Life Plan: Step 1 – Start Dreaming Again!

One of my favorite and most rewarding things to do, as a Life Coach, is helping people discover meaning and purpose for their lives.  

I know it was true in my own life for the vast majority of my adult life, and I’ve discovered it is true for most people. Most people are simply living their lives one day at a time, hoping that something awesome will happen to them, but without any real plan for making something awesome happen. Does that sound familiar? It happens to a lot of people, and sometimes it can leave them feeling as if they are beyond help. 

I have started a new “Life Plan” series on my Life Is A Marathon podcast (www.lifeisamarathon) with the intention of helping people figure out what they from life, what their “dream life” would look like, and how to start living the life they really want to live-instead of living whatever life happens to come their way. After two days, my podcast episode “Life Plan: Step 1 – Start Dreaming Again!” (www.lifeisamarathon.com/session50) reached the #8 spot on iTunes in the Health/Self-Help category, so I know this a topic that is important to many people.

So for you, my faithful readers, here’s what I’m sharing through my podcast and what I’m working on with many people inside my private LIAM Life Coaching Community (team.lifeisamarathon.com).

Life Plan: Step 1 – Start Dreaming Again!

“People never lose the ability to dream, they just quit doing it.
If that’s you, start dreaming again!”

“You can’t live your dream-life if you don’t dream about the life you want to live!”

Step 1 in creating your life plan is to start dreaming again. As adults, we still have the ability to dream; most of us, however, have simply stopped doing it! If you want to live the life of your dreams, you need to dream about your life!

One reason most of us have stopped dreaming about having an amazing life is we are caught up in what I call the “dreaded hows.”

We have become practical, realistic, and, if we cannot see how something is possible, we assume it will never happen. Simply put, we do not have any faith beyond what we can understand with our physical senses and rationality.

It’s time to dream again. It’s time to use your wildly creative imagination. It’s time to fantasize about your future!

Here is what I’d like you to do:

Imagine yourself five years into the future. Five years ago, you discovered a magic lamp. A Genie came out of the lamp and said “Tell me all of your heart’s desires and I will give them to you. They will not manifest all at once, but, over five years’ time, doors will open, the right people will appear, everything needed to make your dreams come true, in what will look like the natural course events, will come to you at just the right time, and you will be happy and confident in the process of us making all of your wishes come true.”

Now, create some time for you to be alone, undistracted, and allow your mind to become still. Dream the dream. Imagine the Genie saying these things to you. Allow your mind to wander down this path of having all of your desires granted. Not in a “Poof! Here they are” fashion, rather, in a natural, uninhibited growth process.

You get to create the life of your dreams, without any limits, over the next five years. What would you create?

Be still, allow your conscious mind to let go of all limiting beliefs, with no concern for the “hows,” and allow your subconscious mind and your true inner-self to tell you what they long for, what you are capable of creating with the knowledge that you cannot fail. No rejection, no judgment, no lack of resources. Be naturally creative and imaginative like you were as a child. Create. Dream!

You are still living five years in the future. Hold on to that thought.

Over the last five years, with the help of the Genie, you created the perfect life, the life that turned out exactly as you dreamed it would.

You have not seen nor heard from your best friend during these last five years. Sit down and write a letter to your best friend. Tell your friend about finding the lamp and the Genie.

Write about your dream. Tell your friend, in as much vivid detail as possible, everything that has happened in the last five years. Write about your life, what you are doing, where you are living, the people who are with you, all the things you created, and all the things that magically unfolded to allow these amazing things to come true.

Do not hold anything back! Your best friend is longing to hear this news from you and will receive it with great joy and without any judgment. Write the letter!

You now have a written document which describes in detail the life you would love to live. If anyone asks you “what would be the life of your dreams?” you now have the answer, and it’s written down!

This is Step 1 in creating your Life Plan. You see, you cannot live the life of your dreams if you have not actively, intentionally, engaged in the process of dreaming about your life!

When you are ready, go on to Life Plan: Step 2 If you’d like to listen to me talk about this step, it’s on the Life Is A Marathon podcast