewhere prominent: your refrigerator, car visor, or bathroom mirror. Let it serve as a daily reminder that, as one of Disney’s beloved attraction songs says, “There’s a great big beautiful tomorrow, just a dream away.”
Take Action Today Don’t just dream—act! Start walking out your plans today, no matter how small the step. If Disneyland could be built in a single year, imagine what you could do in that same amount time.
Share with Others There is power in words. Telling someone else about your dream puts it out there into the world and helps it begin to take shape. Sharing with another can also help hold you accountable to what you want to accomplish, especially if you allow them to do so. Identify an accountability partner and establish regular check-in times (weekly, monthly, or quarterly) to see
Reflect and Take the Leap
Your dreams might not involve building a theme park, but they are no less significant. Perhaps your dream is to start a business, write a book, travel the world, or create something that makes a difference. Whatever it is, take the time to reflect on the following:
What are your dreams?
What do you feel is holding you back from achieving them?
What steps must you take to overcome these challenges and move toward making your dreams a reality?
Remember, you too can dream it, and you too can do it. Let's step into a better future for ourselves and those we love and lead. There’s no better time than now to start building your dreams and creating a life filled with purpose and joy. Happy New Year, eveyone!
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