Photo courtesy of EvelynGiggles and Flickr
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
Henry David Thoreau
This week I was asked to provide answers to some questions posed for an article in a magazine on women’s health. One of the questions was this: What advice would you give to someone who wants to fulfil their potential in life, but lacks the motivation to go for their dreams? My answer was necessarily brief (I was asked for 100 words), so I thought I’d expand on it a bit in this article. For starters, here’s the answer I provided:
Our dreams are often so big and bold that we don’t know exactly what’s going to be involved, and rarely have a guarantee they’ll turn out the way we want. But your dreams have their own reasons for existing. When people think about going for their dreams, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to try and figure out the whole journey. Instead, ask yourself “What’s the next step?” It may be something simple, small or even insignificant. But every journey starts with one step, and bringing your dreams to life works the same way.
To expand on this, here’s an excerpt from RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More (© 2016 Jamie Smart):
Developing your creative process
The prize-winning novelist E.L. Doctorow once said, ‘Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your head- lights, but you can make the whole trip that way.’ I came across this beautiful quote when I was starting a business in January 2003. I loved what he was pointing to, and used this idea as the basis not only for how I wrote, but for how I developed the company. You see, there are three powerful things implied by this simple quote:
1 Destination: you have a ‘good enough’ sense of the destination you’re heading for. You may not know exactly how to get there, and you may not be clear on every single detail of what your destination looks, sounds and feels like, but there’s something you know for sure: you have a sense of your destination that’s ‘good enough’ that once you get there, you’ll know you’ve arrived. This mean you’re already in a position to begin. You don’t need to know what every mile of the journey will look like in detail.
2 Power: you have a power source and a means of moving for- ward. In the case of the car, this includes the engine, driveshaft and wheels, as well as the fuel in your tank. In the case of your life and the results you want to create, the power source is your innate capacities and instincts (the deep drivers we explored in Chapters 1 and 6). The fact that you can sense the destination means there’s a way for you to move forward.
3 Navigation: the combination of your headlights, the instruments on your dashboard and your controls allow you to respond to the ever-changing environment and make adjustments where necessary. Similarly, when you set out to create results, your senses, memories and embodied understanding allow you to use expertise, intuition and sensory data to sense the terrain and respond accordingly.
Remember: you’re built for reality. You’re capable of so much more than you think you are, and you’re better than you realize at responding in the moment. We’re all connected to this ‘inner guidance system’ capable of helping us navigate. When we’re caught up in contaminated thinking, we believe we need to ‘solve’ the resistance before we can move forward, but that’s not true. You’re capable of more than you think, because you are more than you think. As you start moving forward, you will be guided.
How you turn ideas into reality
(1) Take the next step. (2) Calibrate. (3) Repeat… As you step out of La-la Land and move forward in the reality you’re built for, the path will emerge before you.
I wish you a wonderful time over the holiday season, and look forward to connecting with you soon.
To the life of your dreams!
Big love
Jamie
Project Glasswing (aka Coaching Package Power) kicked off this weekend, and we had a great time working on all this stuff. If you’d like to be considered for Glasswing 7 (starting in the new year), I’m looking for 36 very specific people:
– You are a coach, therapist or change-worker (Eg. Sports coach, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, business coach, bodyworker etc)
– You have at least one year’s experience of working with clients (either paid, pro-bono or both)
– You probably charge by the hour, but want to use a “coaching package” model and increase your income
– You have room to work with at least one longer term contract client, starting in 2017
– You’re an enthusiastic, friendly people-person
– You have a coachable spirit, and are willing to step out of your comfort zone if necessary, and
– You can keep a secret
If that’s you, then email me at info@jamiesmart.com, and let me know where you’re located and a little about yourself (if you don’t know what to tell me about, look at the list above for inspiration). Change the subject line to “Project Glasswing JST”. Talk to you soon!