:: "How to not sell your dreams for a couple bucks" by Esther Houston ::

I get so many questions about fulfilling dreams. How do you achieve the life you've dreamed of? How do you fulfill dreams? There is no black and white answer to that, at least none that Im aware of. But I can try to give a couple tips I've learned from experience.

Don't sell your dreams for a couple bucks.

Even if you think you will be buying your dreams by selling them for a couple of bucks. You won't. Don't do that. Not under any circumstance. No matter how tempting. Even if short term you seem to have accomplished what you wanted, and you're happy, longterm you won't be.

Our dreams don't only consist of the end goal; our dreams are a built up collection of our passions, our values and our goals.

Selling yourself short, or putting yourself through compromising situations just for the sake of getting something you want out of it, is never a good idea. That is a subtle way of accepting that you are not good enough. By doing that you may accomplish a goal, maybe even get to experience some of your passions. But you will be ignoring your values.

Values dictate where your life will go long term.

Not your career, not your success, but your values. Knowing your values will keep you from making bad decisions on a big scale. We all make bad decisions here and there, but when it comes to big life decisions, they rely on your values. What do you value? What are you willing to accept? Where do you draw the line? How much do you consider yourself to be worth? How much love will you accept in your life?

The love you accept, is the love you think you deserve. 

If you are in a bad or abusive relationship ask yourself this question: Do you believe you're worth more than that? Or do you think thats all the love you deserve and that is why you've decided to settle? Reconsidering my values changed my life. Once I understood that I was actually worth something, I lived like it. And my decisions started reflecting that. 

We are all in the pursuit of happiness. Its even part of the american constitution that we have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Beautiful. But the pursuit of happiness doesn't include selling your soul for the pursuit of career, wealth or status. There are no shortcuts in life. At least there are no shortcuts to fulfilling your dreams. Even if you get to your goal, if you did it the wrong way, not according to your values, you won't be fulfilled. What a cruel truth. I know, I've been there. So my conclusion now is: if you have a dream, you work hard, but you get there the wrong way you will not find happiness in achieving your dream. Why? Because you've ignored what you valued, in order to achieve what you wanted.

Dreams are made to be pure. They are made to be a collection of our values, passions and goals. Dreams are made as a guide to fulfill your hearts desire.

If you go after your dreams and fail to keep your values unbroken, you lose. You lose because you've pursued your happiness, you've gotten to your dream, and you found nothing there but a broken promise of a happy life.

Be sensitive to the desires of your heart. For where your treasure is, there the desire of your heart will also be. And that heart, that value, is what dictates whether you'll find happiness in the pursuit of your dreams.