Have you had a deep dark secret of a better life doing something different as you enter the later years of your career ? But you haven’t really given any thought to making that happen because you are just too darn busy working all the time?
What if you could actually uncover that desire and start the process of investigating how that possibility would play out? Wouldn’t it be fun if you could find a process to help you shed all those shackles that have bound you for so long? Well here it is and it’s called the BIG DREAM PROCESS. Ready to get started?
1. Collect your own data.
Start paying attention to who is doing what that you wish you could be doing? You might have seen them out there and they seem so happy, so interview them and find out what it took to make their dreams come true. Schedule a coffee date and ask them these questions:
How did you decide to take the leap and do what you loved?
What was the biggest challenge you faced?
How did you overcome this challenge?
What was the biggest surprise you found?
What is your life like now vs before?
What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?
Any regrets?
2. What do you love to do?
Now back to you. Pay attention to all the things YOU love to do. Which ones cause you to get so lost in the activity that time seems to fly by because you are having so much fun. “Time flies when you are having fun.” This could be a hobby, or an activity, or a field of study, or traveling, or you decide! This is an indication of what your true passion is.
3. Visualize doing what you love.
Next time you think about doing what you love, pay attention to what it “feels” like. Am I excited? Do I have an overwhelming feeling that this really matches who I am? If you get this feedback then how willing are you to give more time and attention to doing what you love?
4. Identify Barriers
Create a document with two columns. Label one column “Barriers that stop me from doing what I love”. Now list of all the barriers that stand in your way of doing this for the rest of your life. Be honest and list at least 10 reasons. Now reflect on how you feel when you read this list.
5. Identify Possibilities
On the same sheet with two columns, label the second column with “Possibilities that could happen if there were no barriers”. Now re-word each statement from the left column from what you can’t have to what you can have.
Example: Barrier = I don’t have the time to do what I want.
Possibility = I have more than enough time to make happen whatever I want.
6. Focus on Possibilities not Barriers
Now reflect on the list of possibilities and how does reading it make you feel? Which list gives you a good feeling? Throw the list of barriers away and post the list of possibilities in a prominent location where you see it every day.
7. Set Your Intention
Once you have done the prep work, you are ready to set your intention on manifesting what you want to happen in your life. Create an “end date” when you will have launched yourself into your new direction whether it is retirement, or reinventing your nursing career, or creating a brand new direction for your life.
8. Practice Visualizing
It is fine to set an intention and determine when that will happen, but sometimes we give up on our dreams because we don’t keep the fire alive. Schedule a regular time to practice visualizing your big dream daily or weekly. Back it up by creating a DREAM BOARD that hangs prominently where you see it every day to keep that picture alive in your head.
9. Keep an Evidence Journal
If you do all these things how will you know if it is paying off? In a journal, record all the baby steps and progress you have made moving forward toward your goal. Some things may seem insignificant, but when you add them all up a bigger picture emerges. Reflect on this regularly to provide evidence that your big dream is actually starting to manifest.
10. Go for It!
And that is how you bring BIG DREAMS into REALITY!