"I have a dream", the famous words of the great civil rights movement leader Dr.Martin Luther King in his all time favorite speech at Lincoln memorial in Washington on the occasion of civil rights march on August 28, 1963. This immortal speech stirred millions of people.

All achievements start with a dream. Dream is the initial spark, which grows into an inferno that eventually make dreams into a reality. All of us need to dream - we need to construct our castles. People say don't build castles in air. That is not right. Castles are meant to be in air that is where they belong! What is needed is to put foundation underneath to make it real.

Dreams and Goals make our life meaningful. Without them life is rudderless ship. It may take you to a place where you did not want to go.

In the story of Alice in Wonderland, Alice, on reaching the cross roads, asks the cat which road should I take? the cat asks where you want to go? I do not know, says Alice. Well! If you do not know where you want to go - it does not matter which road you take, cat said. Many of us do not know where we want to go. Steven R Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People says, we don't go through life with an end in mind and consequently the ends are not what we wanted in the first place.

Dreams and goals are the vision of the future - vision of the possibility and vision of the opportunity. "To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan but also believe." - said Anatole France." Dream is the mental picture of what we could achieve. Dreaming is the divine gift of imagination. It is said that all things are created twice - once in the minds of the people and secondly actualizing in the physical or material form.

All successful people convert their dreams into goals and goals into reality.

In every walk of life the history is full of great people whose dreams has manifested into benefits to millions of people. May be some of us not as great as that so as to touch hundreds or thousands of peoples lives but certainly we can make our own life meaningful by capturing in our imagination, the common occasions, event and things and make them great.
All our goals relate to something we don't currently own or have. They could be:

• Experiences you have not yet had
• Places you have not yet been
• A type of relationship you are not now enjoying
• Things you want to own
• Contribution you want to make
• The person you want to become

Elements of goal achievement:

1. Dare to Dream -Give yourself a chance to achieve-dreams challenge your potential.
2. Take ownership of your dream - Convert them into goals. Goals are powerful. It is the operational side of dream otherwise a dream will remain a dream.
3. Assess yourself - Check your resources - check your values. Your goals must align with your values otherwise, you may feel empty after achieving the goal. Fulfillment comes out of meeting our values.
4. Plan your action-act on your plan - A good plan is necessary to focus and channelize your resources and action alone will accomplish any goal.
5. Persist - Expect set backs. In one of his famous and briefest address Winston Churchill told the young Graduates "Never, Never, Never, Never give up". It is worth reminding one's self that often persistence is bedrock of all great achievements.
6. Be Flexible -Some times detour is necessary - keep the big picture in focus - let not small things distract you. You have to be flexible yet.
7. Enjoy small successes along the way - Add on all the small successes. It provides the psychological winning spirit. Consolidate every gain. Be happy with your small achievements too!