Yesterday, we looked at why believing in yourself is not enough and that believing in yourself doesn’t tell you how to get where you dream of going. What believing does do, is paint a picture of what your dream will be like when you arrive. Imagery is crucial. Athletes, actresses, musicians and other performance driven people spend vast amounts of time visualizing the show or competition long before they ever step out in the spotlight.
Let’s scale back a little. Forget the award-winning show. What about just getting started in your big dream? If believing is not enough, what do we do to move forward? First of all, don’t discount “believing” because even though it it isn’t everything, it is a huge factor in “getting there.”
Back to School
Let’s take a little test. Did you study? Don’t worry this is easy. Pick your favorite color. There are no wrong answers here unless you picked pink. Just kidding. Any color is fine. Now, close your eyes for a minute and think about your color. Concentrate on it. Think about all the shades it comes in. Go ahead, I’ll wait. In fact, I’m going to take a bathroom break. Keep thinking. I’ll be right back. No peeking!
Ok, are you ready? Open your eyes. Start looking around the room and begin to notice everything that has your color in it. It’s almost jumping out at you, isn’t it? Look out! *whew* That one almost got you! Why are they all leaping out at you? Focusing on that color got your brain motivated to find it. And since you programmed your brain to focus on that color, your brain has now commanded your eyes to look for it.
I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!
Now, focus on your dream. If you have more than one (I know I do), pick the dream that you really want more than anything. Think about it in as much detail as you dare. Go on. Take your time. I’ll go check my email. brb Are you peeking?
Ok, I’m back. Now open your eyes. Did you see her? Did you see the little fairy? She was right there…she was waving a magic wand and saying something about your wish being granted. Didn’t you see her? Ok, so there is no fairy. No magic wand. No happily ever after. Ah…ah…achoo. Oh, pardon me. Must be the pixie dust.
So now you really hate me. I got you all excited about reaching your dream and then you opened your eyes and…. nothing. I am so cruel. That’s ok. I hear that a lot. So why didn’t it work? Why didn’t Tinkerbell show up or at least a fairy godmother and a pumpkin? Why? Because your dreams are much bigger than your favorite color. Dreams require intense focus, not just a 2 minute daydream.
Train Your Brain
In order to get where you’re going, you’re going to have to exercise that gray matter between your ears. Yeah, I know – I said the “e” word. E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E. How? You have to take a little time each day to focus on your dream. You may want to do this several times a day if you can. Start with the big picture and then start thinking about the details. Do you want to be a singer? What will you sing? Will you be in a band or solo. Opera or rock? Define it in detail. Once you begin to recognize all the bits and pieces, your mind will begin to look for those things, just like looking for your favorite color. Events and opportunities you may never have noticed before will suddenly walk right up and bite you. Wear protective gear. You never know what’s going to hit you.
Now, you may be wondering why you need to know all the nitty gritty details. Stay tuned. I’ll be talking more about that next week as well as opportunities vs. distractions.
