How do we turn our dreams into reality? How do we step outside the circle of influence that constantly directs us? Our minds are so strongly influenced by our environment that it is easy to lose touch with our own passion.

The word dreamer and visionary are often used in a derogative way to describe people who are not in touch with the way things are.

Everyone is under a subtle pressure to conform to a limited consensual reality. For most people, it is easy to follow the path of least resistance and just work on surviving and dealing with the demands placed on you.

However, our passion, and our dreams, and our vision, is who we are, and when we refuse to give them the space to expand in our minds and hearts, something dies inside us.

The most important thing you can do is to keep your dream alive.

Here are some simple steps to take:

One, fully expand on your dream. Write it out in detail. You can make a list of what you want. You can write out your ideal scene. Or you can collect pictures and paste them up on a board.

Two, review your graphic representation of your dream every morning as soon as you wake up and every night just before you go to bed. This simple ritual makes a strong impression upon your subconscious mind, and activates it to start looking for ways to make your dream real.

Three, spend at least 15 minutes running a mental movie in your mind of what it would be like to actually be experiencing your dream.

Four, write up a simple plan. Even if you have no idea how to achieve your dream, begin with a simple step. If, for example, you wish to be a millionaire, but work in a dull job and have absolutely no idea how to make more moneybegin by reading a biography of a millionaire.

The importance of your first step is that you are telling your subconscious mind that you are serious. It will then give you a suggestion as to the next step to take after that one. Insights will come once you take a step. Begin the journey with your first step.

Five, create a daily ritual, in which you are taking a step forward. It might be reading inspiring material. It might be writing in your journal. It might be learning a new skill.

Again, you are reinforcing the power of your dream upon your own mind. You are saying, This is what I want!

Finally, refuse to partake in things that drain youthings that limit your dream, that make it seem unimportant. Set aside those habits that get in the way of your dreamwhether the bad habits simple lower your self-esteem or fatigue or distract you, they must go.

Once you seize the courage to dream, the next step is to keep your dream alive. These five suggestions will then make your dream more vivid in your mind. Once this happens, you will start to have new insights and develop more and more ways to make your dream more and more possible.

In the beginning, most dreams appear to be impossible dreams, but once you engage the imagination, the will, and move forward with simple plans, you begin the journey towards actualizing your power in ways that you cannot presently even envision. The impossible slowly becomes possible. It does take courage and effortbut what could be more rewarding than moving in the direction of your fondest aspiration?