Power Tool: To Live a Dream vs. To Have a Dream

A Coaching Power Tool Created by Florina Cristina Schiopu
(Transformational Coach, GERMANY)

As a child as we traveled from our home to my grandparent’s place, we would always pass by an aircraft model from the beginning of the 20^th century. I was fascinated by it. As I took my first flight I was in awe. Even if in our days flying became probably the most common transportation mean and even I know that everything can be explained by the law of physics, I am still amazed by flying. I wonder every time what made men dream about it, how was that possible and what would it be if someone wouldn’t have dared to dream and make it happen.

If we look into the history of aviation we would see that it is a common effort of mankind for more than two thousand years, from the earliest forms of aviation such as kites to supersonic and hypersonic flight. This is valid for most of the scientific discoveries that surround us and support us in our day-to-day life.

We are resourceful; we are so wonderfully created, having the ability to observe, to dream, to be creative, to look ahead, to be resilient, to persevere, to plan for our future, and make it happen.

To Have A Dream

According to the Meriam Webster dictionary, to have a dream means to have a strongly desired goal or purpose, something that fully satisfies a wish; to consider something possible or fitting.

What is a dream? A dream is our image about an ideal future; a mental image of the desired outcome. Dreams are powerful as they motivate us to think of something bigger and can be the reason the ignite change. Sometimes we take action and test our dreams; some other times we do not take action and we do not know if they can be achieved.

What is causing us not to take action? Sometimes we lose our motivation to move forward in action because of lack-of-confidence, own beliefs, commitments, or internal/ external judgments. Some other times we feel that we need good assessment, planning, and enough time before going ahead.

To Live A Dream

Yourdictionary.com defines to live a dream, as to experience the achievement of every success that one has aspired to achieve.

What do we need to dare to live our dream(s)? We need to take action.

By taking action, we create a condition that is necessary for a successful outcome, but the result is not immediate.

Goal setting can be a powerful way to take action; it helps us designing our ideal future and for motivating ourselves to turn our vision of this future into reality.

By knowing precisely what we want to achieve, we can think about what skills can we use, what else do we need to learn, when is the right time to start; we can estimate how much time do we need and where do we want to concentrate our efforts. We would be able to deal with problems and challenges, to spot the distractions or barriers that might stop us or lead us astray. We move on the path to growth, learning, self-esteem, and confidence.

Coaching Application

We can only start the transition from having a goal to experimenting with achievement, if we address or put our reservations aside, explore possible goals by using our imagination and checking our ambition; however, in the process, we want to set realistic goals, that we can achieve in a time frame that we have set for ourselves.

Unless we are trained pilots, we can not fly a small plane right away; we cannot jump into it and hoping that we will manage. It takes planning, skills, and effort.

First, think. Second, believe. Third, dream. Finally, dare.- Walt Disney

ADDRESSING OBSTACLES or PUT RESERVATIONS ASIDE

Support the client to look at his goals and identify what are some obstacles that make him consider them unachievable.

EXPLORING PERSONAL STRENGHTS &RESOURCES

Support the client to consider his actual skills, resources, capabilities; to look at opportunities.

CREATING AWARENESS

Support the client to see his goals in the light of the new findings/ learnings, from an empowering perspective.

SETTING GOALS/ CREATE ACTION PLAN

Support the client to set clear and measurable goals and focus his efforts on the achievement.

Some thought-provoking questions to support the client in moving forward:

If you would consider your dream/ goal without worrying, what would you do?
What would that dream look like if you use your full capacity?
What would the cost of pursuing/ not pursuing your dream be?
If all the obstacles would be removed how would that change your view?
What would you do differently if you would consider yourself to be in control?
What can you do about the part you can/ cannot change?
What is motivating you to go in this direction?
Which option do you want to pursue?
What can help you to feel confident that this course of action is the right one?
If you need to translate that into action steps, what exactly will you do?
What are the obstacles that you need to address?
What can you consider to make it more realistic?

For creating the motivation to move the client forward, some existing tools can be used.

For example, Gallup StrengthsFindercan is very useful for personal growth. The tool is designed to identify internal strengths, recurring patterns of thought, feelings, or behavior. The assessment can reveal the client’s tendency to develop certain skills more easily that could enable him to obtain more easily success in certain fields.

The information can be useful for the client to understand and to consider if and how to apply his strengths in his life and work. Some steps that can create action are:

Understand and gain awareness of dominant strengths
Focus and decide how to use or develop his strengths
Define the desired action plan

Personal growth is a continuing process. Exploring our strengths can be very empowering and can boost our confidence to try new ways, determine us to concentrate our efforts on desired outcomes, and move us one step forward towards achieving what is meaningful to us.