I celebrated my birthday this weekend, and I did the customary blowing out candles to make a wish.

But… why only make a wish once a year and why do our wishes so often stay a wish instead of becoming our reality? How often do you find yourself thinking or saying “I wish I could do that”? What were the things that you’ve always wished you could do but haven’t done yet? Have a bucket list floating around somewhere in your head?

How about those other wish-making traditions: Throwing coins in a fountain? When you see a shooting star? Or even that wish-setting tradition we commonly call “New Year’s resolutions”?

Deep down, all these wishes of yours signify that you want some sort of change―temporary or permanent―from your day-to-day life or status quo. But wishing can only take you so far. It’s just a fleeting thought or hollow words that disappear at the tip of your tongue. 

If you really want it, make it mean more than that

There’s a yearning deep in your soul waiting to surface. It’s just buried under layers of fear, uncertainty, suppression, or disbelief. Turn those wishes into something more―supercharge those wishes with a burning desire to make them happen. Translate those desires into actual goals, take action towards achieving them, and feel the fulfillment of making that desire into your reality.

Yes, it means stepping outside of your comfort zone.

Yes, it means something in your life has to change to make it happen.

And yes, it means you’ll have to be more than who you are now to achieve it.

That is growth.

And that’s how you become your best self… by transforming your desires into reality.

So I did something different this year. I supercharged my birthday wish with a burning desire to make it into a goal and my reality.

Something within you changes

When you choose to make your desires into something more, something within you changes:

YOU COME ALIVE

That kid-like curiosity and playfulness ignite as you get excited about your life again. It turns into something you’re looking forward to rather than the grind you’ve been used to.

YOU BECOME A BETTER VERSION OF YOURSELF

In order to achieve these desires, you have to overcome your fears and challenges. In the process, you overcome one or more of your limiting beliefs. You’ve shifted your mindset towards what’s possible. You are never the same person after accomplishing a goal you’ve always wanted to achieve.

YOU FEEL MORE FULFILLED

Those desires exist within you for a reason. Imagine those desires as your soul giving you little clues for what makes you happy. It’s craving for something more than what you're currently giving it. Answer those calls, and feed your soul what it needs!

So how can you get started?

1 – PICK YOUR POINT OF NO RETURN

You have to be willing to commit otherwise it’s easy to be wishy-washy about it and fall back to the status quo. Commit and don’t give up. If you give yourself an out, you’ll eventually resort to it in moments of weakness. So remove that option. Act as if you have no other choice. (Don’t wait for life to create that type of urgency for you.)

2 – CONSCIOUSLY CHOOSE YOUR SACRIFICES

You have control over what you sacrifice. Sacrifice your limiting beliefs for what’s possible. Sacrifice your status quo for something even greater. Sacrifice your bad habits to create ones that will help you achieve your desire. Gladly throw all of your excuses on the sacrificial table to take the actions you need. Also, consider how this one desire could affect other areas of your life, too.

3 – INVEST IN YOURSELF

You are your greatest investment. You are priceless. Commit to putting down the time, money, and focus to achieve what you want. You are absolutely worth it. Life isn't just what happens to you, you can intentionally create what you want it to become. All that starts from seeing that you deserve more and better. Don't wait for motivation to show up for you. Create your own motivation to get started.

4 – CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESS

You’ve overcome challenges that you have never tried before and maybe even never thought you could. Celebrate that! Savor those pleasures of success for achieving all of the tiny and big milestones that got you there. You’ll be more willing to continue pushing through your comfort zone and experiencing the growing pains if you know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

5 – HEAD BACK TO NUMBER ONE AND START AGAIN!

Aren’t you glad you rewarded yourself? Because now you have to start over and recommit to your desire. Each loop around makes it stronger and increases your chances for success! You've laid a new layer of your foundation. Keep going to build a solid, unshakeable foundation to build your dream life on top of it.

Challenges help how you grow

As you face the challenges of stepping outside of your comfort zone, hold onto your belief in yourself, and leverage the support you have around you. If you feel like you don’t have people supporting you, then create it for yourself. Share your desire, and ask your family or friends to support you. Find mentors or coaches that help you create a solid game plan and keep you accountable. There is no shame in asking for help. Your support system is what will get you through your challenges, especially during your moments of weakness.

Be aware that these challenges are actually good for you. The more challenges you face the stronger you become. Everything is just feedback. All this feedback you receive from encountering your challenges is only giving you the answers on how to grow yourself—how to become stronger, better, and greater than you currently are to become who you want to be and get what you desire. You can absolutely conquer each new challenge that is thrown your way.

So don’t shy away from taking these challenges head on! Your belief in yourself will always help you through. With each new challenge tackled, you expand the boundaries of your comfort zone and collect even more proof for your new empowering beliefs that you can do it.

There’s no better time than NOW for you to go for it.

Only you can do this for yourself.

 

You are worth it. You are absolutely capable. And you can do it!

 

P.S. There's more to this …if you're interested. Click here to read about my personal behind-the-scenes story that led to this post.

Psst, the featured photo is by Erik Brolin via unsplash