I didn’t realize how fuzzy my vision had become until I recently went to the eye doc for my exam. He tested several different prescriptions on me until suddenly, I could finally see clearly. I was astounded at the difference. It was as if a whole new world had been opened to me. It blew me away that I had been walking around for so long not realizing how bad my eyesight had become. And then discovering how much better it would be with an aid to help me with my vision.
What’s interesting is that the dreams we have in our lives can tend to play out in a similar way. So often in life, we spend a lot of time daydreaming. We may be dreaming about trying something new, starting a new business, taking a big leap, making a big impact, or pursuing a new purpose...the list is endless. And while these visions may excite us, consume us and motivate us in wonderful ways, sometimes the vision we have on exactly what, exactly how, and exactly when this dream should play out can tend to be a little too fuzzy for too long.
That’s how things played out for me.
A little over 5 years ago I had a daydream to open a sports store where I live, in Indianola, Iowa. This was after the long-time sports store Harrisons had closed down and we were without a sports store in town. At the time, my husband Todd and I had 5 teenagers in sports and let’s just say...we were more than experiencing a need. And this restless daydreaming entrepreneur inside of me wanted to do something about it.
You see at this stage of my career I was doing everything I had always planned for myself. For twenty years I worked my butt off climbing that corporate ladder, starting as a sales engineer, moving to a business developer and eventually a business leader. I was at the top of what I had always planned out for myself. Yet something was missing. I was convinced something bigger was in store for me. And I daydreamed for years what that might be.
Until that time 5 years ago when I was convinced that opening this sports store is where it was all at. So, I decided to hire a success coach to help me navigate making that happen.
Only, it didn’t happen.
You see, after I shared with my coach this vision that I felt called to supply our community with much needed soccer cleats, Nike apparel, baseball bats and nut cups, my coach recommended to me to take a step back and go through a visioning exercise.
This visioning exercise would prove to change the entire course of my life.
What I ended up discovering through this visioning process is that I didn’t really want to help people in the community buy more nut cups, I just wanted to help people in the community. I discovered that my desire was not to keep chasing the next dream, but instead, I wanted to help others chase theirs. And most importantly, I discovered that the freedom I was longing for as an entrepreneur, was really just freedom from the paralyzing career path I had been on for far too long.
While it took this visioning process for my mind to comprehend this paralyzing reality I had been living in, my heart had already recognized it.
Just a few years before this I had been living out that dream job that I had always strived for. I was traveling the world staying in 5-star hotels and eating in Michelin star restaurants. I was having extravagant experiences in the palaces of Vienna and the Great Wall of China. For anyone who would look at it, this job was all the sexy things one could dream of for a career. But for me…. my heart…it was not across the world. My heart was at home.
I was missing out on being a mama.
While I was making the big bucks...I was missing my kids making the big plays. For 5 years in a row, I blew my birthday candles out...with customers. For the same amount of years my kids spent Mother’s Day...without a mom.
The career track I had been on had been paralyzing me from living the life that I really longed for. So I daydreamed regularly of how I could live that life.
It wasn’t until I started listening to that daydream that was stirring in my heart that I was able to believe that something else was actually possible for me. I realized that I didn’t have to sacrifice finances, I didn’t have to sacrifice success, and I didn’t have to sacrifice time with my family. That daydream showed me that. And because of that, my hope changed and I was able to take a blind step of faith and walk away from that “dream” job.
But I wasn’t done yet.
Through the coaching and visioning process I went through a few years later, my daydream began to go from fuzzy to clearer. And, it revealed to me a future that I had never imagined in my wildest dreams. I saw the vision that I needed to start a women’s ministry.
After going through the “what the heck?” stage for a time being, I finally accepted this new daydream. For the next few years I would spend half of my days praying, meditating, and journaling, searching for the answers of what this ministry should look like and what it all meant. Daydream after daydream.
One day, I was daydreaming after one of my speaking gigs. I was dreaming about putting something in the hands of women that could be a tool they would walk away with after getting inspired to chase their own dreams and overcome their battles. That’s when I dreamt about a book needing to be written.
Let me tell you, as soon as that daydream came to me, I wanted to quit it. QUIT IT BIG TIME. Not qualified. Not talented enough. Not patient enough. Not creative enough. Not. An. Author.
But almost as soon as I tried quitting that daydream, something prodded me to look through my journals. So I did. And there it was. My book was already being written.
End of story.
Not.
For the next few years I searched and searched for the clear vision of what this book should look like only I couldn’t see it. The frustration I felt over the fuzziness was overwhelming. I remember sitting with a blanket over my head so God wouldn’t see my lack of progress. The guilt I felt over the lack of keyboard strokes consumed me.
I was paralyzed writing The Paralyzed Movement.
The only thing keeping this dream alive was that I knew deep down inside of me, I could not quit it.
And I didn’t. One month ago I published that book. And it’s made a difference. People have been finding freedom. People’s dreams for their lives are being pursued. People are overcoming their own paralyzing realities.
What would their stories have looked like if I had quit?
And what would people’s stories look like if you quit yours?
Are you convinced that something bigger is in store for you? Have you been daydreaming for years what that might be? Have you been so frustrated with the fuzziness of that daydream that you’ve been considering quitting it?
Please don’t.
There’s something good packed in that daydream. And even though it might not be clear to you now, if you do the right things it will become revealed to you. Your vision will become clear. A whole new world could be waiting to open up to you.
Don’t quit your daydream.
If you have a daydream and are curious about the coaching and visioning process, email me at info@amandamotivates.com and we can set up a complimentary coaching call.
If you feel paralyzed from pursuing the dreams in your life, you can pick up a copy of The Paralyzed Movement to help you navigate the way at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09HP6W8FW/