Do you have a big, hairy, audacious goal? A BHAG? If you do, how often do you connect with it? How does it make you feel when you reflect on it? If you don’t, what got in the way?
We all need a dream, our North Star. Something to nurture, something to guide us, something we need to grow into.
Imagine that I have a magic wand in my hand right now. It has the power to make one of your dreams come true. Not all your dreams, but just one. But this magic wand guarantees your success in that endeavour. All you need to do is share your dream with me.
What’s holding you back? Are you afraid I’ll judge it? Weigh it against all the other dreams I’ve granted? What if I promise that this is the place without judgment? Would you share it with me now? If you hold back, how are you holding back on your dream in your one precious life?
If you’re like most people, I know you’ve been through a tough time over the last couple of years. You’ve been forced to adapt and adapt again. When we’re in these circumstances, our instinct is to hold back and to keep something in reserve. Our focus isn’t on what we can create. Our focus moves to, “How do I make it through this?”
We look at what we think we’ve lost, which is the past, or we’re fearful of what might come.
what you focus on grows
What we focus on influences how we feel and the actions we’re willing to take. How you are in this world and the actions you take determine what happens tomorrow.
Now is the time to move from holding back to leaning in. What was that dream that you had? What does it look like now? Raise your ambition and dream bigger.
Many of us limit our dreams to what we believe is possible. We think it keeps us safe. But it allows us to stop short of our heart’s desire.
leaving my corporate job
In January 2020, I left my corporate job with a dream in my heart and a plan laid out in my computer. More clinic time for my herbal medicine patients and more coaching. The space to create and enjoy my life.
Then, at the end of March 2020, came the first lockdown in New Zealand in response to the pandemic. My husband and I have a pub. We have staff to take care of. It was closed during that time. I had patients who needed their herbal medicine, but I couldn’t get it to them. I couldn’t see any new patients. Everything I thought I knew changed in 24 hours.
What did I do? I retrenched. I went back to what I knew. I picked up an accounting contract to get money in the door. My spare hours were invested in finding a way through this. My ambition shrank in response to this new circumstance. I was focused on protecting my family, my team and what we built.
Then, in September 2020, I joined Jim Fulton’s transformational coaching program. I knew I had to adjust my focal points to weather the storm. I began to open. Over time, I stopped being drawn by circumstance. I learned that how I choose to respond determines how that circumstance unfolds. It wasn’t easy.
dream big
Give yourself permission to dream bigger than you’ve ever dreamed before and commit to it. Hold that dream in your heart and visit it often. Allow yourself to get into it. Visualize yourself and the people around you from the other side of your dream.
You’re already living in the magic moment. From that point, notice the small steps you took each day that got you to that goal. Take that magic wand and know that you can’t fail. You may choose a wiggly route. You may choose a direct path or somewhere in between. But all paths lead to that destination. You’ve come too far to not see this through.
it’s your time
Imagine a world where we each chose to dream again. We remembered how resilient we are, and we put that knowledge into how we showed up today.
Now is the time. Allow yourself to have more ambition for your life, your relationships and what these past 2 years have taught you about your health.
This world needs you to be you. Give yourself permission to raise your ambition.