3 Tips To Help You Achieve Your Dreams
Caption: A poster that I made with my Classroom Rules.
Facebook Memories reminded me that on this day, seven years ago, I left my job as a High School English Teacher at Whitney Young Magnet High School, It was an exclamation point on an incredible 12 year career that included achieving tenure, hosting countless after school programs and so much more. When I started my career as a teacher, I imagined that I would spend my entire working life in the classroom - perhaps ending by becoming a school administrator. When I started teaching - my big dream was to start my own school.
The thing about dreams is that we have many of them and we have to be open to flowing with the streams of our dreams. To mark this important event, I want to share a few tips and some advice if you are pursuing your own dreams.
(1) Understand that your dreams may and will change over time. When I first started my professional career - I had plans to remain in the classroom and/or in traditional education. About 10 years in, I started to feel the push and pull of something else - working with young people who more closely resembled those that had experiences similar to mine growing up in settings outside of school. At the time I was working at the best High School in Chicago (and one that had achieved national recognition as the alma mater of Former First Lady Michelle Obama, amongst other achievements). I had students walking through the door as freshmen, scoring perfect scores on the ACT. While I was making a difference - I started to feel like I was needed in other settings. Our dreams push us. They push us out of our comfort zones. They push us into new spaces with new faces. Our dreams also pull us. What are the things that people are asking from and of you? What are you known for? Those may be clues to what is pulling you.
(2) Figure out the financials. I created a budget and made a deal with myself that I wouldn’t leave teaching until I at least replaced my teaching salary. It was important to me to maintain some level of financial security while pursuing my dreams. I applied for and received a Fellowship called Echoing Green. which included a stipend that surpassed my teaching salary & allowed me to pursue running the organization Art of Culture (Formerly Donda’s House) that I co-founded. I highly recommend creating a free account with ProFellow to research potential opportunities. After Art of Culture - I started/co-started 3 other entities with the most recent being Camp Equity. When I think about the times either personally or professionally where I didn’t make the best decisions - it was often because the financials were an issue. When your financials are in order it gives you the freedom to move in alignment with your desired outcomes vs. “doing what you to do.”
(3) Follow Others Who Are Pursuing Their Dreams. Thanks to social media, there are so many examples of people pursuing their dreams. Rarely will you be the first to do anything. If you aren’t the first, then that means you have some blueprints, landmarks and field notes to follow. What are the key milestones on the road to accomplishing your goal? What are the pitfalls and distractions that take you away from the path to your dreams? What are the pitfalls and distractions that have taken others way from the path? What are the resources and tools you need to achieve your dream? If you are the first - you can draw inspiration from other “firsts.” There is a saying that “you can’t be, what you can’t see.” Surround yourself with inspiration in order to motivate you to keep going when things get difficult.
I still have many dreams to achieve and I wish you all the best as you pursue yours. If you have any questions that I can answer that may be helpful, please let me know via the comments section.