Big Dreams, Christopher Robin and Pooh

No, silly old bear; you’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, & smarter than you think.”

Pooh’s Grand Adventure- The Search for Christopher Robin

When I was young, I used to dream BIG dreams.

Did you do that?

I was going to be rich and have an office on the top floor of a skyscraper overlooking Elliot Bay. My house would be on top of a cliff overlooking Puget Sound. I’d work when I wanted to and have lots of time to play. My wife and I would travel the world and see and do all the things there are to do.

Back then, I didn’t see any reason why these things wouldn’t come to pass. When we’re young, everything seems possible, doesn’t it?

Then time passed. As I got older and had some failures and some hard knocks, the dreams slipped farther away. I ran into my share of dream-stealers (those people who are always ready to tell you why you CAN’T do something) and started to believe them. Started believing that maybe my ambitions were too lofty.

And instead of chasing down my big dreams and making them happen, I started to settle. Just a bit.

Then just a bit more.

Until I wasn’t dreaming very big at all anymore. I started settling for the things I was convinced were REALISTIC and that I COULD accomplish. Or maybe what I felt I deserved.

Sad truth.

What I Didn’t Understand

What I didn’t understand was that if you can succeed at doing anything well, you have the basic tools for doing damn near ANYTHING well.

Except maybe the most important part, believing in yourself enough to make it happen.

So with that in mind, would it be okay if you took a little time every day to remember those big dreams you used to have? And maybe to add some for today?

How Do We Get Those Big Dreams Back?

Try this for starters:

What areas of your life are important to you?

• Family
• Health
• Spiritual
• Finances

If I missed something important to you, add it to the list.

Now sit down with a cup of coffee, a pen and a notepad and have a serious conversation with yourself. Ask yourself how you would like each of these areas of your life to look like.

What does the PERFECT life look like to you?

Get all the BS out of your head about “reality” or what you “should” want or “can” do.

If there were no limits…if you could have everything you wanted to design the absolute perfect life for you…what would it look like?

• Where would you live?
• How would you earn your living?
• Who would you hang around with?
• What would you do for fun?
• What would you do to make the world around you a better place?

Play with this a little over the next few days.

Let yourself run wild in your imagination.

Ignore the thoughts in the back of your head that say you should make some of these things smaller, more realistic.

Design the perfect life you would lead if there was nothing that could stand in your way.

Once you have your list, read it regularly. Let it stew in your brain and your heart and your soul.

Because the true magic is that once you have decided where you want to go, you’ll start to look for ways that could take you there.

But it all starts with a BIG DREAM.

And like Christopher Robin told Pooh, you have more inside you than you understand. And you are braver, stronger and smarter than you think.

Stay Fired Up