“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing…”
Oriah Mountain Dreamer
What was it that you dreamed of becoming when you were a child? Are you living the life that you dreamed of?
Maybe you have not yet allowed yourself to dream, conditioned early on by voices from your past- from people who had long ago given up on the power of their dreams; experiences may have left you doubting yourself, life leaves you disillusioned, giving up on the hope that you could really have what you want in your life.
Or worse, you have just ‘settled’, not truly believing in your power to make change.
I was one of those people. And I am not going to tell you that I made the changes I wanted to make overnight.
Truthfully it has taken time and a willingness to really meet the doubts, to dance with the fears and to take the action that is needed, even when failure is a genuine risk.
I would even venture to say that I have ‘failed’ many times along the way and that I am where I am today because of, rather than in spite of, the mistakes that I have made. They have been my greatest teachers.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am for one of the simplest presuppositions of NLP, the learning of which changed the way I think about the ‘f’ word. “There is no failure only feedback”.
Thomas Edison was once asked in an interview, how did it feel to fail 111 times before creating the incandescent light bulb.
His answer “ I didn’t fail 111 times, I learned 111 ways NOT to make a light bulb”. So failure really is here to teach us how not to do something.
Here Are A Few Tips On Actions To Take RIGHT NOW In Order To Begin To Dream Your Dream Into Reality:
1. How’s your energy? Look after your physical body. You cannot go out and move mountains if you feel sluggish inside.
What changes do you need to make to your nutrition and exercise regime? Do you have one? Give your body the fuel it requires to really enable you to be the best you.
2. Ask yourself, if there were absolutely no obstacles in your way, what would your life look like? What is life’s highest vision for you?
And take out pen and paper and just let your vision pour itself onto the page. Write in the style of ‘stream of consciousness’, just letting it pour unedited onto the page, without questioning or judgement. You may be very surprised at what unfolds.
3. Write out your goals, there is something very powerful about writing down your goals. In NLP we set S.M.A.R.T goals:
- Get very clear on what it is you really want. Make it Specific, even sensory based. What would you see, hear or feel if you had this goal?
- Measurable: How will you know you have it? Will it be when you actually have the car and are driving it? Will it be evenness of your breath that lets you know you are happy?
- As If Now: Write it in present tense as if you already have it now. Future tense will just keep it right there, in the future.
- Do you have the Resources to achieve this? Is this a realistic goal? While its great to choose a goal that will stretch you, it is also important to choose ones that are achievable.
- Timed: When do you want this vision to actualize? Put a date on it. If we keep thinking of things as happening in the future they tend to stay there!
So Your Goal May Look Something Like This:
Eg “ It is now May 2010. I am sitting in a café in UBUD typing into my computer. I see the words fly across the computer screen, I hear the tap tapping of my fingers as they move across the keys.
I feel my chest expand with excitement and I take a deep breath as I realise my dream of writing a book is actually happening. My self-talk is saying “well done for completing a life long dream!”
4. Check your belief systems. When you think of your dream, check in with your body. How does it feel? Does it feel “ Yes! I’m going to go for it?” or are there doubts and fears checking in?
These are not a reason not to go for your dream, they are simply showing you where you are not yet congruent with who you want to be.
Get clear of limiting beliefs, negative emotions, and unhelpful strategies. Model someone who is already doing what you want to do. Your coach can teach you how to do this.
The best investment I have ever made is in investing in myself. I have invested a lot of time and money in personal development – The Journey, NLP, Meta-Coaching and getting myself a coach when I was really making transformational change in my life.
The result is that I am now living the life I had previously only dreamed of. And the money I invested is coming back to me.
5. Keep your focus on your goals. What can you do to remind yourself of your goal? Create a vision board.
Also, have a whiteboard somewhere you will see it everyday and add the smaller steps that you need to make to take you closer to your goal. Tick them off as you complete them and give yourself a smiley face!
Count and celebrate all of your steps, this is vital, they are the steps that enable the big picture to unfold, and the joy you feel as you celebrate ‘you’ is teaching your nervous system the direction you want to go. The nervous system loves to please…
6. Take Action. I am with Nike on this one “ Just Do It”. A great habit each night before going to bed is to write down “5 things I can do tomorrow to take me closer to my goals”.
They may be eency things like make a phone call, send an email… When you wake up your mind will be onto it and you will hit the ground running.
7. Gratitude: Keep a daily gratitude journal. Gratitude is a magnet for grace. When you put out a vibration of gratitude, the universe just wants to give you more.
When we focus on the abundance that we already have, our vibration is one of abundance and we get more of what we are putting out. As well, it gives us a feeling of well-being that lasts all day. Make gratitude a part of your every-day experience, like cleaning your teeth .
No matter where you are in your life, or what is going on for you, you have the power to make the changes that you want. I have a belief that there is nothing you can dream that you can’t be and we can all live a life that is based on passion.
Some of the greatest achievements in the world started with a single vision or dream. Martin Luther King dreamed of racial unity and now we have the first ever black president in America. And it all started with the words “ I have a dream……”
Grab a pen, quick! At the top of the page write the words “ I have a dream….” and play. I am excited as I write this to think just what might unfold for you! Email me and let me know!
“Some people see things and say why? I dream things that never were and say why not?” George Bernard Shaw.
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Carolyn Dickson
