In my last post I wrote that ‘Belief’ is about believing in oneself and that he/she can become a better version of itself. For the coach, believing that can and will make a difference in the lives of others through coaching. Believing in the potential of others to grow and succeed with his/her help. Today’s post is the second of four related to coaching elements (“Belief-Dream-Plan-Execute”).
To ‘dream’ means creating high positive expectations for yourself and for others. Dare to dream. The co-founder of Amway Rich de Vos has this to say on the subject: “If you have a dream, give it a chance to happen. Life tends to respond to our outlook towards it. To shape itself to meet our expectations of ourselves and of others”.
Have you ever reflected what extraordinary capability we have as a human being to be able to dream and envision things we want? This ability is nurtured since our childhood when people ask us ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ and many of us answered, ‘I want to be a fireman’ or ‘I want to be an accountant or teacher etc.’ I honestly don’t remember what was my answer but one thing I do rememore, when I was a kid I dreamed about having money to buy bread every day. A small but fair dream for someone coming from a poor family where freshly baked and soft bread wasn’t something we usually had on our table.
As time passed, my dreams changed and it was no longer limited to be able to afford bread but leaned towards professional development and growth. My dreams always motivated and still motivate me to get out of the bed every day! Most of the dreams I dreamed 15 or 25 years ago were accomplished and even surpassed.
Most people don’t fail because they want or because of laziness, they fail because they don’t know how to win. In many stages of our lives, we need someone who can help us to articulate our dreams, set priorities and devise a plan for the attainment of such dreams. I consider myself very fortunate to have encountered great people who not only believed but coached, guided and helped me pursuing my dreams.
I once read that helping those close to us to chase and fulfill their dreams is one of the primary functions of all relationships. I learned that helping others identifying and pursuing their dreams bring great satisfaction – I wrote about it in my post ‘A coach (leader) deserves no medal’. I think any relationship improve when we are mindful of each other’s dreams and that is based on the following lived experiences:
Leader – In my career I worked for two great leaders with similar abilities (one of them will probably join us on this blog and will share great leadership stories), they knew my dreams and with mastery found the way to connect them with my daily work. That created unconditional loyalty, dedication and channeled my passion and energy to my job. Great leaders link people’s careers to their dreams.
My coach Trevor Sherman – Believing and encouraging me to pursue my dreams. Always asking purposeful questions and never being judgemental. Trevor always told me ‘you are in the driver’s seat! You are responsible!’ Our coaching sessions and tools undoubtedly encouraged and ignited the desire in me to become a better version of myself in pursuit of my dreams.
My wife Priscila – She is extremely supportive of my dreams. When we got married, we were very young (and this was one of the best things I have done in my life) and she abdicated from her own career to help me pursuing my dreams – my career. Today, we have common dreams related to us and our kids (lifetime projects) and I do whatever I can to fulfill her dreams too. We created the habit of jotting our long & short term plans and revisit them very often to make sure we are on track. We recently revised our New-year’s resolution and made some adjustments, we devised our family virtues.
In pursuit of your dreams, following things are critical
- Involve people who care and believe in you – a leader, coach or mentor (or family);
- List your dreams and devise a plan on how to attain them;
- Believe in your dreams and work on them on a daily basis;
- Keep ‘it is possible’ attitude;
Working towards our dreams can be difficult in times, especially when you meet naysayers. Those people constantly draining our dreams with a cynical smile here, a put-down there, a constant stream of negative vibrations. It is important to get them out of the way or stop sharing your dreams with them! Sometimes we meet skeptical who don’t believe in our dream and there will be moments you doubt yourself but don’t give up! Even if nobody sees it, we must see it for ourselves. Our thoughts, intentions, attitude and actions have to be linked to our dreams. We must look at your dreams, review them on a daily basis and say to ourselves, ‘It’s not over until I make it true!’ And be resilient until you can live your dream!
If, however, you think your dreams are too big or almost impossible to make true, then suggest you read the story of the Najat Vallaud-Belkacem. A shepherd girl from Morocco who tended goats and fetched water from well who moved to France as an immigrant and became a socialist politician, and on 25 August 2014 was the first French woman to be appointed Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Research, joining the second Valls government.
So, What are your dreams? And, What are you doing for them to come true?
List your dreams and revisit them on a daily basis! Make sure that the energy you spend daily is taking you closer to your dreams!!!!
We will talk about the plan on the next post…
