Sometimes as we are creating our amazing life, we can get tired, when things don´t go as quickly as we would like. It can be easy to lose sight of the dream and let it slip away like water swirling down a kitchen drain.

Here´s a few suggestions to help you stay energized and focused on your dream.

1. Stay focused on what you have accomplished, not just on where you are heading.
2. Remember why you were first excited about the dream.
3. Be prepared to modify your dream and start with a smaller dream so you can reach it.

If eradicating world hunger for example is your big dream, it would be a very good idea to have your dream broken down into smaller dreams such as working with your local food bank, creating a school lunch program for underprivileged kids in your community or organizing a trip to a developing country. That is attainable and doable.

Lastly talk about your dream and keep it alive. A fire that is left unattended dies very quickly so keep your dream alive through your journal, working with a coach or a mastermind group. You really can create your amazing life and realize your dreams.

There´s a Chinese proverb that says, “Great souls have wills, feeble souls have only wishes.” What´s the difference?

Today it´s commonplace to hear people talk about what they would like to create, manifest or have in their life. It´s a wish they have that they hope manifests somehow, someway. It would be very nice if it did. They keep waiting for it, kind of like a kid waiting for Christmas to see what is under the tree.

On the other hand, will is a determination, a relentless pursuit of a goal. It resembles more the dog chasing a cat. There´s a big difference between the two.

Those who are wishful thinkers and hope that their wishes will come true are easy to give up or change course because they don´t have much vested in it anyways. Those with will would die before they give up or give in. They have too much at stake to hand over the prize so easily.

It´s easy to give up or say, “it wasn´t really all that important anyways” when the going gets tough or something doesn´t go right when it is just a wish or a whim. However, if you have your future on the line, your bank account in jeopardy, your values and dreams on the chopping block, then you are willing to fight for what you want.

Most people do not create the amazing lives they want because they do not have the will to create it. They have a wish or a whim, a hope or an ideal. But if the going gets too hard, they´re out of there, and will find an easier, smoother route.

How badly do you want what you want in your life? Do you have a will or a wish?

The other day I asked a client to journal about what she really wanted in her life. I encouraged her to write about what kind of home she wanted, where she wanted to travel and what she really wanted to do in her life. When we looked at her homework, incredibly enough, she had written about all the reasons why she couldn´t have the kind of life that I had achieved! We were both a little stunned as she became aware of what she had done.

Robert Schuller said, “the only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking.” No truer words have been spoken. So much is possible, until you decide that it´s not.

I have coached many people through this process and it is interesting how negative they can be about what they want. They say something like, “I´d really like to be free to travel the world, but……. and then they proceed to tell me exactly why they can´t have what they want.

One of my dearest friends, Monique MacDonald, says constantly in her Discover Your Sacred Gifts workshop that everything after the “but” is crap. The lesson: Say what you want without the excuses. I want to travel the world. I want to be a millionaire. I want to have a beautiful home in Costa Rica on the beach, overlooking the ocean. I want to have a wonderful relationship. Period. Nothing else needed.

The “but” that usually follows sentences like these is your cop-out, your concern that you will disappoint yourself or you won´t get what you really want. Stop making excuses. Stop copping out on what you really want in life.

Get serious and committed to what you really want. Watch your “buts” in your life. Notice how often you use the word “but” to minimize or discount what you really, really want as you create your amazing life.

Remember, dreams are possible if you allow them to flourish and be nourished. Creating your amazing life is simply getting clear on what you want and then going after it like a dog after a cat. We´ll talk more about this subject, but today is a good place to start watching your buts.