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“What’s your dream? Everybody has one. What’s yours?” ~Pretty Woman
Dreaming in society can have a negative stigma to it. If you’re an artist, dreaming is painted as being necessary but not very practical. If you’re a realist or analytical person, dreaming may be thought to be a waste of time. But I believe a dream is, in reality, a purpose finding mission. We all have a purpose here in this world, in this lifetime but not all of us dare to believe our dreams serve others. Each one of us has a gift which is the foundation of our dreaming. Neil Armstrong may have had a passion for space, had he not been allowed to pursue his dream, the rest of the world would have suffered. But I want to start this new year cheer-leading those with dreams that haven’t realized them yet. I want to be my best self and I’m eager to take many others along the way.
What’s holding back your dreams? Below I’ve listed six items that may be your stumbling block.
1. Information Overload.
We live in an information society. You can’t get away from it unless you’ve never owned a computer, T.V., radio or phone. Sometimes I think knowing less was better for us. But since we can’t turn back the clock, we need to be better managers of how much and where we get our information or we can become paralyzed. Truth is you probably know more than you need to get started on your dream. And you’re certainly smart enough to learn as you go. In fact, the best businesses are built on being flexible and adjusting along the way.
2. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).
There is a time to research your new adventures and there’s a time to go for it. Too often we think we have to have everything perfect, take a look at every variable, plan, strategy, and learn one more lesson before we strive for our dreams. Stop. Take the first step. Just get started and figure out the rest as it comes. Stop worrying about if you’re doing it right and what others think or say. There are many opportunities you may be interested in, that others have already done, do it anyway but put your own spin on it. If you discover you need to learn something new to accomplish your goal, make a note of it and set aside time to explore it. But move forward a little every day.
3. Excuses.
Fear will keep you from a forward movement. Fear shifts you from an offensive position to a defensive one. In a defensive posture, you’ll spend all your time being hyper-vigilant rather than looking for every opportunity available to you. People who spend their time making excuses tend to begin to believe what they’re saying and so do others around you who could be a rung in the ladder to vertical movement. Life is filled with challenges, crisis, and tough times; the only thing that doesn’t change is you and how these circumstances are met.
4. Watch the Talk.
Watch how you paint yourself to the crowd of witnesses. Whether they are clients, family, trainers, employees, bosses or friends; if you paint yourself with dull colors, they’ll see you that way as well. You are the curator of your life, paint with vibrant, memorable hues. Likewise, you’ll never know who stands along your path of success, paint them with effervescent shades as well. Keep your drama to yourself. Find a trusted friend that knows you better than yourself, spill your guts to them and lick your wounds in private. There is value in being transparent, but there is a line between transparency and drama for attention’s sake—step carefully. Lose the victim mentality. Instead, let difficulties be an education for the future, then pass those lessons on.
5. Get Real.
What’s holding you back? What’s your worst fear? Go down the path of what if. What if I fail? Then you try again with the knowledge you learned from the first failure. What if I let others down? Then include them in the new strategic plan, hear them out, perhaps they see something you don’t. What if I embarrass myself? Learn to stop taking yourself so seriously. What if I’m not good at it? Experience teaches us so much about ourselves; imperfections will begin to categorize your strengths and weaknesses which can direct your next steps.
6. Visualize.
What do you want? Write down your goals clearly and with such clarity that anyone else reading it will know exactly what you want. Then take a moment to picture yourself reaching your goal. Write a letter to yourself as if you’ve already reached your goal. Then put it where you can read it often. This is where many people make vision boards. I remember hearing that Jim Carrie wrote himself a million dollar check and carried it around in his wallet anticipating when he could cash it. Then he went to work on his goals. Although he dropped out of high school to pursue his acting career, he spends 5-6 hours a day practicing the faces he’s so famous for as well as spending 8 hours a day practicing his craft.
We all dream dreams. Some of us become content to not pursue them. Some of us just plain give up. Sometimes the timing feels off to us. Sometimes pursuing dreams feels impossible. I get it. Some of us are willing to jump off the cliff and not look back. And some dreams need to be worked at a little every day or week.
What if—what if this year you rekindle your dreaming, strategize, break it into bite-size pieces and started with step #1? You can always change your mind, your plan, or stop altogether. But you only have one life to strive for the dream set in your heart.
If you dare to begin, where might you be one year from now?
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