When it came to starting this blog theme, I first had this idea as an “ah ha” moment back on Super Bowl Sunday. The idea came out of the Motley Cruë song that was used in a KIA commercial – a car company that was not even here in the states when the song they used was on the charts. This ad showed how a young man could be a RockStar in a small car; how the manly man liked him; how Vince Neil from Motley Cruë gives him the thumbs up; and lastly how he breaks through the wall and gets his wife back.
Dreams can become reality. Later in this week I will go into long-term big dreams but first I wanted to take this post today to talk about how you’ve got to start somewhere.
When I work in coaching, I often find people who tell me they have to get things “right” before they can go to the next step of hiring a coach. I am not just a coach; I’m helping people get from where they are to living that RockStar dream. It’s built into me; it’s part of my everyday thought process with everyone I meet. “How can I help them realize the RockStar dream inside of them and boost them to take that next step to reach for that dream?”
If you are a long-time reader, you know I’m a guy from the ‘80s and I love the movies from ‘80s and ‘90s. One of my favorites is the movie, Rudy, about how a small-town boy had a dream to run out of the tunnel and onto the field as a Notre Dame football player. The movie is a story based on the real life of Rudy Ruettiger, who had what might seem like an insignificant dream. But to Rudy that was a RockStar dream. If you ever looked into the story of things Rudy has done, including making that movie, you know he went on to chase and achieve many other “small” dreams. But to him they were RockStar dreams.
A dream starts somewhere. Many speakers who talk about it being time to achieve your dream they tell you first to hang out with dreamers. I tell you start with any dream and work from there. It was little achievements that took Rudy to that one dream of running out onto that field. It took a lot of work to get there, but because he never lost sight of his dream and he never gave up, he did get there.
Now I want to talk about another dream in a movie that might not be noticed as much. In the 2000 movie, Coyote Ugly, we find another story of a person’s dream. In the movie the character, Violet, starts dating Kevin. Do you remember how he told about his dream in that movie? At some point, Violet asks why Kevin is pushing so much for her dream when he is not living his own dream at all. Kevin then tells her about his past, of having no home, leaving his home country, coming to live in New York and living on his own two feet. If you watch the movie you will see that Kevin has worked many jobs and he lived his life doing what he had to do to take care of himself.
While this is not big part of the storyline, it impacted me enough to help me realize that sometimes you have to start with the dream of just taking care of yourself.
I mentioned above how many times clients tell me they have to “take care of things” before they start to work with my coaching process. Gwynne tells me that she hears this a lot in her Weight Watchers meetings: “I gained a few pounds and I didn’t want to come back until I’d lost them.” It’s kind of silly because they are going to the meetings to help them lose weight. It’s like cleaning up your house before the maid comes to clean.
I also reminds me of the old story you hear from many people that they feel need to clean up their lives before they can go back to church. I am a Christian and I believe God takes us as we are. He is the one who creates us to be better. We don’t get better first and then come to Him.
If you have been fighting for years, working to find out how you could be better, stumbling around in the dark, it’s time to get on the horse and ride. You need to start now working toward the small dream first. When you start the process of dreaming, it will not take long to find your big dream. When you start the clean up, remove the things that are not working and start to work on some things you like, then the dream will become a clear picture.
In the beginning of the 1990 movie, Pretty Woman, an old man is walking across the street talking to himself. He makes this statement and then repeats it at the end of the movie: “Welcome to Hollywood! What’s your dream? Everyone who comes to Hollywood has a dream. What’s yours?” It’s time to build your RockStar dream.
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach; it’s time to live your dream, to love what you do and those you share life with. Get started, even with a small dream, to become the RockStar in your world.
