I wish I had a job at Google, I hear some cool stuff about how people enjoy themselves. I wish I had a job in the UN, I hear I employees get to travel a lot. I wish I can join the Cabin crew at Emirates, I hear they pay really well. These are the types of dreams shared with me by so many who have sought my guidance at workshops, coaching session and on the social media networks.

So let me tell you how. First of all let me tell you achieving dreams are possible and it needs a lot of patience, dedication, hard work and perseverance. Those who have those dream jobs did not get their overnight.  Soichiro Honda, the founder of the Honda motor corporation was a mechanic at Toyota when he dreamt that one day he will make his own car. He enrolled in a programme at Toyota designed to promote innovation and worked on a prototype which if accepted would bear his name with a profit share, an alternate path to making his own car. It took him 8 years of sacrifice, hardship, bombs and earthquakes to start making Honda motor cycles as a first step towards making cars. When people tell that Honda was an overnight success, he would have perhaps said, yes it is an overnight success that took me 8 years! See my YouTube video on http://ranjandesilva.com/videoandaudio/  to hear the full story of Honda’s path to success.

Some who we think are in dream jobs are dreaming about other jobs. This is because of human nature which wants to constantly improve and do better and there is nothing wrong with that too. However those who come into the correct arena will next think of going up the hierarchy in that arena.

So what are the 3 simple steps to getting your dream job?

The first step in getting the dream job is to clearly establish that it is the dream job. Your dream job should be one that you love to do, one that you are good at and one that is consistent with your values. If you consider a job is the dream job then the first and third requirements, a job you love to do and a job consistent with your values is taken care of. Then you need to check if you can be good at it. There is no need to have all the skills and experience required for the dream job, but the starting point is important. For example if you want to become a world-class doctor, you should have some basic understanding and interest in biology or related subjects so that you can go on to acquire the  required skills, qualifications and experience for the dream job. If all these criteria are not present then you need to keep looking for clarity of the ‘real’ dream job you need to do based on these criteria.

The second step is to start getting the required knowledge and skills in getting that dream job. It is important to have the patience, perseverance, commitment and focus getting there. No job is unimportant when you have it. A young man working in a mobile phone company realized that his dream job was to own and run a restaurant chain. When he asked me if he should now leave and start looking for a restaurant to work in, I asked him what will he gain hanging on to his mobile phone company job. He mentioned he can build the capital needed to start his restaurant chain, he could learn management, leadership, customer service and business skills & processes and he can build a network of future customers. I asked if he would gain those by starting to work in a restaurant. He mentioned not as much. Finally he decided to continue to work in the mobile phone company, get himself qualified in restaurant management and set a future time frame to make the transition. In fact his manager noticed he was more dynamic and results driven than before once he started working with this attitude.

The third step is to get into the right arena when you have acquired the basic knowledge, skills and the capital [if relevant]. Another young man who wanted to be an engineer in a particular company joined that company as a construction worker as he was not accepted at a higher level. He decided to work as if he was already in his dream job by thinking of ways to improve what he was doing, making suggestions for improvement, putting in extra hours to meet deadlines, teaching others and inspiring them to follow his lead in producing good results for his department. His behaviours were noticed by his manager who soon suggested him for a promotion, realizing the potential in his dynamic construction worker. This young man continued the same attitude and behaviour and got rapid promotions to his dream job.

Yes these are three simple steps but they are not easy.   Those who really want that dream job will be willing to do the tough work to get it. Wish you good luck. Remember LUCK is Labouring Under Correct Knowledge. So go Labour, go get that dream job, go for it!