Having a dream is one thing, but making it a reality is another. What are you doing to achieve your dreams?

Like every single one of us, the mothers of the Witkoppen Clinic’s support group have dreams of their own. But, as all moms know, priorities change when the little ones arrive, and many of those dreams get left as just that: dreams.

Ana Cardoso, a breastfeeding counsellor from Portugal and volunteer at the Witkoppen Clinic, led the most recent support session. She encouraged the moms to keep a goal journal and use it to plan what they needed to do to achieve their goals, and, most importantly, how they were going to action those plans.

“There are a lot of small goals that make up a big goal. Some dreams seem like an impossible mountain to climb, but when you break up the main goal into smaller ones, those become your stepping stones to reach the top,” said Cardoso.

Visualisation is a powerful tool in goal-setting; the moms were given an activity to go through magazines and find pictures of what their life would look like when they’d achieved their individual goals. They were strongly encouraged to take these pictures home and put them where they could see them every day to remind them of what they are working towards.

Murray Booth, the marketing executive at Cuddlers, encourages moms to not give up on their dreams and goals, even if they fail their first attempts.

“Use every day to work closer to your dreams. Everything that you do should contribute towards them. Even failures. Use those to learn from,” said Booth.

Dagmar Kahn, the business development manager at Witkoppen Clinic, wants to encourage the Witkoppen moms to also use these sessions to work towards their dreams.

“So much of everyday life distracts us from focusing on what we really want in our lives. This is why these support sessions are great. They allow time to bring the bigger picture back into focus and maybe even meet others who can help along the way,” said Kahn.

Support sessions are sponsored by Cuddlers, Witkoppen Clinic, and the Fourways Review, under the banner of Caxton Cares. The sessions are bi-monthly on Thursdays, with the next session taking place on 10 October at 10:00am at the Witkoppen Clinic, 105 William Nicol Drive, Fourways, Johannesburg.