We hear over and over
again the power of visualizing our goals. You know the
routine: "See yourself as the president of your own
company . . . or the president of Microsoft . . . or President of
the United States."
Elaborate dreaming
is like that kind of visualization--multiplied by 100! Here's
an example.
Let's say your
dream is that you want a new house. The casual dream
is that you want a house big enough for your music collection,
with a nice back yard.
The elaborate
dream is that you can see yourself walk through the house.
Is it in a brand new neighborhood, or a bit older with lots of
trees? Perhaps an old Victorian. Or something in the
middle. What does the entryway look like? What shelves
and plants will you place there? What color is the kitchen?
How will you fix it up?
The difference is
obvious. As you dream elaborately, you visualize all the
details. And as you go through the details--the walls, the
floors, the fireplace, bookshelves, lamps, etc.--the house becomes
more real to you.
Elaborate dreaming
has several advantages. First, the rich detail makes your
house seem that much more real in your mind. Instead of casual
"someday" dreaming with words such as "I could" or "I might," you
begin to thing "I will." This positive attitude will
help to make your that dream come true.
Second, elaborate
dreaming helps you to look at the realities of your dream.
Rather than a nondescript, amorphous dream, you begin to see the
specific positive and negative aspects of your dream. And
while we are reluctant to include these "negatives" as part of our
dreams, they are very important to making the dreams come true.
As you begin to consider the cost of painting and furniture, the
real cost of your dream begins to come into focus.
One of the most
common reasons for failure in any venture (business or personal) is
under-estimating the cost. When planning a business, or a
vacation, or a remodeling job, we tend to look at a few big numbers
and ignore all the little ones. For example, we look at the
cost of the house, but not the new tile, the paint, the shelving,
etc.
The third benefit
of elaborate dreaming is that you get used to the details of
the dream. Just as you'll get used to living in the new house.
Having a detailed vision of what you want makes house shopping and
buying much easier. You'll be able to walk into a house and
know in five seconds whether it's a contender.
And when it's time
to bargain for a price, you'll have a realistic sense of how much
extra work it will take to become your "dream home." If
it will take a lot of work, you'll be less willing to give in on the
price.
There are many other examples as well.
If you are a business owner and thinking of hiring a new person,
consider every aspect of the new position: Salary, office
space, candidate temperament, etc. The more you "know" about
the position, the better able you'll be to find the candidate,
assign an appropriate salary, and fit this position into the overall
company.
Elaborate dreaming
is a great way to keep your mind busy and active. Rather than
be a couch vegetable (with your mind turned off), spend your time
actively working out the details of your next great venture.
This is true for hobbies such as woodworking, weaving, and
gardening. It works just as well for business-related sales
plans, workflow, and marketing.
Casual dreams never
come true.
Why? Because
there's nothing to work on and there's nothing to work
toward. With elaborate dreaming, you begin to divide the big
dream into smaller pieces. As you consider the details, you
become immersed in the project. As you identify the pieces,
you identify tasks that can be accomplished.
All Dreams that Come True
Are Elaborate Dreams
This follows
logically. As you begin to actually make your dream come true,
you will have to deal with the details. You'll develop a plan
a plan and a budget and a timeline. You will do all the work
necessary to make all the details come together. At some point
it stops being "the dream" and becomes "the project." By the
time the project is finished, someone has dealt with all the
details.
The more details
you work out beforehand, the better the outcome.
So begin today!
Dream elaborately. Even if you end up not making every dream
come true, you need to work the muscles of success--including the
dreaming muscle.
Have a good time.
-----
"Happy are
those who dream dreams
and are ready
to pay the price
to make them
come true."
-- Leon J. Suenens
Dreams are wonderful things. I sleep
very soundly and rarely remember my dreams. Perhaps that's why
I feel comfortable daydreaming (so I don't miss out on all the fun).
