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"  By now, you probably have a vague idea of what your dream life looks like. Or hell, maybe you&amp;#039;ve been fantasizing about it \u2014 very precisely \u2014 since you were 5. Not that your current situation is bad, but there are always a few huge things that you envision doing one day. Trouble is, it&amp;#039;s hard to get moving when you have no clue where to begin. &amp;quot;Fostering change is exciting but daunting at the same time \u2014 unless you know how to approach it,&amp;quot; says life coach Scott W. Ventrella, adjunct professor at Fordham University&amp;#039;s Graduate School of Business, where he teaches a course called &amp;quot;The Total Quality Way of Life.&amp;quot; That&amp;#039;s where Cosmo comes in. Our smart strategies for tackling any big plan will guide you through the process of making something new happen for you. (Just keep in mind that depending on what you want to accomplish, some of these tips will apply to your goal more than others.) Here, your handy life-change handbook. 1. Visualize the Outcome If you can&amp;#039;t actually imagine yourself, say, landing that dream job, you never will. &amp;quot;Not only does seeing yourself there make the goal feel comfortable and therefore accessible,&amp;quot; explains Jack Canfield, author of Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, &amp;quot;but it also enables you to bat around a ton of different possibilities and versions of your aspirations in your head, without consequence, until you figure out what&amp;#039;s right for you.&amp;quot; Start by simply closing your eyes and letting your mind wander. Think of it this way: You&amp;#039;re shopping for a major life change. So attack it like a trip to the mall. Try on for size a whole lot of different options and separate what works from what doesn&amp;#039;t. You may have to keep jumping from &amp;quot;what if&amp;quot; to &amp;quot;what if&amp;quot; until you find the perfect fit. Just make sure you pay attention to your visceral responses along the way. &amp;quot;When you stumble upon a choice that&amp;#039;s right for you, you may feel calm, happy, or even energized,&amp;quot; explains Canfield. &amp;quot;But if an idea causes you anxiety, it&amp;#039;s a clear signal that you&amp;#039;re on the wrong track.&amp;quot; And if there&amp;#039;s a single image that you keep coming back to \u2014 bingo! &amp;quot;Often, the option that&amp;#039;s right for you is the one that repeatedly pops into your head,&amp;quot; says Canfield. Apply the principle: MAKING A CAREER CHANGE Ponder your occupational options by imagining what the day-to-day would be like. Sure, donning a power suit and chilling in a corner office sounds cool in theory. But would you really be happy waking up at dawn and playing corporate politics? If picturing yourself pulling on panty hose every morning leaves you less than elated, the answer is no. But if envisioning yourself presiding over a board meeting gives you goose bumps, that may be your destiny. Apply the principle: OVERHAULING YOUR LOOK To begin your get-gorgeous upgrade, flip through a few of your favorite magazines and see which images you gravitate toward. Pinpoint your preferences, and then picture yourself dressed the part. &amp;quot;This will help you eliminate the styles you like but might not necessarily feel comfortable wearing,&amp;quot; explains stylist Gara Gambucci. The same holds true for hair and makeup transformations. &amp;quot;You may love Keira Knightley&amp;#039;s short cut,&amp;quot; says hairstylist Richard Corio of the Sally Hershberger salon in New York City, &amp;quot;but when you give yourself a &amp;#039;virtual makeover,&amp;#039; you may realize you&amp;#039;d feel naked without your ponytail.&amp;quot;  Related Video  2. Think Backward You&amp;#039;ve visualized exactly what you want, yet attaining it still seems daunting. No worries. Wrapping your brain around an enormous undertaking is easier than you&amp;#039;d guess. &amp;quot;You don&amp;#039;t have to tackle the whole venture at once,&amp;quot; says Ventrella. &amp;quot;Instead, break down your objective into manageable increments and tackle them one by one.&amp;quot; Here&amp;#039;s the hitch: You might not know what the first increment is. The trick is to start with a step you do know, and then work in reverse. Check out this strategy in action in the following examples, and you&amp;#039;ll see exactly what we mean. Bottom line: &amp;quot;Thinking from finish to start elucidates the stages and helps you foresee any roadblocks along the way,&amp;quot; says Ventrella.  Apply the principle: BUYING A HOME So you want to score your own pad. Well, you know that before you can roll out the welcome mat, you have to find the place. All right, that&amp;#039;s like step four. So backtrack from there: In order to find the place, you probably need a real-estate agent. And before you waste an agent&amp;#039;s time, you have to know how much you can spend. Rewind again: In order to determine your cash cap, you have to sit down with a mortgage broker. &amp;quot;A loan officer will assess your income level and assets to figure out how much you can afford and preapprove you for a loan,&amp;quot; explains Starzie Mayer, a sales associate at Weichert Realtors in Mendham, New Jersey. &amp;quot;Without a preapproval, you can&amp;#039;t make a bid on a property.&amp;quot; Which leads you to step one: getting preapproved for a loan. (Knowing what you can spend will help energize you as you start looking also.)  Apply the principle: MAKING A CAREER CHANGE You know that hearing the words &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;re hired!&amp;quot; is predicated upon a kick-ass interview. Of course, you can&amp;#039;t nail an interview you&amp;#039;ve never had, which is where networking comes in. But before you start calling and e-mailing your contacts or posting your credentials on a job Website, you have to polish up your r\u00E9sum\u00E9. Aha!   3. Research It&amp;#039;s easy to get so excited about your impending metamorphosis that you neglect to suss out exactly what you&amp;#039;re diving into. &amp;quot;When we fantasize about doing something big in our lives, we often fail to take into account what achieving it actually entails,&amp;quot; says Marilee Adams, PhD, author of Change Your Questions, Change Your Life. &amp;quot;There are bound to be a billion little things that come up that you had no clue about.&amp;quot; Clearly, it&amp;#039;s crucial to do your homework. &amp;quot;The problem is, in this information age, we have access to so much data that attempting to process all of your findings can make your head spin,&amp;quot; says Adams. That&amp;#039;s why she suggests making a list of five key questions you want answered before you attempt so much as a Web search. Don&amp;#039;t labor over the questions; just jot down what you think is most important. For example: If you want to make a career switch, you might implore &amp;quot;Will I need to go back to school for an advanced degree?&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;What is the average salary?&amp;quot; &amp;quot;These queries will give you a starting point from which to build your knowledge base so you don&amp;#039;t become overwhelmed,&amp;quot; says Adams.  Apply the principle: PLANNING A COOL VACATION Sure, hanging ten in Saint Thomas sounds fab. That is, until you do a little detective work to answer your first question (&amp;quot;Will I be able to surf?&amp;quot;) and discover there are no big waves on the island \u2014 destination deal breaker! Identifying a list of things you think are vital beforehand helps you refine your research and home in on what you really need, says Adams. Other travel questions to consider: &amp;quot;How expensive is the flight?&amp;quot;; &amp;quot;What is the best season?&amp;quot;; and even &amp;quot;Does the hotel have a gym?&amp;quot; You&amp;#039;ll find answers on the official tourism Website associated with your locale, a travel site such as orbitz.com, or a guidebook like Time Out&amp;#039;s destination-specific travel series (available at bn.com), says Lizet Gediciyan, director of Travelcraft, a travel agency in New York City.  Apply the principle: BUYING A HOME You don&amp;#039;t want to become a homeowner blindly, so formulate your questions. A place to start: &amp;quot;Am I getting a good deal?&amp;quot; One way to find out: &amp;quot;Ask your real-estate agent for a comparable market analysis, which will tell you how much similar properties in the area are going for,&amp;quot; says Mayer. &amp;quot;If your price is on par, you&amp;#039;ll know you&amp;#039;re not being ripped off.&amp;quot; Another goodie: &amp;quot;What is the community like?&amp;quot; In this case, Mayer suggests driving by the property at various times of the day to scope out the &amp;#039;hood. You can also visit the local municipality or its Website (it&amp;#039;s sometimes www.townname.org) for the scoop. 4. Find Someone Who&amp;#039;s Done It Nothing is as valuable as getting advice from someone with personal experience. &amp;quot;One of the most effective ways to work toward a goal is to find a person who&amp;#039;s successfully accomplished it,&amp;quot; says Canfield. That said, let the networking begin. &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;ll often find an individual with expertise in the area you&amp;#039;re investigating via word of mouth,&amp;quot; explains Canfield. That&amp;#039;s why it makes sense to pick the brains of everyone you know. Ask coworkers, neighbors, and former professors if they can turn you on to someone who could lead you in the right direction. &amp;quot;Don&amp;#039;t feel like you&amp;#039;re bothering them,&amp;quot; says business consultant Susan Murphy, PhD, coauthor of In the Company of Women. &amp;quot;Most people love to talk about their accomplishments.&amp;quot; What they don&amp;#039;t love is a time suck. So before you touch base with the person, be prepared with questions. After all, this might be a one-shot deal, so get as much info as you can. &amp;quot;And don&amp;#039;t be afraid to ask for the good and the bad,&amp;quot; says Murphy. &amp;quot;You can learn from others&amp;#039; mistakes.&amp;quot;  Apply the principle: PLANNING A COOL VACATION Ask the average person about their stint in paradise and you&amp;#039;ll most likely get a glowing review (&amp;quot;Omigod! Everything was fabulous!&amp;quot;). Peachy, but that doesn&amp;#039;t exactly give you awesome insight into booking your own trip. Gediciyan recommends probing a little deeper by asking questions like &amp;quot;Were there any sights that you thought were a total waste of time?&amp;quot;; &amp;quot;Did you see another hotel that you wish you&amp;#039;d stayed at instead?&amp;quot;; and &amp;quot;What would you have done differently?&amp;quot;  Apply the principle: MAKING A CAREER CHANGE You may dream about running a company someday, but that doesn&amp;#039;t mean Bill Gates is going to meet you for coffee to discuss. &amp;quot;You don&amp;#039;t necessarily need to go to the top of the heap for career advice,&amp;quot; says Murphy. &amp;quot;Your main goal is to get started, and often someone in middle management is more likely to assist you.&amp;quot; (For example, if you want to own your own boutique, ask a local shop owner for advice, not Ralph Lauren.) Then make contact via e-mail (no one wants to be cold-called), armed with questions like &amp;quot;What part of your day do you dread?&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;What are the busy-work aspects of the job?&amp;quot;  5. Set Deadlines You constantly have deadlines imposed on you at work and school, but no one is going to breathe down your neck and ask you why that life change is late, so you need to act as your own deadline tyrant in order to move from the maybe-one-day mentality to making it happen. Keep in mind that these deadlines aren&amp;#039;t meant to stress you out, but rather to motivate you and keep you aware that you truly are making progress\u2026even if your goal is a long way off. So how do you meet your goal without becoming anxious? Set a realistic timeline. &amp;quot;Establishing a viable calendar makes the process seem more manageable,&amp;quot; says Ventrella. Think about how much time you have until D-day and how much time you can devote to it. Then bust out your planner and give yourself minigoals. For example: &amp;quot;I will do X, Y, and Z by such and such date.&amp;quot; Be sure to chart your progress in writing. &amp;quot;Every time you mark something on your calendar, you&amp;#039;ll see that you&amp;#039;re one step closer to your goal, which can be highly motivating,&amp;quot; says Canfield.  Apply the principle: OVERHAULING YOUR LOOK Getting ultrabuff like Jennifer Garner did for Alias might take you six months or more. That&amp;#039;s why you have to set little goals, like hitting the gym for an hour three times a week, and larger goals, like getting rock-hard biceps within a month. Monitor your success in a workout diary and voil!  Apply the principle: BUYING A HOME The deadlines here are mostly about the green stuff. You already know you&amp;#039;re going to need a down payment. So figure out how much you can afford to sock away per paycheck and how long it will take to hit that target number. Then set a date to be preapproved for a loan and find an agent. Once you have all these balls in the air, your dream will soon become a reality. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/career/advice/a1864/get-your-dream-life-started/>