Dream

Are you letting life run you?
Or, are you running your life?

Most of us have gotten so caught up in making a living, that we have forgotten that we can make our own life. We have forgotten about our dreams. Our wants. Very few of us have actually taken the time to just step away and look at our current life.  We don’t even know what we want.  Life has just happened.  Sound familiar.

Rather than ask those complex personal questions to ourselves, we choose what seems like the easier road at that moment – staying busy and continuing with our current lifestyle. See, this approach works…until it doesn’t.  Each one of us has our own limit, a place where our necessity to live with purpose, begins to outweigh our current life of comfort.  Where is this place for you? 

Dreaming and visualization is what creates our emotional fuel, it is what gives our goals and wants energy.  Dreaming is what allows us to experience and feel what is possible, it brings our goals to life.  Dreaming is what connects our mind with our heart, an absolute must.

When things get tough, or when things don’t go our way, it is our emotional state that will dictate whether or not we push through or not.  The more realistic our dreams are to us, the more realistic they will be to everyone else some day, and the better the chances are of achieving.  

Incredible is not the result of talent or intelligence. Incredible is the result of emotion.  When we truly pursue the things we want, we tap into an endless energy source.  We smile more. We help others more.  We deliver more value to the world.

When we wake up in the morning, we always want the weight of our past to be outweighed by the pull of our future.  Dreaming is what strengthens the pull.

WEEKLY THOUGHT

On the first day of practice with his new team, Jim Valvano, the late legendary North Carolina State College basketball coach did something that changed the trajectory of both his life and his players.  

Like every other coach in America, Jim’s goal was to win a national championship.  That was a tall order for NC State in those days.  They were just a middle of the pack team playing in arguably the best conference in the nation at the time, the ACC. 

Jim was an emotional and energetic Italian man who was already living his dream…so why not dream some more?  Jim felt in his heart that his team could win a National Championships, but how could he get the team to share that same belief?

When a team win’s a National title, it is customary for each player to climb a ladder and cut down a piece of the net.  This is where Jim’s dream concluded, now he needed his players to see the same ending.

On that first day of practice, his players came out on the court to find no basketballs.  There was nothing that resembled a normal basketball practice.  Instead in the gym that day, the only two things to be found were a ladder under the basket…and some scissors.  That was it. 

Jim had every one of his players that day climb the ladder, cut down a piece of the net, wave to the crowd, and feel what it was like to be a champion.  He was giving their dreams fuel, he was letting the players experience his dream.  2 years later that team did what nobody thought they could do, they won the National title and cut down the nets.

Knowing what you truly want is one thing, but feeling what you want in your heart opens the door to amazing things.  When was the last time you thought about the things you really want in life?  When was the last time you visualized what those things would truly feel like?  

Start dreaming.  Life is short.

– matt

Matt Miller
Author: Matt Miller

Matt Miller has done many things in his young life...in addition to just surviving. In 2002, Matt left behind person he once was as his life was suddenly changed forever by a horrendous mountain climbing accident. Diving for his falling father, Matt fell over 4,000 feet before miraculously stopping just short of the ragid cliffs. Through a night of survival and pain, Matt persevered but lost most of his fingers and toes as a result from frostbite. Matt does everything from public speaking, one-on-one consulting, firm strategy, as well as company retreat facilitation. With a seasoned investment background and passion for educating the investment world, Matt also can't resist sharing his comments from time to time on markets. Matt is also an avid runner, successfully completing over 10 marathons without his toes! He is 38 and resides in Phoenix, Arizona.

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