162: Have you forgotten how to dream?[Podcast]

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Have you forgotten how to dream? I asked that question of a client the other day as he was talking through all of his options. Should he take the job that was a minor promotion (my words – not his) or should he take the job in the other company which is also a minor promotion? (Again – my words not his.) 

As he described both, I could tell his heart could care less? “What do you really want?” I asked. He then started comparing the options between the two jobs. 

No – I mean “What do YOU really want?” Take all of this off the table. What do you want to do if you could step back and money was not the issue? He stared at me as if I had just morphed into speaking Chinese. 

After a moment of awkward silence, I said – “Have you forgotten how to dream?” After another moment of awkward silence, he said – “I have even forgotten what it means to dream.” 

Have you forgotten how to dream? (podcast outline)

We have let others do the dreaming for us. They set the agenda.

What has happened to all of us? We used to be a nation of dreamers and innovators. Now we have mostly become the settlers. Settle for this job. We settle for this pay raise. We settle for watching other people do amazing things and work hard. We settle for having our mind numbed by the corporate grind – mostly made up of meaningless meetings and poor leadership. We settle for having our after-hours time consumed with the mission of others – coaches for our kids, school systems who demand us to show up after hours, job functions to go to, or just the grind of the TV and endless TV commercials. 

Much of what we suffer is in the name of taking care of our kids and preparing them for college, and then a job, where they will live in the same monotony we have. 

Or we suffer from being entertained to death. Videos, video games, etc

• 3.2 Billion hours of Youtube are watched every month. 
• The number of hours people spend watching videos (aka watch time) on YouTube is up 60% year-over-year

Why have we done this? 

• Corporate Lobotomy – You become numb. Your mind becomes disconnected from your feelings about work and purpose. You might have been here too long. 
• We are being taught to follow. The average parent is teaching their kids to get into college. Why? 
• We are NOT being taught to dream. 

How to recapture the spirit of dreaming!

Find ways to be inspired. 

• Find new people who fascinate you to hang around them. 
  • Be careful who you hang around! Who You Spend Time With Is Who You Become.
• Find new ideas to try. Those things you always wanted to do but never had the time, money, etc. 
  • Make time by quitting the activities that are adding no value to your life. 
    • Does it truly provide you joy? 
    • Do you look forward to doing it – or are you just in the habit of doing it? 
• All about people. Like it or not – people are the thing that inspires us. People who are doing amazing things. People who are passionate about what they do. People who we connect with on ideas or purposes. 
  • Quit the relationships that are adding no value! “Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life” by Henry Cloud

Then Dream

• Failure is not the right outlook – to try and grow is the point. 
• The journey is important – not the destination. 
• See more possibilities:
  • We tend not to see possibilities beyond
    • Our degree
    • Our company
    • Our work experience
    • Our zip code
    • For example, in a recent meeting with a CIO who was looking for what is next, he thought his only options were more CIO roles or tech roles. He discounted all he knew. 
  •  We tend to kill ideas when we see someone already doing this. 
    • How dare we enter the market? 
    • Who am I to do this? 
    • Walmart, Facebook, Google, started this way. Others were doing it – they did. So did the corner laundry mat owner. So did the person holding the job you now want.
    • If someone else can, why not you?

• • We might think no one else has done it – so it cannot be done.
    • Heart for serving
    • Examples
      • That Shakespeare Girl is an example. Who would buy a podcast on Shakespeare? Check out Romeo and Juliet in 3 minutes – winner of the Best Shakespeare Themed Animation at The Shakespeare Film Festival 2018. (Link)
      • Booktuber? – The Reading Werewolf -Booktuber. Who would watch? His video “Type of Bookshelves” has a lot of views. 
    • Imposter Syndrome. “The voice “Who am I to do that?”
      • That Shakespeare Girl is not a Ph.D. in the academic world. Who am I to do this? 
      • Career moves? Who am I to lead this team? Who am I to take on this project? 
    • I do not know the steps to take.
      • Often when we start a dream, we have no idea how to get there. We may have no expertise or knowledge. 
      • Sara Blakely – Founder of Spanx – had no idea how to get a patent. She could not afford the massive legal fees – so she found a book at Barnes and Noble and wrote her own patent – How Spanx Got Started. 

Look – I can go on and on about challenges and ways to overcome them with numerous examples of those who have. So can you. 

The real issue is not the “challenges” or examples – but the real issue is “What is your big dream?” 

What would you do if you knew you could not fail? 

What would you do if you think God had your back? 

What would you do if money was not an option? 

What would you do if you had the freedom to do anything you want?

Closing

You do not have to take the first step. But notice how nervous you get just dreaming. Notice as you think of the possibilities how you get a little excited – often cautious – but excited. 

Forget taking action right now. Right now – just dream. What would you like to do if anything was possible? 

Click here to listen now. 

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my Company of One? If you’re not, I encourage you to do that today so you don’t miss an episode. Click here to subscribe in iTunes!

If you like what you hear, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast. I also love reading them and connecting with you. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links mentioned in this episode to help you market yourself:

• Who You Spend Time With Is Who You Become
• Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life”
• That Shakespeare Girl
• Romeo and Juliet in 3 minutes
• The Reading Werewolf -Booktuber
• Type of Bookshelves
• How Spanx Got Started
• Master of Engineering Management in Information Engineering and Management