A Teen Girl's Guide to Accomplishing Your Dreams

The past few weeks have been pretty hectic for me: I've been in a car accident, planned a bridal shower for a close friend, traveled, worked, spent time with family, and finally put the finishing touches on my book, Girls to Pearls: A Young Woman's Guide to Living Live Freely, Loving God Naturally, and Surviving Puberty Successfully. I am so excited now that I'm done writing the book, but the road getting to this point wasn't the easiest.

If you've ever had a big project, you know some of the frustrations that come along with completing a huge task. In your mind you see the finished product, but the process of getting to that point can sometimes feel burdensome. In writing Girls to Pearls I felt like I had so much that God had given me to tell young women, but getting it out of my heart and onto paper was the hardest part. Thanks to God, He has been faithful to allow me to finish.

"...Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed." (Habakkuk 2:3) NLT

You might have a project, dream, vision, or even a book that you've constantly been putting off working on. You may have even started a project, but just haven't gotten around to finishing it. There's no better time to start working on your ideas than today! Here are some tips that I've learned along the way:

Just because a project is dropped into your lap, does not necessarily mean it's what you should be working on at this time. Many projects may seem "good" or like the right thing to do, but it doesn't mean you have to commit your time, energy, and creativity to it. When an opportunity comes your way, don't just automatically accept it, but use wisdom to determine if it matches your goals. Do you have enough time to do this project? Will you be able to put forth your best effort? Is this something you really want to do? If you do something just for the sake of doing something, your heart won't be in it.

Work on one thing at a time, one day at a time. I can speak from recent experience that multi-tasking (doing more than one thing at a time) is probably one of the biggest killers of dreams. Not only can it be tiring, but it can cause you to be scatter-brained, unorganized, and inefficient. Don't get me wrong, some things require you to multi-task like balancing your school work with after-school activities, or balancing time with family and friends. No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about having so many projects going on that you're not able to do any of them really well. If you're doing just enough to make each project acceptable, it means you're not doing your best. What's the point in doing anything at all if you're not doing your best? "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might...." (Ecclesiates 9:10) NIV

Set realistic goals. When I first started writing Girls to Pearls, it was my plan to be done with the entire book in less than one month's time! No lie. Of course, that rather ambitious goal was pushed back further and further, and I began to feel unproductive. Nearly a year and a half later, I finally finished the book. (I now realize this was actually a reasonable amount of time.) You can save yourself so much stress just by setting more realistic goals and creating a step-by-step plan of how you're going to complete your project. This way you will keep your energy high, your motivation strong, and will feel a sense of accomplishment. Setting realistic goals and good planning is the best road map you can use to reach your ultimate destination of finishing your project.

Remember that you're on God's time. Do not place unreasonable demands on yourself because you feel like you're running out of time, or as if you should be further along than where you are. Everything that God starts in you will be brought to completion; not in your timing, but in the right time--God's time. "And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again." (Philippians 1:6) NLT