I have a Dream?

Definition of Dream

"A succession of images, thoughts or emotions passing through the mind during sleep"
" A vision voluntarily indulged in while awake (daydream)"

"An aspiration or goal"
(www.dictionary.com)

As we pass through our lives from small children till the day we die so many of us talk about our dreams. I realized a couple of years back, the only people that talk about dreams are the ones that never made it a goal.

My dream was to go to Europe and travel or I wanted to be a Doctor. We all do it, we have all had some "dream" that we wanted to accomplish, like our own personal bucket list. But like so many of us your dreams were put aside and as time went on and you pushed you dream back you eventually give up on it.

When I chose to become a chef over becoming an engineer I dreamed of traveling to Europe and studying in the best kitchens in the world. But like most dreams in your sleep I pushed my dreams back for various reasons. My family needed me here, met a great girl, no money etc etc etc. At the age of 22 I was all prepared to finally make my dream a goal until a strong attack of carpel tunnel hit both of my arms and it was a struggle to even hold a knife. I got laid off and my dream was dead, I knew I couldn't survive in Europe without being able to hold a knife. 7 months later, lots of rehab, I looked to my goal, my own business and restaurant. Now almost 2 years later Artisanal Palate is a fast growing business after only starting with $60 in the bank. I stopped dreaming and started making goals, and what do you know most of them came true. I put time frames to those goals and what I would consider a failure or a success. Now if you think that I am at all satisfied you are about to be sadly mistaken.

I set a new goal for 2011, be the best culinary business in Niagara. It is so easy for me to say that if it were a dream, but as a goal I am forced to act. In a month I have created more packages and menus then I probably did all of 2010. I have cut ties with dead weight and started working with more professionals. I stopped waiting for business to come to me and instead went to it. The result has been much more rewarding with a bright future for Artisanal Palate. So it took some waking up and hard time to realize I don't have a dream...I have a goal. I still think of Europe and how much fun I could have had. This business is what I was meant to do and I have set a goal to visit Europe every year after getting my debts paid off in 2. Every year my goal will be to go to a location for a week and learn something to bring back for my company. So surely if I was still on the dream stage I would be still stuck in the same spot, just like a hamster in his wheel. So now that the picture above can make sense to you, don't dream, make a goal and get moving on it.

Slainte and happy cooking