Good Thursday morning. Our week of giving and receiving, planning and growing is almost over. Today I wanted to share some thoughts to grow on from yesterday’s idea of running our own world. I was thinking about the concept of a dream versus a fantasy.
A few years ago, when I had my biggest health issue in life totally take and knock me down, it left me trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. It was at that time in my life that, more than ever, I wanted to scream for help. I wanted to give up and just ask someone else to make life work for me. I had worked just two short years in a job that seemed like it was meant for me to do. I had spent $5,000 on schooling to get the licenses needed. And I still owed over half that money when epilepsy put a quick end to my career.
With seemingly no future, no idea how I could feed, clothe, and keep a roof over my family’s heads, inside I still had a feeling of hope like something was going to get better. I just did not know how. Imagine you have hope, but in reality you can’t see where it would come from. That is what I felt. It was a short time after that when I started a small business. While doing it I got to meet people who told me I needed to have a dream in life. It began as an inner desire for something, and a plan of action to make it happen. But I was also told that a dream without any action plan to make it happen was a fantasy.
So today I wanted to talk more about the two what these two things – dream and fantasy – what they are and how they could work in our lives.
Dream: most people think of the word dream as something they do at night while sleeping. Yes that is one thing dreaming is, and in many forms you could say a bad dream is a nightmare, a good dream is the one that you don’t want to wake up from. When I talk of a dream, it’s taking something you wish for, or something you long for. You put a plan of action in place to make it happen. In some cases people have a dream car they want to own, or a dream house they have a picture of in their heads. To make it real, you put together a plan on how they will get that dream. When I worked in sales, I used dreams like a car, or house, or certain vacations to give me a push or a reason to make the sales calls I needed. Some people do this with putting a picture of the things they want on their bathroom mirror. I took many pictures of my current motorcycle with me sitting on it every time I saw one at a dealer. That makes you attract it more. But it also makes you want to work harder to get it. So what is something that you really want? In keeping with this week’s theme maybe it’s to find a better life, to be able to supply more financial security, better family life, or better relationship with your partner. Whatever it is, define it and put a plan into action to get it to happen.
Fantasy: most of us have these in the form of looking at things we cannot have and saying, “I want that,” then looking the other way and never doing anything about it. Imagine you get up and look in the mirror in the morning and say, “I need to take better care of myself,” “I need to lose some weight,” or “I need to eat better to take care of my heart.” Then you walk away from the mirror and go right back to your normal routine and do nothing about it. Some people say they wish they could hit the lottery, then tell you what they will do when they win, but have never bought a ticket. Imagine looking at that car and saying, “That is my dream car,” then walking away from it and never setting a goal to make it happen. I want to add that a fantasy could be I want to have a better life, but not doing anything about it. I could go on and on, about what it would be like to want something and never take a step to make it happen. That would be like looking at your dirty face in the mirror and not washing it and walking away from the sink.
The bottom line for today is, it’s your life. If you want something more out of life, it’s time to turn your fantasies into dreams and make your dreams a reality. Stop asking someone else to make them happen. Yes, certain dreams require others. If you are in sales, you require customers to buy so you can get the money to buy your dreams. But one customer telling you “No” today is not the end. Ask another, and keep the doors open to the customer who said “I’m not looking to buy right now.” Don’t wait on them go make other sales.
In our lives, we all want a better life. If you have a dream inside of you that you are longing to get out, look around to make sure everything is working towards that. In the book, The Dream Giver, the journey ends when Ordinary finds this city that needs his help. He has to work to make that city into the dream he envisioned. So you must take the small gifts you are given to make your dream turn into reality. Start your journey today. Take a fantasy, set some goals to make it a dream then take the steps to make it happen. Come back tomorrow to talk about the risks, the gambles we take in life to make our dreams come true.
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time for you to live the life you always dreamed of, to love what you do and those you share life with. Turn your fantasy into a dream with some goals to become the RockStar in your world.
