“I have a dream.” With these four words, Martin Luther King, Jr. set out a vision that was so inspiring that it moved a nation to move, to change for the better. Dr. King did not say “I have a strategic plan” – he told us his dream, with us, he shared his vision.
A vision creates images of a new reality. A powerful vision is vivid, powerful enough to move us to action- it’s motivating. But without action, a vision is nothing more than a dream, a delusion at best.
Martin Luther King, Jr. powered up a nation to change with four words. “I have a dream,” Dr. King told us. Martin Luther King, Jr. did not inspire us by leading with “I have a strategic plan” (though he certainly had a very powerful and compelling plan.)
“I have a dream,” – who of us can not remember the vivid picture painted by Martin Luther King, Jr., in his historic and vision-making speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August of 1963? Who of us has not been touched by the words and images that Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered from the power and with the passion of his heart and mind.
Dr. King’s words painted a vivid picture- multiple images: “I have a dream that one day this nation…” and “I have a dream that one day my …children…”
The delivery and the words inspired, educated, and changed the lens through which people saw the future of this nation. The words and images- the vision and the interpretation that people made of those images- moved people to action. Dr. Martin Luther King’s images, painted by mere words, delivered from the heart, motivated people to change.
The first shift was in point-of-view. Dr. King moved people to re-consider, to re-view what they were doing, how they were doing it, how they saw themselves, how they saw others- and the underlying beliefs that had been driving outdated behaviors and interactions.
The second change was about behaviors. With a new vision of how things could be,, people started to make the changes in how they behaved, in what they did and how they did it, in how they related to others- and with whom they related. Dr. King had painted a dream for all of us- a vision so vivid that it had set people’s nervous systems on fire in the same way that the vision would have if it had been real- in the same way that it did when people set about making it real.
With those images, we had a new dream. And it changed the world.
Dr. King’s words were delivered with power, with passion. He articulated the urgent nature of the change that was implicit in his dream. “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.” Powered by urgency, a sense that if we did nothing- if we allowed things to remain as they had, we would never see his dream become anything other than that- a dream- visual images painted by words but never turned to reality by strategic action.
Martin Luther King, Jr. did not move us to action with a plan- he did not state for all to hear: “I have a strategic plan.” No, he had a dream. And while it may have taken strategic goals and strategic plans to set this dream in to motion, he started with the dream- bit picture, outrageous, a dream that was so big that few would have imagined just how far we would go to turn that dream into reality.
You have a dream too. I would hope that you have many dreams, dreams so outrageous that you may keep them to your self, picturing them in the privacy of your thought balloon at odd hours- during the nights of insomnia that seem to last for eons, during the outlandish traffic jams during a holiday season that has gotten out of hand. Whenever you bring your dreams out, I would bet that they make you smile, that they set your heart beating- You have a dream. We all have dreams. Those dreams fuel hope, those dreams maintain our faith in the future.
The Why It Is Not as Easy as ‘Just Do-ing It!’
“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die today.” James Dean had dreams too…
Dreams are visions that we create using words that create images in our brain. On good days, we create positive dreams, visions toward which we want to move. And there is the glitch- move. Turning dreams into reality requires CHANGE!!! And, despite our rallying cries about just doing it, change is against our nature. We resist it tooth and nail.
Research from brain science and mind-body medicine proves again and again that the mere thought of change- visualizing it- can send us into full-blown fight-or-flight mode where a flood of natural chemicals shuts down the front part of the brain and compromises our brain function in a number of ways. Basically we get stupid. We resist change tooth and nail. We talk ourselves out of it, claiming that we don’t have the time or energy. Whatever the reason, inertia and the tendency for a human body to stay in its current state sets in.
It’s that tendency that keeps us from embarking or staying on a new habitual way of healthy eating or going to the gym to use those ‘just do it’ shoes. It’s that same tendency that contributes to 70% of strategic change efforts in corporate settings never hitting their mark. It’s that same drive toward inertia, toward not changing, that keeps people from following medical regimens set forward for them by their doctors.
But not changing to turn a vision into reality, to follow your dreams, to dream as if you’ll live forever and to live as if your dream is real today- well, it can be depressing and even deadly for individuals and organizations.
A strong vision is the first step to REALLY DOING IT!- to turning your dreams into reality.
That’s why you want a vivid, compelling, inspiring vision and some strategies to learn to override this natural tendency to stay the same, to do nothing, to not change, to stay grounded at the threshold.
Then you will want some strategies to learn to override the natural tendency to stay stuck. Today, we are going to work on the vision.
The How to: The Winner’s Way System to ‘REALLY DO IT!’*
Visions and dreams work because we are visual creatures. The words we choose and use, the words we hear from others- these words are like the paint-by-numbers colors that generate images in our minds. It’s that whole perception is reality thing.
Painting vivid images, images that inspire you, is within your control. Ditching negative images of doom and gloom- that’s in your control too. That is why a ‘newsfast’ works well to open your mind to painting brighter images that those generated by watching television or online news or even reading it in the traditional hardcopy newspaper.
Visions work best when they offer hope, when they provide a call to action, and when they provide steps that we can take to set them into motion, to continue stepping into them and turning them into reality, and that allow us to know when we have arrived.
Vivid, compelling, in beautiful bright paint-by-number shades, moving, inspiring- good dreams have all of that- even when they later have strategic plans and goals underlying their achievement.
We all dream. We all have a dream.
‘REALLY DO IT!’ – the ball’s in your court daily play (also known as exercise)
“I have a dream…”
You fill in the blanks. What is your dream? What is your vision of what you want to be doing at this time next year?
Grab a writing instrument and something on which you can write- start a new journey for your life plan or grab a napkin.
Take three deep breaths.
Flex your hands into fists and curl your toes. Then breathe in and as you breathe out, release the tension in your hands and feet. Blow it out.
Wiggle your toes. Wiggle your fingers. Breathe deeply.
Project yourself one year from now. Get a reading on your health and vitality.
Get a reading on the life you will have created.
Where are you?
What are you doing?
Who is in your life- it need not be specific names; perhaps it’s an image of a new friend or something else that is now part of your dream.
Breathe deeply and SAVOR your dream. Feel yourself moving in this vision, the feeling of confidence, of satisfaction, of pride.
More deep breaths.
Write down your dream. “I have a dream that…”
Now take your dream a step further.
It’s December of 2012- five years from now.
Take three deep breaths.
Flex your hands into fists and curl your toes. Then breathe in and as you breathe out, release the tension in your hands and feet. Blow it out.
Wiggle your toes. Wiggle your fingers. Breathe deeply.
Project yourself FIVE YEARS from now. Get a reading on your health and vitality.
Get a reading on the life you will have created.
Where are you?
What are you doing?
Who is in your life- it need not be specific names; perhaps it’s an image of a new friend or something else that is now part of your dream.
Breathe deeply and SAVOR your dream. Feel yourself moving in this vision, the feeling of confidence, of satisfaction, of pride.
More deep breaths.
Write down your dream. “I have a dream that…”
Ten years ago was 1997. For me, that seems like yesterday yet so much has happened in my life and I have done so many things, made SO MANY CHOICES that have brought me to this place.
In ten years, it will to 2017. Where will you be? Where do you want to be? What do you want to be doing? Who is in your life surrounding you with positive energy, with love?
Now take your dream a step further.
It’s December of 2017 - ten years from now.
Take three deep breaths.
Flex your hands into fists and curl your toes. Then breathe in and as you breathe out, release the tension in your hands and feet. Blow it out.
Wiggle your toes. Wiggle your fingers. Breathe deeply.
Project yourself TEN YEARS from now. Get a reading on your health and vitality.
Get a reading on the life you will have created.
Where are you?
What are you doing?
Who is in your life- it need not be specific names; perhaps it’s an image of a new friend or something else that is now part of your dream.
Breathe deeply and SAVOR your dream. Feel yourself moving in this vision, the feeling of confidence, of satisfaction, of pride.
More deep breaths.
Write it down.
Take a moment to review your dream. Notice the progression. Look for patterns. Read it through once, twice, three times, each time breathing deeply and feeling the inspiration or respiration.
Now here is the REALLY DO IT! DAILY CHALLENGE:
As you go about your day, as you go about making the choices that we do each day- to do this or to do that, to not do this or to not do that- ask yourself this question:
Am I honoring the urgency of my dream?
Am I making choices that support achieving my dream?
Am I making choices that are setting obstacles to achieving my dream or slowing me up on reaching it?
What do I WANT to do?
What do I WANT to not do?
Again, consider engaging a friend- make it a buddy system. Tell your dream to a friend and use this system with that friend to enable that individual to articulate and relish the dreams.
You have a dream. We all have dreams.
What do you want to do to achieve that dream- with the urgent clock ticking?
What do you want to not do?
Write it down. Honor your dreams to live the life you want today.
Thank you for the gift of your time. Now go dream and put that dream into play…
Looking forward,
Pam
Concepts published in The Winner’s Way: A Proven Method for Achieving Your Personal Best in Any Situation (McGraw-Hill, 2004) – available at:
view link
Come and play more with these concepts with food-for-thought for your brain at:
www.inthezoneinc.com
