Your dreams don't need to be 'realistic'

Have you ever put aside your big career dreams because they just don’t seem ‘realistic’?

Perhaps you think it’s not ‘realistic’ to go after that promotion right now; to ask for that salary increase; to change direction in your career; or to go after a new opportunity.

There are always a lot of ‘valid’ reasons for that thought….

• the timing isn’t right
• the current economic climate
• your other commitments
• past experiences or failures
• no-one around you has done it
• you just need a little more experience

Look, I get it. All of those thoughts seem very true, and responsible, and practical.

But I want to give you permission to ignore them just for a few minutes.  

I want to encourage you to think about what goals or dreams you would pursue, right now, if you didn’t have to be ‘realistic’. What does your ideal career look like? How much would you like to be paid? What would the next step be if you knew you couldn’t fail?

I give you permission to dream BIG.

And this isn’t some sort of ‘woo’ positive-thinking craziness. I want you to do this because it will make it more likely that you actually achieve your goals.

Your prefrontal brain is an amazing thing. It can imagine a future that doesn’t exist yet and make it a reality. Once you tell your brain you want to achieve something, it will immediately start looking for opportunities and solving problems.  

Now, just remember that while your prefrontal is excited about imaging the future, your primal brain is NOT interested. It wants you to stay safe, preserve energy and definitely NOT go after your dreams. It will constantly remind you about the obstacles and the importance of being ‘realistic’.  

Just remember that the whole point of dreams is that they’re not ‘real’ yet.

If you focus on being ‘realistic’, you’ll limit yourself to what already exists in your life. Achieving big things means believing new things, doing new things, solving new problems and taking a first step before you know what the last one will be.

Creating a new story of ‘realistic’ for your life, starts with your imagination.

If you want some personalised help with your career journey, just click HERE to book a free Discovery Call with me.