“Keep your heart open to dreams. For as long as there’s a dream, there is hope, and as long as there is hope, there is joy in living.” (unknown)
Ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated by clouds. And by dreams. Not sure why the two are deeply connected in my world — maybe simply because I used to lie on the grass for hours, staring at the clouds and dreaming about life. Of course little did I know at the time about the vastness of life, I was simply mixing my curiosity and imagination with the knowledge I had.
I am not speaking of the kind of dreams we experience in our sleep, but the kind that are born in our hearts and created in our minds. The kind that are guiding us towards the truest version of ourselves. If not to say, the ones we are born, here on earth, to follow and to execute.
Execute a dream? Is this a thing? I am sure it is.
Everyone has dreams.
Only that not everyone goes after their dreams.
And this is what makes me the saddest. It must be difficult to push down your dreams, to rationalise why your inner voice does not matter, to put others´ needs and expectations in front of yourself. To give up just because you are afraid.
I am sure that it is harder to shut down (to ignore) a dream than it is actually to go for it. Why am I so sure? I am so sure cause I know how hard it is to lie to ourselves. It is easier to pretend in front of others that something does not matter, but we cannot hide or run from ourselves.
We cannot hide from our inner guidance and wisdom. I mean, we can ignore it until certain point. But.. sooner or later it catches up with us. Or we simply end up being one the many people sharing on their death bed the most common final regret “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”
Said all that, why not to give it a try? Why not to listen to your inner voice and give a chance to your dreams?
Dreams Are Your Future
You create your reality.
The reason why you tend to hesitate to acknowledge that you do create your reality is likely because the cause and effect relationship is not necessarily immediate and transparent, but instead happens over time.
Every single choice you make and decision you take builds your reality. You choose your relationships, your job, the country you live in, the diet you practice, the information you consume, the thoughts you think. All of it.
You have the full power to become the best version of yourself living your dream life. But the first step towards it is to DREAM IT!! You can only create for yourself what you want if you actually know what you want. There is no other way!
So start dreaming it! Start creating for yourself the vision of your dream life.
[ Make sure to download my DREAM MAPPING BLUEPRINT — free eBook with worksheets]
Dwelling In the Possibilities & Neuroscience
Imagination and envisioning and visualising are powerful tools for creating your dream life.
Have you ever heard about neuroplasticity of your brain? Basically at any given time you are able to start rewiring your brain (through growth of new neurons and through creating new connections between these building blocks of the brain) and start creating change. It takes effort and practice and persistence, but once you start creating new habits, new ways of seeing things and thinking about things, changes will occur.
Your brain does not make difference between your memories and your vision, thus visiting your dreams regularly not only serves you as a source of force and inspiration, but also normalises the possibility of dreams becoming real.
The more you think about your dreams and imagine how they will work out for you, the closer you will bring them to your reality. Visualisation and neuroplasticity are here to help you to bridge your reality and your dreams through offering guidance and support for your belief. However, do not underestimate the work and the action you need to take to make your dreams come true!
Fear of Dreaming
Fear of dreaming is a thing. Yep, you read it right. I was quite surprised myself when I first learnt about it during my Coaching Course. But suddenly it all made sense.
I had already come across people saying “I do not have any dreams”. Of course this statement was somehow ungraspable for me — I simply did not understand how can one live a life without dreams. I kept (silently) telling to myself that there must be more to life than just some practical day to day matters accompanied by change of hour/date/year/age. And that more for me has always been the POWER OF DREAMS! Not only are dreams a sort of a roadmap for future, but they make life so much more exciting and “colourful” and rewarding.
When somebody is experiencing fear of dreaming they are stuck in a phase of life where they are afraid to consider the possibility of dreams for themselves. They might experience low self-worth or self-belief thus not believing they have intelligence and talent or worth for their desires to come true. Or maybe they have experienced disappointment in the past, thus choosing to protect themselves from false expectations for positive outcomes. And often people in this place feel as if their destiny is to live their life reacting to what comes on their way and not proactively.
Once a lovely young woman showed up to my coaching session with a fear of dreaming. In her case the fear originated from self-worth and some unfortunate circumstances. She actually told me that she does not have any dreams for the future. After an hour of conversation, a sheet of paper got filled with a list of dreams and a pair of eyes got filled with tears (ok the truth to be told there were tears in 2 pairs of eyes). It is not always as easy to break this fear, but sometimes helping somebody to look at things from a different perspective is the perfect start.
Fears and Self-Sabotage
Sometimes my friends say that they do not have dreams. Clearly, I am always just a little bit suspicious of these conversations because something tells me that maybe, just maybe, they are laying low, either they are afraid of the word “dream” or they choose the comfortable over scary.
Of course, I totally understand, firstly I certainly overuse the word “dream”, while they underuse it. And secondly, to declare (to yourself) that you have a dream, means that you must do something or to become something. And to do something and become something, you might have to change something. And to change something, might mean that you must step out of the safe and comfy parts of yourself and your life. Well, you see, a full range of consequences right there!
While not everybody has a vision for their life or stops to ask themselves “what do I really want?”, sometimes people simply choose to play safe and limit themselves due to fear of failure or even fear of success.
And what would be the best way to protect your vulnerable self from harm and discomfort? Of course it is all about telling yourself stories that support your point of view and comfort zone!
Great limiting beliefs to keep you small and make sure you are not even gonna try to think about your dreams:
I do not have dreams.
I do not know what I want.
It is not possible for me.
I am too young/old.
I am not enough/smart enough/pretty enough.
I am not capable.
All this sounds even to myself somehow familiar and relatable, somehow comfortable. And staying in your comfort zone is safe. However, is it safe not to listen to your inner voice? Is it safe to deny yourself pursuing your deepest desires?
My answer to this is “no, no this is not safe”. Sooner or later there will be consequences, you might feel that something is missing from your life or you might not even understand why you are not fully happy. You might arrive to the end of your days with regret and with a question “what if.. “.
And of course it is also sad, because the world will not have the chance to see you living your life to the fullest. The world might not have the opportunity to benefit from your overflow — from all of your gifts and talents and bliss. And this matters too. This matters a lot. There is always a positive ripple effect when somebody is living their life to the fullest.
As a coach I would always ask you about this. I would ask you how achieving your goals/ dreams/vision positively impacts others around you and other areas of your life. I would ask from you “who else will benefit from you following through?” What is that greater impact you would/could make?
Said all that, I do not mean that every single dream is to be pursued. I do not mean that you will be miserable if you do not dream (out loud) or go after all your dreams, I simply say that some of your dreams are definitely worth to be followed and they can impact positively not only yourself, but the world in general. The whole world is built up as a result dreams of people, we have come that far because somebody has courageously take a step forward.
Next time when you feel like playing safe, ask yourself “Who else will benefit from me committing to this dream?” And then go take action!
Intentional Inspired Action
While clarity and vision are an important part of pursuing your dreams, they only work if you join to this formula also “taking action”. Although a lot can be done with the power of mind, we do live in this physical world that does need real action taking.
Once you have clarity about what is it that you want, the vision for what it should look like for your, it is time to create a plan of action. You might not have all the answers, you might not even know the “HOW” this all is going to happen, but you will always know what is that “one little thing you can do today” or you can do next.
Taking inspired action is about taking intentional and purposeful steps towards your goals and desires, while being driven by your passion and inner guidance. Taking inspired action is about being mindful and intentional, honouring your values and supporting your vision.
Conclusion
You have the full power to become the best version of yourself living your dream life. Do not let your fears to sabotage you, otherwise you too might end up with regrets of not having courage to live the life true to you.
It is never too late to start.
Take time and make space for you to dream — write down your deepest desires.
Write down what would you do and who would you become if everything would be possible for you.
And then, start researching, brainstorming, imagining — start creating new neural pathways by opening up possibilities.
And last but not least, start taking intentional inspired action.
Sooner than you know, your present and your future will blend. Sooner than you know, you will become who you want to be. And becoming your best version is the most important part of the journey of following your dreams. Your dreams are the map, guiding you towards the best version of yourself.
Your dreams know who you truly are.
Let´s not waist more time, go download my free “DREAM MAPPING BLUEPRINT” (eBook with worksheets) to get started on your journey!
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