How to Live your Dream Life NOW

We are all going through life searching for something. We want to ‘make it’ in life, to live our perfect, most idyllic dream life. The truth is, we are likely to never find ourselves in this unrealistic picture we painted in our minds. Not because it isn’t possible, but because what happens after that. This imagined dream life is essentially just a snapshot in time. Our dream life should surely be our entire life. However, it is possible to live our dream life now…

The Search

We are often going through life looking for something. It can occupy our entire life, or it may just appear at certain times. Ultimately, I think it is hard to deny that we have dreams. Dreams of a better life, dreams somewhere else doing something different. In ways, this search is one for perfection. That perfect life. The perfection we have crafted in our minds as a result of what’s around us, deciding for us what an ideal or dream life looks like.

But can we ever get there? To this ideal place. Can we live our dream life, the one that we can visualise playing in our minds right now?

‘Making It’

So many people I come across, from all walks of life, are in some way or another trying to ‘make it’. They are proud and happy to even use the term ‘I want to make it in life’. What does making it even mean? It’s as if we have this choice between making it or failing or being average or something else entirely. Now while I admit to the fact that intrinsically failing or being average is not an attractive or enticing prospect, I want to deconstruct the idea of ‘making it’.

In my opinion, these thoughts should be discouraged, we should be thinking about this idea in a different way. I’m going to put it out there – you can’t make it. Why? Because what’s next. When you envisage making it you have a vague construct of what that is like, a dream-type life. Whether that’s a big house, financial freedom, being happy or any of the other buzz words pounded through society’s narrative like heavy-weight punches, you will have not made it and not be living your dream life once you have achieved these things.

Let’s take a moment to imagine our dream life, after all, it is very easy to drift into thoughts of the future. We are usually doing what we love, for me, it’s living on an idyllic island with calm, stunningly blue water, white sand living in peace with no cares or worries in life. We’ve all had this thought right.

Living the Dream Life

These concrete images and thoughts are what we need to change. The world is not still, it is constantly changing. We need to move beyond these dreams-like visions and images from playing over in our heads. This way, we can achieve a dream life – and sorry to spoil your dreams but it doesn’t involve an island or no worries. It involves being one hundred million percent comfortable with uncertainty. Being ok with the fact that you don’t know how things will turn out, that issues will arise, hard times will arrive and that you can’t control everything. It’s about being so unbelievably comfortable with this uncertainty, not fighting it, not surviving with it, but thriving.

It is natural to want and wish for a better life; for things to be different. However, often the time never comes when we feel better. It is in reach in front of us but not reachable. But that’s ok. We don’t necessarily need what our head has imagined us to want.

Therefore, I propose something different – a different dream life. One that you don’t need to wait for, or work towards. You can’t ‘make it’ into this dream life. You must change your mindset, be open to thinking differently and the reward – you will constantly be in your dream, best life. 

If we don’t use this approach and mindset, we will find ourselves searching, searching, and searching. The truth is, we are likely to never find ourselves in this unrealistic picture we painted, of the tropical island and the peace that comes with it. Not because it isn’t possible, but because what happens after that. This imagined dream life is essentially just a snapshot in time. Our dream life should surely be our entire life.

As well as this, if we follow the typical approach, our expectations of what a dream life looks like become so high and restricted. We want the most perfect island, with the bluest of waters. But, who’s to say there isn’t a nicer island. We are often told, even subconsciously that we should aim for perfection, through Instagram filters, TV ads, magazines, you name it. But nothing can be perfect, we need to move away from this endless pursuit and move towards embracing the all-encompassing uncertainty, which is life.

Perfection may not look what you imagine it too. But this mindset of looking for something that we expect, is going to leave us wishing for a beautiful life but forgetting and not appreciating how beautiful everything around us is. Why are we ignoring this for something that might be better.

Final Thoughts

We seek out validation of where we are in life and want others to look at our lives and say to us ‘you’ve made it’. Yet, this is just another snapshot in time. We need to validate our life internally, and this includes all the setbacks, bad days and mishaps.

Let’s change our mindset and stop wanting to ‘make it’. Let’s be comfortable with uncertainty. Let’s live our dream life today.

Questions to ask yourself:

-        When I envisage a dream life, what does it look like and is it a snapshot in time?

-        How do I feel about uncertainty? Try to become more comfortable with it by dealing with unexpected changes calmly, without the aim of changing the unchangeable.

-        Start developing the ‘I am living my dream life’ mindset.