Dare to Dream Archives | Page 2 of 2

Write the Future

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idLG6jh23yE

Because of circumstance and past decisions we often feel like our future is defined and mapped out for us. We feel almost trapped.

And equally, one of the myths we believe is that we are entitled to a great life. That someone else is responsible for filling our lives with happiness and fulfillment. We tend to blame something external or someone aside from ourselves for the things we don’t like about our lives. And we create excuses or come up with various reasons why something didn’t happen or why we can’t be or can’t do or can’t have what we want in our lives.

The truth is that there is only one person responsible for your life and that is you. If you want to follow your dreams, if you want to achieve your goals, if you want to be successful then you must take 100% responsibility for everything in your life – your relationships, your finances, your achievements, your levels of happiness, your feelings – everything ! One of the best days of your life is the one in which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses or denials. Relying on no-one. Leaning on on-one. Blaming no-one. Just you taking responsibility for your life, your happiness, your dreams and your future.

You can write your own future … it truly is an open book with the pages yet to be written … I wonder what they’ll say …

But I don't know what my dreams are ?

There are so many books, songs, articles, blogs, websites that encourage us to go after our dreams. I absolutely agree.

But what if you don’t have any particular dreams ? What if you don’t know what they are ?

In this blog I want to give you a whole series of questions that you can use to think and ponder on to help you discover those dreams and passions inside of you. Use these to scribble. To write. To brainstorm. To dairise. To journal. To think on. And remember that dreams evolve and grow. They are not always clear from the start. Like a little spark you discover them and then as you pursue them they will either grow or die out. And the ones you want to follow are those ones that gorw and grow. They excite you and energise you as you think about them and as you take step after step to follow them.

o Who am I ?

I spend a lot of time thinking about ?
If I could be anyone I would be ?
I love myself when I ?
I am happiest when I ?
My greatest talent is ?
My strengths are ? Or if this is difficult – my friends and family would describe my biggest strengths as … ?
My weaknesses are ? Or if this is difficult – my friends and family would describe my biggest weaknesses as … ?
I am most confident when ?
I would like to become ?
The 3 things I like most and least about myself are ?

o What do I like ?

If I could do any job I would ?
If I was free to do anything I would ?
I love doing ?
What do you do that you find easy and would be happy doing all of the time ?
If the doctors told you that you had only a year to live how would you shape your life ?
What am I good at ? (there should still be a matching of talents to desires)
The three people I admire and respect the most are ? Why ?

o What do I want ?

When I was growing up I wanted to be ?
My dreams as a child were ?
I want to start ?
I want to tell the world that ?
I will never ?
What excites me is ?
What would make you most excited to wake up in the morning to another day ?
I want my life to ?
Name 1) one place to visit 2) One thing to do before you die 3) one thing to do daily 4) one thing you’ve always wanted to learn

o My greatest moments of joy and fulfillment in my life so far have been …

o What would you do if there was no way you could fail ? If you were ten times smarter than the rest of the world ? (Don’t judge or fool yourself. Be honest and play like a child. Do not limit yourself. The time for getting ‘realistic’ is not here. This is a time for reversing repression and discovering those things deep down in your heart and soul.

o What would you do, day to day, if you had $100 million in the bank ?

o What would you do if you were told that you were going to die next year ?

o How would you change the way you lived NOW if you were told that you could never retire

Mr or Mrs Incredible

Do you remember the dreams you had as a kid? How you were going to conquer the world? How your life was going to be filled with amazing experiences and adventures?

Don’t you find it funny that when you’re a child and you say you want to be an astronaut, your parents tell you that you can be anything you want to be. It’s harmless. Like telling a child that Santa Claus exists.

But when you’re 25 and you tell people you are going to leave work to do x, y or z or when you tell them you want to start to be a x,y or z … the response is different. “Be realistic”. “That is not practical”. “You SHOULD do …. ” And all these comments lead to the same end – you end up doing the things you felt you should do and that in some way force you to compromise those dreams?

What if you didn’t have to live each day feeling like you’ve made a compromise?
What if you actually did what you wanted and dreamt of ?
What if you didn’t have to feel like you were missing out ever again?
How has being “realistic” or “responsible” kept you from the life you want ?
How has doing what you “should” resulted in experiences or regrets for not having done something else ?

I believe it starts with a decision. A decision to actually DARE to Dream. Absolutely, there is wisdom involved and strategy and planning. And absolutely dreams turn very fast into hardwork and diligence and commitment. But this is a mindset. A paradigm. A point of view. And that is the challenge. We think that doing what we love and dream of is mutually exclusive and inconsistent with everything else in our lives – our responsibilities, various financial considerations and so on and so forth. But yet we read plenty of people pursing their passion and making a great living out of it and having the freedom of choice we all want. So it can be done.

So Mr or Mrs Incredible … the challenge is there … and it starts by DARING to dream and follow your dreams …

‘Dare to Dream’ and excuses

This video reminds me of the many things that hold us back from becoming all we can be. The excuses that hold us back from being all we WANT to be deep down. The little voice that derails us from fulfilling our potential. The reasons we accept that ultimately stop us from chasing and realising our dreams.

There are a number of things that hold us back. Excuses are one. Limiting mindsets and beliefs are another (whether they come from self-imposed beliefs and limitations we put on ourselves or whether they come from others opinions of what we can or can’t do). Fears are another. Fears of making a fool of ourself. Fears of failure. Fear of putting our heart on the line and opening ourself up to heartbreak. Fear of all the hard work not being worth it.

As my first blog entry the thing I most want to encourage you with is to Dare to Dream. We all have dreams. We all have a vision of how we would like our lives to be. That perfect day. That ideal future. But having the guts to step out and actually chase that dream – to dare to dream is another thing entirely. It takes courage. It takes a willingness to step out and put your dream on the line.

• So what’s holding you back from actually stepping out ?
• What are the excuses that you tell yourself that stop you from becoming all you could be ?
• What is the little voice in your head telling you that you can’t do ?
• What are the limiting beliefs you have about what you think you can or can’t do ?
• What are those things that you are fearful of that are like a chain around your ankle as you try to take steps towards your ideal future ?

Take time to audit yourself and have a think about the excuses, the fears, and the limiting mindsets and beliefs holding you back and then take the first step – make a commitment to yourself … to ‘Dare to Dream’.

This is the first but often hardest step. But most importantly it is the first step – a choice only you can make.