The Power of Dreams
friend of mine that I hadn’t spoken with for a long time called the other day. It was great to hear from him, but it seemed that he was having some problems staying motivated. He has been in the same company doing very similar work for the better part of the last 25 years and he was unsatisfied. Not DIS-satisfied, he was just unsatisfied. Perhaps you know what I mean.
We started talking about all of the things that he wanted to do, and most of the things were in the past—missed opportunities, forgotten dreams, diminished passions. So, being the coach I am I asked him some questions.
What are your dreams? It’s impossible to emphasize strongly enough the power of creative, uninhibited imagination. Your ability to find direction and satisfaction coincides with your ability to dream. Every achievement, large and small, has come from a dream, a vision, a far fetched idea. Start a dream inventory—a listing of all of the dreams that you have. Add to it regularly. Open the door to the closet of your mind and have fun. If you can envision your dreams and put them on paper, you are taking one step closer to fulfilling them.
What is it you want to do? Imagine that your local newspaper was sending a reporter to interview you on the occasion of your 75th birthday. The reporter says “You have had an amazing life, one filled with lots of accomplishments. Tell me about them.” What is it you want to tell the reporter? What have you done, where have you traveled, what kind of person did you become, what were your relationships like? By answering the above questions now, before you turn 75, you take the first step towards making your dreams a reality.
What are your goals? Goals are the things that drive us, that make us excited about our lives and our work. What are the goals you have set for yourself? Most of the people I work with have some goals—usually financial goals—but miss out on setting goals in other areas of their lives. What do you want your relationships with your family and friends to look like? Are you taking care of your physical being? What mental development activities have you undertaken recently? When is the last time you read a book just for you?
What is your purpose in life? What a difficult question for most people to answer! Finding an answer, however, is one of the most important things you can do. Tony Schwartz, the author of “What Really Matters, Searching for Wisdom in America” tells the story about standing in a reception line with Trump just after he wrote “Art of the Deal”. He was making more money in a day than he had made in his whole life, and he felt hollow, like something was missing. He went on a journey of a couple of years and several thousand miles to find that something. It took him a long time, but he defined purpose for himself. I am not suggesting that you find a guru on a mountaintop—what Tony found is that his purpose was inside all along—he just had to bring it out. We all have a definite major purpose in our life. What is yours?
The more you can live your life on purpose, the more that you know what you want to do, the more living you can do! Call me at 704-987-0195 to learn more about how hiring a coach can lead you on a journey of discovery.
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