What dreams have you put off for so long that you have almost forgotten you had them? Are there ambitions you have set aside to tend to more immediate things in your life? If so, what better time than now to get back to pursuing those ambitions? The five tips below can help.

Articulate Your Goals

Is your goal a “someday” goal? If it sounds something like “someday I'm going to be my own boss” or "someday I'm going to write a book," it might be. Most people have goals like these. The problem with them is that they are not specific enough. A more specific goal might be "in two years, I will be running my own home cleaning business." Write down the goal on a piece of paper.

Identify Intermediate Steps

Another common error is failing to understand the steps you need to take to achieve your ambitions. This can make those ambitions look unattainable and discourage you before you ever get started. Perhaps your dream is to become a teacher, but you have never been to college. One of your first steps will be to get a degree. You will then need to look at what that entails. Instead of being discouraged by obstacles, you should instead look at how you can tackle them. For example, college is expensive but you can get federal aid and grants. You can also apply for scholarships and private student loans. There are many private lenders online in addition to more traditional sources of loans, such as credit unions and banks in order to complete your undergraduate degree.

Meet Yourself Where You Are

Yet another potential source of discouragement is feeling as though the gap between your ambition and your present life is too great. Are you too far in debt to even think about taking on more loans? Learn what you need to do to pay off your current debts. Are you a high school dropout? Look into getting your general equivalency diploma. Above all, do not tell yourself that you are already too far behind to bother.

Work on Your Mindset

There are going to be times when you get discouraged whatever challenges you face. This means thinking positively, but it also goes deeper than that. You can't always control what happens in the outside world, so you need to focus on your own growth even if the recognition and success you feel that you deserve does not come your way. This will sustain you through the hard times as you work to achieve your ambition.

Take Risks

There will be times when you'll need to do things that seem risky. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to risk your health or your life savings, but it does mean that you might have to take a chance on failing sometimes, even in front of colleagues. It is important to see failure as simply something you encounter frequently on the road to success rather than an end point in itself. When a risk leads to a setback, learn what you can from it and move on.