How To Identify Your Dreams in Under 20 Minutes (And Take The First Step Today)

Video Outline

0:32- The reason we ignore our dreams. 1:15- First activity to clarify your dreams. 2:40 – Second activity to clarify your dreams.

To get the most out of the video above do the following: 

1. Watch the Video 2 times. 2. The First time just listen to it. Pay attention to see what resonates. 3. The second time pull out a paper, pencil and write down any key points that can help you. 4. Choose one thing from the video and take action!

 

3 Thoughts on Passion And Dreams.

Isn’t it WAY better to do things we love than things we hate? # rocketscience [Click to tweet].

cartoon follow your dreams.

Passion turns a painful struggle into an exciting challenge [Click to tweet].

40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, for 30 years at a job you hate… Why? [Click to tweet]

 

 For the comments:

Do you have any questions about the process in the video above? 

Or

If you have any questions about your specific dream share it below. (I’m sure you’re not the only one).

 

If you enjoyed this post the best way to express it is by doing one of the following 3 things:

1. Leave a comment. 2. Like it with the Facebook button. 3. Share it on Twitter.

For the comments:

Do you have any questions about the process in the video above? 

Or 

If you have any questions about your specific dream share it below. (I’m sure you’re not the only one).

 

  • Aaron

    Thanks Izzy, this (like all your vid clips) really inspires me to live the life I really want.

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Hi Aaron :) . I’m really glad it fired you up!

      Inspiration is crazy important – it’s like food for our dreams :) .

  • Tamara

    Great video, Izzy! I get tripped up by what I “think I should do” versus what I really WANT to do. You were correct in your video when you said that I know what I want to do, I am just too scared. I have always wanted to be a novelist, poet and artist. All creative endeavors. The funny thing is that I still carry a childhood belief that I’m not creative, which is crazy because I have paintings, poems and three novels in rough draft that say differently. The other problem is feeling like I “should” do something to help humanity instead of just creating art. Yet, I know how much I appreciate having a good novel to read when I am stressed and need to do something to relax. I guess the big question is whether I have the courage to follow my dream despite my doubts and fears.

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Hi Tamara :) .

      Wow! What an insightful and well articulated comment.

      Here are my thoughts: I believe the greatest contribution you can make to this world is to follow your dream.

      Dreams and helping humanity doesn’t combat each other – they go hand in hand.

      Take your dream for example. You can impact the world when you are happiest, fullest, and doing something you love! This is because your soul will emanate passion and excitement. Everyone who is around you will love it because you will just scream excitement and passion.

      If you write amazing poetry, or develop an incredible book – it can truly touch someones soul. How do I know this is true? Well, has it ever happened in all of human history? Yes, millions of times! So, if someone else can do it – so can you! Of course, I’m not saying it will be easy. In fact, I promise it will be really hard. But the challenge is part of the beauty and the joy.

      Does this make sense?

  • sad

    asdasd

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      asdfkj;adsfj… I’m fluent in gibberish too :) .

  • Erik

    I almost thought about doing this later, but then I thought to myself, I better do this now before I start finding other distractions to prevent myself from making the time to do this now. So I did the exercises in the video, and I am glad I made the time to do it.

    It confirmed the same thing that Tamara said in her comment. I want to be an author and an artist, too.

    Something that a person told me once was “Don’t just follow your dreams, chase them!”

    I used to be caught between what I thought others expected me to do and what I really wanted. It was tearing me apart because while I was doing one thing and just getting a job only to pay the bills, I was neglecting my passions. I’ve been going through some tough times but I choose to look at it as an opportunity to start over and honor my dreams. It’s not always easy, but at least I can look back on my adventure and laugh because I will have caught up to my dreams and honored them.

    It’s better to take action and give it all you’ve got than to sit on the sidelines and wonder about what might have been.

    I get curious and I start looking for resources that will help me.

    I’ve found free art lessons on YouTube from an author/illustrator in England, online writing groups, and I even participate in NaNoWriMo and other challenges that they have through out the year.

    And here’s my favorite quote from Henry David Thoreau, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams…live the life you’ve imagined!”

    Wonderful video, Izzy!

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      What’ up Erik :) .

      You’re bringing up some crazy powerful stuff here man. Most importantly you are talking about process. Look at your whole comment – it discusses process, process, process! That shows how much you value it :) .

      There is an abundance of research that shows people that focus on process (over outcomes) are 1) drastically more likely to achieve their goal and 2) are happier in the pursuit of their goals.

      Your comment reminded me of a beautiful quote by Henry Ford “Failure is just an opportunity to more intelligently begin again” Every time I read that quote I get to nodding my head :) .

      Thanks for taking the time to add such a well thought-out, authentic, and clearly written comment. It adds a lot to the conversation.

  • mikey

    Izzy,

    I read that Mark Cuban said “Never follow your dreams. Follow your effort. It’s not about what you can dream of. That’s easy. It’s about whether or not it’s important enough to you to do the work to be ready to be successful in that business.”

    Just wanted to share that sound bite, because I whole heartedly agree. Eg. whoever commented above that they want to be an author, and already have 3 draft novels written (I assume while you had some other full time occupation), in my opinion you are clearly on the right track.

    Unfortunately for me my dream/passion changes like the wind, and I haven’t been able to lock down one specific thing which I can call my “dream”. I suspect it’s the same for a lot of people.

    The most important thing(s) I have identified in my life is to have robust financial security to support my future family. That’s what I’ve been working towards my entire adult life (that’s where I devote my “dream effort” as Mark Cuban puts it). Problem is, it’s way too broad to actually translate this into some sort of ideal full time occupation “My dream is to do X, Y or Z”.

    On top of that, because I do place so much importance on financial security, it’s difficult to test the waters on new ambitions that might interest me (typically for only a season) that have low chances of paying off.

    Don’t get me wrong, I have followed numerous “dreams” but they have all been tailored in some fashion to suit the practical goal (and most important thing in my life) of financial security for my family. Maybe you’ve done much the same (holding an education background and leveraging this to teach english while pursuing being a ninja, also this website is leveraging your teaching/coaching skills). I believe it’s not such a bad thing to tune your dreams within these parameters, because you may get the best chances of succeeding accomplishing your dream in the first place (in your case, income generated from teaching and this website allow you to continue ninja training).

    I’m just saying, for example, if you are a marine biologist and your dream is to be an archaeologist in the ancient egyptian pyramids (where you are stuck in the desert and there is no water for miles), maybe it’s better to dumb it down a little and go for ship wreck archaeology. That way you could at least leverage your skills to support your dream. (Stupid example I know but best one I could come up with off hand).

    Guess I’m trying to say more than a few things here and all open to comment. Would be interesting to hear others that are in the position of really not knowing their dream/passion, because I suspect it might be a common one.

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      What’s up Mikey :) .

      I’m so glad you brought all of this up. First off – there is nothing wrong having a major piece of your dream be “financial security”. In fact, that can be your dream :) . It’s your dream! No one can say it is too broad or too narrow. That is only for you to decide.

      First off – What is financial security? Can you come up with a number? Maybe it’s not a number – it’s a feeling. Either which way, defining it is very important. You cannot hit a target you can’t see, you know what I’m sayin’?

      What activities do you do now that contribute the most to gaining financial freedom? What activities do you do that prevent you from attaining financial security? In other words – what are the barriers?

      I ask these questions – because I believe that as you gain clarity about attaining financial freedom your dream will also become more clear. Just like the video said man “You do know what you want!” It’s staring you in the face – “to have robust financial security to support my future family.”

      In response to choosing dreams – I think one of the things that people often do is choose dreams that are not attainable as an easy cop out. In other words they choose something they know isn’t realistic so then they have an easy excuse to not try. The solution – well you nailed it! Break it down to sometime small and viable.

      Have you read “The Lean Start-Up” By Eric Riess (Last name might be spelled incorrectly)? He shows how to take a big massive idea and break it into small parts and release the product to the world. He calls the product the MVP or “Minimum Viable Product”. This allows immediate real world learning… Which is crazy powerful. Then the person changes the product/idea based on real world knowledge. Make sense?

      • mikey

        Sean, Izzy, thanks for the replies some interesting stuff here.

        I might add a couple more thoughts to this to clarify my situation… Firstly, after some more thought, I would say that robust financial security for my family is my ‘prerequisite’ goal/dream. Ie. I dont feel like I could pursue any non-financial related dream UNTIL I have satisfied this first one.

        So lets say (for example) I wake up one day and my dream is to be an archaeologist. This leaves things in a predicament – I currently have a high paying full time job that is hard to come by, not to mention all time consuming, so taking the first step by doing something on the side related to this new dream/goal is really not applicable. I would be faced with either stay in my job, or leave my job. This is the problem I have with ‘taking the first step’ from theory to practice – the real world for me is in much more black and white.

        In this case I’m faced with the situation that you believe is a cop out – a dream that is in practice unattainable (unless I win the lotto or come into some serious inheritance).

        I wonder if anyone has read/seen http://www.financialsamurai.com ? (I promise the name is just a coincidence). It’s kind of like this website’s antithesis… or maybe it’s not, it’s just that I get that feeling based on some of the articles I’ve read.

        I definitely don’t want to turn into the Financial Samurai guy.. ie waking up in the morning asking questions about where your savings will be in 10, 15, 20 years, or thinking you’ll just hold out with your job another 5, 10 years, even if it’s not great etc. Hell I don’t even know if I’m still gonna be alive next year.

        But I gotta say, I’m kind of torn right now between the Financial Samurai mentality and the 30 YO Ninja mentality!

        Again, more questions than answers I bet, but I’m sure others are in the same boat so thought I’d put it out there for discussion!

        • mikey

          One more note.. I just hopped over to http://www.financialsamurai.com and retract the comment that it’s your antithesis izzy! In fact a lot of the recent posts are pretty much inline with following your dreams.

          But the kind of post I read when I was referring to being your antithesis (if you’re interested in reading them) is this:
          http://www.financialsamurai.com/2012/10/19/are-gen-y-millennials-screwing-themselves-on-purpose/

          • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

            I’ll check that site out. Personally, I think finances are a HUGE deal in the pursuit of a dream. In no manner do I advocate ignoring finances. Getting our finances in order is a part of the steps to pursuing a dream.

            I used to write about this more – but as of late I haven’t addressed this topic. Probably sometime within the next month I’ll put together a post on money as I think this is incredibly important.

            Money matters – when we try to ignore this we are simply lying to ourselves. One of the things you have going for you is that you recognize the critical step that money does play (many people try to ignore this and shoot themselves in the foot). Prior to moving to Japan I saved money for 2 years. Even when I got to Japan I continued to save money. That savings has allowed me t battle through many of the challenging times.

            I’m really glad you brought this up Mikey :) .

          • mikey

            Hey Izzy, thanks for taking the time. I think you should write a post on the relationship/conflict between dreams and money. I’m particularly interested in the difference between what people think they need money-wise in order to live a life without financial stress, and what they actually need (say, based on actual empirical evidence). To be honest, I think the differences would be stark. And when people realize this it does lead to wondering whether it is feasible to really follow their dreams. Anyway would be very interesting.

            Deep down I am a dreamer but I do love to play devil’s advocate for the realist within me :) Love your site man.

          • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

            Yo Mikey – sorry for the delay in reply to this man! I didn’t realize you commented. I think you bring up a really interesting post idea here.

            I’ll see how it fits into my current posting schedule and go from there. I’ll definitely consider it!

    • Sean

      Hi Izzy & Mikey. As I went through the exercise, I found that my goals were also quite nebulous. I think it might fit well here regarding the topic of choosing dreams. Hope I’m not imposing…

      One of the most important things I’ve learned as a software developer is to ask my users “What are you trying to accomplish?”. That’s because what someone asks for in a project is often not what they needed and/or wanted (not exactly, anyway). As long as I know what tools I’m starting with and know what my users generally want, we can iterate until the appropriate solution is fleshed out.

      So what the hell does this have to do with the topic? Well… unachievable and/or changing goals are wonderful. If you can’t lock down a specific goal, lock down the general one. So long as you’re headed in the right direction, eventually iteration and momentum can help narrow things down more specifically.

      For example… most of my nebulous goals are currently exercise and health related. I’m running right now. Not while I’m posting… that would be awesome though. Three months from now it may be cycling, hiking, swimming, or even martial arts. Who knows. As long as it’s improving my health it meets my current goal. Eventually, I may find another goal and/or dream while I’m having fun along the way.

  • Joey

    Hey, I just learned about your blog today and it is really great and inspiring. I know a lot of the things you post about don’t quite apply to me yet since I’m only 15, but I can still take a lot out of it. The main thing I want in life is to be happy and to feel like I lived a happy life when I die. Being a Christian and believing in the after life I want to make long-lasting relationships with people that make me happy so I can continue to be around them forever.
    I have fibromyalgia and depression and anxiety. Along with the idea of being with people that make me happy, there is one girl who makes me happier than anyone else I have met. The problem is she has a boyfriend and I feel like I have no control over if she will ever like me. I am not worried about her having a boyfriend because I know it probably won’t last; however, I hate seeing her get hurt. Even with that in mind there is still no guarantee that she would like me. I have told her that I like her and we talk from time to time, but I don’t ever get the feeling that she feels anything. I notice we have a lot in common and I relate to her so much, but I’m not sure if she notices that as well.So the problem is I have no idea how to go about this. I’m not sure if I should just basically tell her all of this or if I just have to wait it out and have faith. Even if you can’t help me it’s nice that you could hear my story.

    • http://www.30yearoldninja.com/ Izmael Arkin

      Yo Joey! Sorry about the delay in reply :) .

      Well, I’m not a love guru so take my advice with a grain of salt. My gut instinct is based on these lines “She has a boyfriend”. If she has a boyfriend than you need to respect that. You also mention being a Christian. Well I got to throw a few questions your way: First off: What would Jesus do? Do you think Jesus would try to become the boyfriend of an already taken girl?

      Second if you are a Christian than you must trust and have faith that God can guide you here. If you attempt to take it all upon your own hands – and steal the girl away that is showing distrust of faith.

      You know what I’m sayin’ man?