This is one I hear a lot when I talk to people about deferring their dreams. They have nothing they want to Design a Life around, the list is empty.
That happens, as children we are encouraged to dream, dream a lot and dream big. Progressively overtime, with pressures from society and “the system” we slowly stop dreaming, slowly stop looking at possibilities and options and start to “stick in our lane”.
This gets addressed in 3 ways in the Design your Life on Purpose.
But before I go there, let me talk about what a dream could be. Often, we think it is this crystal-clear goal all framed around SMART (Specific Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Timebound), become a World Champion Surfer, put a human on Mars. These are compelling and fascinating to us, by comparison, our dreams seem lame, un-shaped and difficult to quantify. The thing is, the above examples are rare, that is why we find them super inspirational. Let me explain what we do to address this in the 3rd point.
Reflecting:
The first way to unearth more possibilities in your dream is Reflection. The main outcome of the reflection piece is two fold:
Recognising the good that has happened, that you want to include more of in the future. It could be as simple and elegant as being more creative, as you had some time to explore that this year.
Defining the not. Reflection is perfect for reflecting on what you want less of in the year to come. I find that the anti is often more helpful for designing your life, as you are crystal on what you no longer want or need.
Dreaming:
This is a little obvious that it will unearth possibilities and increase dreams. It is not just a blank piece of paper, saying go document your dreams. Guides and templates help draw out the dreams that you had previously or new dreams that you have not thought of before. Before you know if you have so many dreams you will be deciding which ones to focus on first
Curiosity:
Even though the first two phases on Designing your Life on Purpose will give you real clarity around some areas of your life, there might be massive dreams that you are still unsure about, but are curious about. We use that curiosity to go and explore it a bit more, talk to people we are doing what you would like to do, investigate, enrol in an introductory course, produce a sample of product and see if it sells.
Three ways to unearth possibilities and start dreaming again.
If that has peaked your interest, then you are in luck! November 21st and 22nd November, we are running an immersive Design your Life, on Purpose retreat to really get your 2021 sorted with a Strategic Life Map. There are still some places left, so all the details including registration are here.
This post was inspired by a question I got yesterday If you have any questions or thoughts, please let me know.
Yours collaboratively
Christina MM
Incahoots exists
To guide professionals who have deferred their dreams, to unearth possibilities to design a strategic life map that answers the question - now what?
About CMM
Christina Morgan-Meldrum (CMM) is a coach, facilitator, author, change professional and creative. She particularly loves helping people and organisations unearth what’s possible to design a future that suits you perfectly (a Strategic Life map).
She has cultivated the ability to walk into any industry; see what is not seen, distil what is complicated, and simplify the chaos. This skill has been forged in a deliberate and concentrated way for over 20 years, through Personal Coaching and working in Organisational Change Management.
Christina fills her time on various side hustles, blogging, creating and learning the piano. If you are looking for her, she is likely at her spiritual home JB Hi-Fi, exploring stationery stores or artisan markets.