Unpacking Your Life Dreams
What would you do if you knew you wouldn’t fail?
What is worth doing even if you fail?
What might you be ignoring, and in continuing to ignore it, you are failing yourself?
At Retreat Reinvent Recharge, we spend a lot of time with women exploring career transitions. These transitions are spurred by a variety of initiators including a changing marketplace, marriage and divorce, empty nests, lost jobs and new ambitions. When we discuss with women their next professional steps, they often begin with the conventional approach such as brush up the resume, update the LinkedIn profile and launch the networking.
In this process, the approach is then to discuss positions they’d like to pursue, their criteria for accepting the next job, and where they hope to be in five years.
However, something interesting often happens mid-way through the conversation – an unconventional idea is blurted out. It is this unconventional idea that we love to encourage to expand women’s vision of what is possible.
In these moments, it’s as if the idea escapes. The conscious mind is not wanting to talk about it, but it’s much like a shoot of grass forcing its way through cracked cement. And there it lingers in the air between us … the book they’ve longed to write, the real estate venture they’ve privately been exploring, the recipes they’ve gathered for a funky restaurant. The ideas of what they’d like to do…if only. If only, there was more time, money, less pressure, fewer economic demands, and on and on.
At first some women seem surprised that they’ve shared their secret. Then they settle in, and it’s at this point we see women’s faces light up, their eyes twinkle, a surge of conviction grounds their voices.
There is however a struggle. We acknowledge the sudden vitality that appears in women and encourage them to dream. We also acknowledge there is a life of demands such as mortgages, children and bills. To not acknowledge the latter would be irresponsible.
However, failing to unpack dreams can be equally irresponsible. As humans, we hold onto dreams. They live inside us. They carry a part of our psychic DNA and reveal so much about us.
Taking time to reflect on these dreams allows women the opportunity to challenge powerful assumptions and expose limiting beliefs. It also allows them to learn deeply about themselves. And in this process, timelines – such as now, not yet and/or never – can be honestly considered.
This reflective work helps propel women in their transition, whether they end up acting on a specific dream or not. It’s about exploring what’s behind it, why it speaks to them, and what parts of it, if any, can be brought to life. It’s about challenging their personal capacity and belief systems.
If you have a dream, and it is something you are prepared to act on, the next step involves exploring how to do it in a way that serves you.
A minimal viable product or MVP, a term popularized by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, provides a great way to think about tucked away aspirations. What could be done in a small way to test an idea and gather information?
For example, you may hope to be a novelist, so perhaps join a writing group and flush out one character profile? Or even more basic, what might it look like if you kept a small journal on your person and committed to a 3 minute ‘quick write’ each day?
What would an MVP of your aspiration look like?
If through reflection you determine the time is not right to act on a personal dream, or perhaps will never be, there’s still value in unpacking it. The process might require you to look in the mirror, or test your personal capacity and risk exposing yourself. It might demand that you unlock hidden hopes. It might challenge you to confront what you’ve walked away from. It might invite you to own new parts of your past and future.
Life’s hidden gems wait in these answers. Gems that help you move more freely through a transition regardless of the direction you ultimately choose.
If you are facing a transition, contact us about our program to unpack your aspirations.