The first way to tell if you are following your dreams is by gauging your excitement / passion level. Do you love your life? Do you love what you do? Are you passionate about what you do? If the answers are no, then you are not living your ideal life. Keep in mind that you could just be feeling "off" right now and it may not be a true reflection of how you really feel about what you do. If you have a lot of personal issues going on right now then this could be the case. Ask yourself instead, when you are working and have a clear mind, do you love what you do? Asking yourself this question may give you a more accurate answer.

If you do love what you do, then you don't need to keep reading! If you don't, then ask yourself this question: How would you like your life to be different? This exercise will take some time; so make sure you have about 20-30 minutes to spend on this. Write down on paper how you would like your life to be. What would you like to be, do and have? What does your ideal life look like? Write out every detail and cover every area of your life.

The next step is to make the decision that you will live this type of life. Everything starts with the decision. Once you make the decision you will feel inspired and motivated. The universe will start to provide you with the events, circumstances, people, ideas, etc. that will enable you to realize your dreams.

Pay attention to your intuition. Only do things that feel right. The more you do that brings you joy the closer you are to being the real "authentic" you! The real you is a happy and peaceful person. So why not do things that get you closer to being in this place more and more often?

Don't do anything because you think you should. This one might take some practice. BUT, if I can give you one piece of advice, it's this: If you make decisions based on pleasing others, the reality is that you are never going to be able to please EVERYONE. So why not do what works for you? You in turn will be happier and end up having more to give to others anyways. People will respect you for this too. :)

Clear out the clutter. It's hard to be in a place where you can really pay attention to your intuition if you have lots going on emotionally and in your physical environment. Start cleaning things up in order to have the space to pay attention to how you feel. Whether it's cleaning up your office or having a difficult conversation, the sooner you start dealing with it, the sooner you will have more space and time to do what you want to be doing.

If you follow the above, you will be well on your way to following your dreams and living your ideal life, which is essentially doing things that make you happy. What could be better then that?! Have fun. :)

Chrissy Atley is a certified personal success coach and founder of Total Harmony Coaching. Chrissy works with entrepreneurs to help them get focused and see results in order to start living a freedom-based life.

Through her workshops, coaching programs and products, Chrissy shows her clients how to experience less stress, more success and a business they love. Based on Chrissy's life experiences and business training, she uses a unique system that teaches entrepreneurs how to set-up their businesses for success (on the inside AND outside) and implement success strategies, in order to increase their income and run a business that is built on solid ground that will support their growth.

For free weekly tips on how to move forward now, sign-up for Chrissy's high-content ezine "Life Change Success". You will also receive a free download on how to set and achieve your goals when you sign-up at http://www.totalharmonycoaching.com