To take them from thought to animated life form you have to start the engine, act, move and sometimes that involves failing. Ah. That's risky. So dreams are delicate balances of visioning and doing. Too much doing and it's exhausting and frustrating, too much dreaming and it disappointing and saddening, which is why I imagine most dreams end up untested, much less unfulfilled.
What makes dreams both important and amazing is not just 'getting them' but being involved in their gestation, having fun, watching something get born. And who you become in the process of their birth. Now that is beautiful. Something comes to life that never existed before except in your mind. That is truly awesome.
OK, so maybe it's not so 'awesome' to you if it's an IP network installation. But it would be if it were something that mattered to you. It would be if it were something you could see for yourself in your mind and you liked the look of (and that IP network matters to someone too...)
I've been involved in the "30-days to Create the Impossible" program with Michael Neill in the month of January, coaching those in the program, and I'm so in the center of this topic, I can't tell you how moving it is to watch dreams be born (more about the program on http://geniuscatalyst.com, though, it's closed now). We are just finishing the second program and again, it's incredible the beauty, the relief, the joy of finally experiencing what's actually possible to create. To witness dreams grow their wings in front of your eyes.
Of course that's nothing compared to what the person feels as it's happening. They get reborn too.
What I keep thinking about as this particular program comes to a close, is that for some, 30 days won't be quite enough to complete a big project.
What to do when you have "that thing you can see in you mind" but it's a big goal and requires a bit of sticking power?
In longer term projects, how do you keep up the commitment?
I was in Project Management for 10 years, so I have some notions about this. What surprised me, when I left the corporate world, was to discover that just because it's a pet project and life dream, doesn't mean people achieve it! They drop their dreams into the toilet all the time. This sounds crazy, but it's not impossible to imagine when you think what little we really know about making our dreams come true.
Our preferred methods are:
- lottery
- rich partner
- inheritance
- luck
Apart from these, the only other recipe out there seems to be EFFORT. But it's rubbish to think you can "g-up" every day and expect to keep doing that over months and months. There are days when you're in a crappy mood. Then it feels like the wind has gone flat. If you've ever given up on something you wanted, you'll know what I mean. And you will perhaps have been looking for the answer too.
But the only way I know to take a pipe dream and create a living thing is inspired action. To enjoy the genesis.
How do you get that? You blend a bit of dream making and a bit of project management, but you are careful with the doses.
Like I said, too much dream and it's star gazing... too much action and it's burn-out city.
So you do both and mix it up.
That is why Michael's 30-days to Create The Impossible is so brilliant and works so well. (Keep an eye out for when he runs it next time and get on board). Until then, I'd use his book, "You Can Have What You Want" as a great guide to sustained release success.
In my next post I'll continue with this and talk about ways to keep going in big projects. If you have a big project and you want to chat about it, feel free to contact me.
Meanwhile, if you want to start up something and join me for a year in my ProjectDream group, I do have some spaces. Here's more info.