The Importance of Dreams
All of us dream. If you look up the definition of a dream, you will see various iterations of occurrences while you sleep. If you look up the definition of a daydream, you will see a daydream is something that takes us away from the present, a fantasy, a detachment from the current reality, or a hope for the future.
Dreams and daydreams will always be pleasant thoughts (as opposed to nightmares). But, unless consciously acted upon, a dream will always be a dream and will never be a reality. That’s another vitally important point worth repeating and I’m going to alter it just slightly: Unless consciously acted upon, a dream will never become a reality. The overriding purpose of Afterburner Success Partners and the associated course is to help convert your dreams into plans, written goals, and action steps that will help you achieve your dreams and make them a reality. So you can live your best life.
Ah, there is that word again, goal. You will remember that earlier I mentioned that this class originally had the word goal in the title, but I decided to replace it with the word dream. Dream is a more pleasing word while goal often is associated with work, commitment, and having to do something one may not want to do. What I want to do is gently goad you, nudge you, convince you into doing what you already know you should be doing anyway and that’s making plans to achieve the things you want in life.
So, I talk a lot about dreams. I talk about goals a lot. A goal is a dream with a plan to achieve it. Wait. What? That’s a hugely important point. Let me say that again because it is a foundational point of the course and your lifetime plan of achievement: A goal is a dream with a plan to achieve it. Dreams are extremely important in our lives, probably more so than many people understand and our dreams typically form the basis of what we do in life. But we must take the next step past just dreaming and act.
What are your dreams for your life?
Please write this question down. What are MY dreams for MY life? Before you answer that question, I’d like to tell you a little story about an experience I had once. Because I am a student of Lean methodology, Six Sigma, and continuous improvement, I’m always trying to improve myself. One of the principles of continuous improvement is setting what are called stretch goals. Later on, you will hear more about a very important stretch goal that was set and met in the US concerning putting a man on the moon. For now, let’s just define it. In my words, a stretch goal is a goal that is just a little far out there, something you are not quite sure you can achieve, but if you can, you will have to work extra hard to get it. Of course, the reward is so much sweeter if you get it, but even if you can’t quite make it, you will have achieved greatly. That’s what I want your dreams and goals to be. Ambitious, perhaps unreachable, at least in the moment, but bigger than you think you can achieve.
Now, back to the question. Write down any, and all, possible dreams you would like to achieve. Big dreams, little dreams, far-out dreams, any and all of them. Write as many as you can, as quickly as you can, being sure not to think about them. Especially do not think about how you will achieve them. Just get them down on paper. I want to capture what comes to your mind immediately when you think of dreams. This is what we call brainstorming, and when you take the course, we will go through several brainstorming sessions. Brainstorming is more fun in a large room with a large group of people, but in this case, we will just have to do it alone. If you want to ask a trusted family member or close friend to review it with you, then that’s OK.
Over the next week, ponder the dreams you have written down. If you need to, add any new ones you may have left off. I’d like to ask you NOT to remove anything from the list, at least not now. Why is that? Well, when we were “in the moment” of brainstorming, we were writing down everything that came to our mind that we wanted in life, just as quickly as we could. We were not thinking about if or how we could do them, we just wrote them down. Now, after you’ve had a bit of time to reflect (that’s ponder, one of my favorite words again) you may be inclined to think to yourself “That’s a stupid goal. I’ll never be able to do that” and you may tend to scratch it off. When you take the course and we, together, complete this exercise more fully, there will be an opportunity to look at these dreams and consider what should and what should not be on your list in a more holistic and logical manner. I don’t have the space to go into it completely here, but during the course, you will see what I mean.
How to overcome defeat
Now I mentioned a little while back that some of us have found ourselves in the loser’s bracket and then I went on to give an excellent example of the 2024 Oklahoma Sooners women's softball team climbing out of the loser’s bracket and winning their fourth consecutive Softball World Series. If you feel you are in the loser’s bracket currently and you need a win, then you are in exactly the right place to get that. My caution to you now is to NOT lose sight of what you want in life this early in your journey. Later, if you want to take a dream off your list it will be OK. And why is it going to be OK later, but not now? Because I’m going to teach you about prioritizing your dreams, and your goals. At that time, you will be far better educated and informed and better able to make that decision logically. And you will feel good about it, not because you took a dream off of your list, but because you assessed all of your dreams and only chose to do the ones that are most meaningful to you. Yup, you got it, another win!
OK, so that’s about enough for this week. Truth be told, spending time writing down and pondering all your lifetime dreams is quite a task and should keep you pretty busy this week.
What’s in it for Me
Wanting to achieve your dreams requires deliberate action to achieve them. If you don’t take deliberate, forward action in a planned way, you could end up with regret. And none of us want that. We all want you to achieve your dreams and live your best life. And that, my friend, is what’s in it for you for this week. When you write down all of the dreams you want to accomplish during your life, you have set your plan in motion. Continue to follow these posts, share them with your friends and family, and sign up for the next available course.
Call to Action
Complete the assignment, which is writing all your dreams down and then carefully considering them. Remember, don’t try to figure out how to do them all or give up on any just yet. When you do this, you will have accomplished a lot and set the stage for further growth. Remember when we said that only about 3% of the population has written goals? Well, you are on your way to joining that group!
Recommended Resources
Purchase and read the book The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz (Note 1).
Up Next
More than dreams and goals, it’s about lifestyle.
Notes
Please note that as an Amazon Affiliate, I may earn a small commission on the sale of any of these recommended resources.
The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz: https://amzn.to/4eU7e32