Do You Have a Dream or a Goal ?

[bljones]

Lately I have been seeing many references here to "the dream".
It seems "the dream' is a largely a whistful, ephemeral, somewhere, out there, maybe, someday, i'd like to, hopefully, IF, yadda yadda, airy- fairy concept that all too often becomes "woulda, shoulda, coulda" a decade later, candy-coated with excuses.

I propose we kill the phrase "the dream". Let's change it to "the goal."

What's the difference?
A dream is something that isn't real, something that has no relation to the real world. there is no commitment, only hope and wishing. Winning the lottery is a dream. A dream gives you permission to fail. After all, you never ever said it WOULD happen, right? It was only a dream!
On the other hand, a goal is a defined destination with a defined date. All you have to do is create the action plan to get there. Making a commitment to accomplish a project by a fixed date is a goal. When you have a goal, you become Yoda; there is no try, only do.

Who here is prepared to turn their dream into a goal?

[daddle]

We've already reached the goal. Living your dreams. Right here, right now. Just like we said we would.

[gonesail]

nice way of putting it .. i like it. commitments can also fail .. but dreamers can avoid commitments sometimes for that reason. having an action plan allows reality into the picture. fixed goals can also get you into trouble but without them nothing gets done and you then have permission to fail. now if i can just get that rigging and wiring done next month i can proceed with my goal

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by bljones

Lately I have been seeing many references here to "the dream".
It seems "the dream' is a largely a whistful, ephemeral, somewhere, out there, maybe, someday, i'd like to, hopefully, IF, yadda yadda, airy- fairy concept that all too often becomes "woulda, shoulda, coulda" a decade later, candy-coated with excuses.

I propose we kill the phrase "the dream". Let's change it to "the goal."

What's the difference?
A dream is something that isn't real, something that has no relation to the real world. there is no commitment, only hope and wishing. Winning the lottery is a dream. A dream gives you permission to fail. After all, you never ever said it WOULD happen, right? It was only a dream!
On the other hand, a goal is a defined destination with a defined date. All you have to do is create the action plan to get there. Making a commitment to accomplish a project by a fixed date is a goal. When you have a goal, you become Yoda; there is no try, only do.

Who here is prepared to turn their dream into a goal?

We need both.
Don't knock the role of dreams... they are vital.
The way I see it, without dreams there'd be no motivation to set the goal. And having set the goal, the dreams are the fuel to keep up the work it takes to get there.

Maybe there are degrees of dreaming. Where it's just wishful thinking it falls squarely into the "goin' nowhere" description you outlined. Maybe more a wish than a dream.
But a dream with a goal looks to be really powerful stuff. Maybe that degree of dreaming is closer to visualisation.
= dreamer. = goal setter/go getter. = on the journey. = mission accomplished................

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by bljones

Lately I have been seeing many references here to "the dream".
It seems "the dream' is a largely a whistful, ephemeral, somewhere, out there, maybe, someday, i'd like to, hopefully, IF, yadda yadda, airy- fairy concept that all too often becomes "woulda, shoulda, coulda" a decade later, candy-coated with excuses.

I propose we kill the phrase "the dream". Let's change it to "the goal."

What's the difference?
A dream is something that isn't real, something that has no relation to the real world. there is no commitment, only hope and wishing. Winning the lottery is a dream. A dream gives you permission to fail. After all, you never ever said it WOULD happen, right? It was only a dream!
On the other hand, a goal is a defined destination with a defined date. All you have to do is create the action plan to get there. Making a commitment to accomplish a project by a fixed date is a goal. When you have a goal, you become Yoda; there is no try, only do.

Who here is prepared to turn their dream into a goal?

Wasn't there a famous speech that began ..."I have a dream." What happened there? I'd say don't worry about the semantics, just work on your own deal. Besides, deciding to use one word over another will only change just that and nothing else.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Doodles

I'd say don't worry about the semantics, just work on your own deal. Besides, deciding to use one word over another will only change just that and nothing else.

+1

and don't worry about what others are doing or not doing - or are calling either

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by bljones

I propose we kill the phrase "the dream". Let's change it to "the goal."

What's the difference?
A dream is something that isn't real, something that has no relation to the real world.....

I usually “Dream” in order to find detail solutions for “Goals” I have set for myself.

Those are actual sleeping dreams and an integral part of my design and decision process.

Those dreams are a very real tool for me and perhaps not what you are getting at.


But I do believe we sleep in order to Dream.

[Wand]

Dreams, goals etc - it's all just romantic claptrap; the vista is far too distant. Just do today's jobs well and your trail will be laid. Or as a famous American (my pen-name being one of his titles) said: "Just write one perfect sentence and take it from there".

[Wand]

Maybe I should re-phrase the above: I reckon goals are best set in retrospect. They are whatever you achieved through doing the things that you wanted to do.

[callmecrazy]

Usually a 'dream' has a sense of being too far off to reach. So we set goals, that keep us on the path of our dream.

My Dream is to sail around the world. So I set goals that create forward progress towards that dream... 1. buy a boat (check!) 2. do some cruising south... 3 cross the canal... 4. do some cruisin north... 5 cross the puddle... etc..etc.. the goals are made in 'doable' increments. If a goal is ever too daunting, you simply break it up into smaller increments.

goals are steps, the dream is where those steps are leading.

[Mimsy]

Jonesy, we've always had a "goal" and never referred to it as a "dream". Dreams do not require months and months of labor to get a boat ready. In my dreams, the boat is "POOF!" ready to go.

Yep, definitely a goal, not a dream.

[Tempest245]

Joseph Conrad said: "We Live as we Dream....Alone. "
When I 1st heard the Quote before I had read his work, I knew he had to have spent time at sea.
I agree with many of the sentiments here. Dreams, for me, are the seeds of goals.
I also agree that things like winning the lottery are more like wishes, since beyond buying a ticket there is nothing else you can do to further that wish.
Dreams on the other hand can be achieved through your action plans; semantics, I know, but an important distinction imo.
I agree with Bljones, that sooner or later, you must make a commitment to a dream to realize it. In the business world they say, that goals must be achievable.

Callmecrazy has put it well. Goals are the steps you take to acheive the dream.
The more steps you take along the way, such as obtaining education, experience etc. allow you to be opportunistic, as life unfolds. . Objects in motion tend to stay in motion objects at rest....

[simonmd]

A Goal is something that is tangiable, something that (within reason) can be attained. My 'goal' is to sell my powerboat so I can buy a sailing boat.

A Dream is something much more special, more of an idea or ideal than something tangiable. It's more emotional and may be something that you could not possibly acheive, however, it gives you something to aim for.

To say the two are interchangable is daft, no one says "i'm living the Goal".....

[PamlicoTraveler]

Originally Posted by bljones

A dream is something that isn't real, something that has no relation to the real world. there is no commitment, only hope and wishing. ?

bl...I think you have a good concept. We are trying to make our dream a goal, which for most people probably means setting a date.

If you set a date and are intent on achieving it, then I think your dream has become a goal, or an objective.

[Hudson Force]

Originally Posted by bljones

................a goal is a defined destination with a defined date. All you have to do is create the action plan to get there. Making a commitment to accomplish a project by a fixed date is a goal. When you have a goal, you become Yoda; there is no try, only do.

Who here is prepared to turn their dream into a goal?

We're leaving Fort Lauderdale today with a goal of picking up some family members in Islamorada in two weeks. That's 90 miles, so we'll have to average 6.5 miles per day. We'll need to pace ourselves with some snorkeling east of Featherbed Bank in Biscayne Bay, a stop at the Caribbean Club in Blackwaterr Sound and some days languishing in Sunset Cove on the bay side of Key Largo. No dreaming here! We're sticking to the task.