Do You Dream Big Enough?

By Andrea Travillian

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Do you dream big enough?

This question came to me after a morning of reflection. I was day dreaming about what I wanted my life to look like and something within me told me to dream bigger than I was, I had not gone far enough yet with my visions. So I pressed myself to expand my horizons and soon enough I was imaging more than I ever thought possible for me. Then the big breakthrough came - a great idea for a new business. As I continued to dreams about it and jot down the ideas I encouraged myself to dream even further about how this could get accomplished without me putting it on my idea list and having it sit there for six years. I was shocked and amazed at how quickly this one idea began to transform my life vision. All this because I allowed myself to go further into the process of dreaming than I ever had before. This led me to asking “Do you dream big enough” and quickly followed by “Why not”? What I came up with was fear and lack of imagination were the reasons our dreams do not grow as far as they should.

Fear stopped me because what if I dreamed something and it did not come true? What if someone made fun of my dreams for being too over the top? What if my family was not on board with my vision? The what if’s seemed to be endless. Often when dreaming we become victims of the fear of failure and the fear of leaving our comfort zone, so we stop right before we truly reach our ideal vision.

I had dreamed just to the point I knew I could achieve everything, it might be tough to get there but at least I knew I could do it. I did not have to worry that I might not get there and thus be a failure. But is failure really all that bad? Failure teaches us what does not work, and provides valuable lessons to move forward with what can work. Failure can be the universes way of pointing us in the right direction, leading us to our true path which can only be achieved by living through failures. Would I be a coaching today if I had not taken my various career paths that seemed to continually end with no direction? Maybe, but the fact that they all seemed to be the wrong career for me enabled me to reach my dream job by expanding my horizons and helping me narrow down what worked and what did not! How is that a failure when it leads to the best career for me?

I also dreamed just to the point where I did not have to leave my comfort zone or the comfort zone of my family. If I stayed in the comfort zone then I did not have to fear the judgments of others so I was safe. But was I really? What good is living by the judgment of others? Does it allow you to live your dreams? If you are going to dream then why stop at the point others will be happy? The point of dreaming is that YOU are happy beyond your wildest dreams. To get to this point you must dream beyond your comfort zone, when others see how happy you are they will follow.

How does lack of imagination stop you from dreaming about the best life possible for you? Imagination is forming an idea or vision of something that does not exist for you. So if you have never experienced your life vision then how can you imagine it? It is almost a catch 22 scenario, how do you know what to dream if you can’t perceive it? In steps imagination, this allows you to go beyond what you know to create new dreams.

So how do you move beyond fear and lack of imagination?

First you must leave your fear zone. How do you do this? You take your goal or vision and continue to push it one step further and feel the emotions as you continue to envision that goal. Begin by taking on goals that you already have established and take it one step further from where you have it. So if your goal is to be able to run 3 miles by the end of the year, imagine what running four miles by the end of the year would feel like. As you step further into your dream feel the fear and embrace it, only then can you look it head on and move forward. Go on it is just a dream you cannot get hurt in a dream; you may be amazed at how quickly the fear moves away! Continue to practice doing this until it becomes second nature!

Second, begin to work on your imagination by letting your mind wander while gently prodding yourself to go further. Begin by building your dream and then ask yourself “what next”, follow that with “then what” and keep asking yourself “then what” until your vision grows bigger than you ever thought possible. Eventually your mind will run wild and create more than you expected. Remember to give it time and don’t let it stop, just keep asking “then what”. Allow yourself the time and space to really get into your dream. You will know when it is the right stopping point as it will feel right, I know that sounds odd, but when you hit it you will know it, just like you know home!

Soon you will be able to say YES I dream big enough and be able to move forward to achieving them!