You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. . .
John Lennon
Or am I?
Sometimes, dreaming can feel like a dangerous activity. It can set you up for disappointment if you somehow don’t achieve your dreams. And instead of facing that disappointment you shut down the dream-machine all together.
An even greater danger than disappointment though, is this: When we allow ourselves to dream freely and wildly, we sometimes forget to use our logical side at all and then end up with a pile of broken dreams, some of which we weren’t even sure we really wanted in the first place.
Without using your logical side, you never really decide which dreams are forever destined to remain a fantasy and which you want to invest the blood, sweat and tears to achieve.
You see, the disappointment is one thing, but being disappointed about things you weren’t really invested in to begin with is really a shame!
Make like a farmer
You might think of dreaming 1.0 as a lazy activity – something that wastes time. Dreaming in general makes you like a farmer planting a field. You are letting loose the seeds of your creativity and imagination to see which ones take hold in the soil. It is only from there that great things can begin in our lives.
But most of us make the mistake of thinking that our farm work is done at the point that we’ve let our creativity loose. The truth is it’s just started. You’ll have seeds that start to grow, for example, the seed of wanting to start a business. It’s up to you to decide if you are going to invest in that seed and turn it into a goal. If not, that seed will remain a fantasy forever, never really getting off the ground. Maybe it will still be fun to look at and think about as it winds its vines in your brain. . .
If you are unaware of the decision you have to make (goal vs. fantasy) you may give up on farming (and dreaming) altogether, believing that you’re terrible at it, that it’s fruitless and a waste of time. The truth is that you really just need to invest in the advanced techniques.
Dreaming 1.0
1. Dream
2. Wait for cool stuff to happen (and/or get frustrated, disappointed and disillusioned)
Dreaming 2.0
1. Dream
2. Decide which dreams are goals and which are just for fun (fully letting go of any emotion related to not making fantasies real).
3. Go after your goals
Clearly, Dreaming 2.0 is a much more practical way to achieve your dreams. It’s not that the Universe doesn’t just plop great stuff into our laps. It does. But when you want to direct your life, you have to create your goals and go after them – not just dream your dream life and hope.