The Power of Dreaming Big

Can you remember when you were a child and the child-like dreams you had and the journeys you’d embark upon in your imagination? Maybe you had dreams of being like your heroes or others you looked up to. Then somewhere along the way life came along and those dreams took a back seat. I still believe in the power of dreaming and setting high goals and, no, I won’t tell you that all dreams come true, but I will share with you the power of holding onto them.

When working as a personal trainer with my clients, they often share with me their dreams and aspirations of being healthy and fit. I’ve come across others who seem too afraid to dream or set goals. Sometimes this is because past attempts have failed. The message I want to share with you is that the reward lies not in the destination, but rather in the journey and the person you become by diligently striving to reach your dreams.

Imagine a really long ladder like the ones the firefighters use for tall buildings and imagine your dream has been placed at the top of this ladder. Now, you just need to climb the ladder to reach your dream, but as you begin to climb you’re hit with a barrage of negative self-talk and adversity. For instance, your footing is shaky. You feel scared that you might make a mistake, and you feel as if you’re not skilled enough to accomplish this after all. Nonetheless you push a little bit further and a little bit higher toward your goal maybe because someone is helping you along or you’ve made the decision that you’re going to reach your goal this time for certain. Each time you begin to slip, you keep on pushing.

You’ve been so scared this whole time you could hardly open your eyes, but you feel as if now would be a good time to do so. When you finally look around you notice that you’ve reached the treetops and that everything looks beautiful up here. With this realization you decide to keep on climbing.

Eventually you’ve reached the top, your dream. When you look around again things are even more beautiful than before. You can see the birds flying, the kids playing in the playground below and the air is so refreshing here at the top. You’re having such a good time from your new viewpoint that the goal that was waiting for you may actually become secondary to the journey itself. Actually, you’re not even sure how important it is to you anymore because this journey has been so amazing. In fact, it might just be time to climb a new ladder, to set out on a new journey. As C.S. Lewis said, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

See friends, you would’ve never experienced the challenges and successes of this endeavor if you had stayed at the bottom staring fearfully up the ladder. You won’t know the power of the journey until you step up each rung of the ladder toward what you want. Then, even if you get to the top and find this dream is no longer desirable, you will be viewing life from a higher vantage point and you will have grown in you’re ability to chase your dreams.

With a view from the top you might be able to see things and imagine things that were impossible to see if you had never taken a step at all.