Dream Storm: A Storm of Big Ideas
Good Afternoon! We hope you all have been having an AMAZING week! Last week we started off our mini series on Dream Storms by discussing ways to find your inspirational space. If you haven’t had a chance to find a space that truly fires you up, be sure to check out the post here to learn more.
For part two of our series on Dream Storms we will be discussing “A Storm of Big Ideas” and ways to improve how you set goals, brainstorm, and come up with Big Ideas!!!
You might be thinking, how hard is it to brainstorm, or come up with a list of goals and ideas? Well, when was the last time you really took the time to sit down and do just that? When was the last time you really forced yourself to focus on your dreams and let your mind freely flow? This brings us to the first step for creating a storm of big ideas.
1. Make Dreaming a Priority
For the past year, we have had a standing appointment on our calendar each month titled “Big and Big Dreams Planning Session.” The sole purpose of this meeting is to Dream Big. We go to our inspirational space and let our minds wander. In fact, we take this portion of running our business and our lives so seriously that we don’t just schedule an hour or so of time but instead we block off an entire morning or afternoon and sometimes longer. Knowing that all we have to do for that day is to dream big allows us to forget about our mile long to do list, or the laundry that still needs put away, and instead lets us focus on dreaming.
Make your dreams a priority. Open up your calendar and schedule out a block of time this week for at least 3-4 hours to dream.
2. Dream Intentionally
Now that you have made your dreams a priority, it’s time to dream intentionally. During the first portion of our Big and Big Things meetings, we always start by reviewing where we have been and what we have accomplished in the past month. This not only allows us to see how many of our dreams and goals we’ve accomplished but it also sets the stage for us to begin dreaming even bigger. Dreams and goals don’t have to be permanent. If we worked on a project or tried to accomplish a goal and it just wasn’t fulfilling to us then we remove it from our list and replace it with an even bigger and better dream.
In addition to reflecting on where we have been, we also take time to fill our minds with inspiration. The key to this step is to look at many different sources of inspiration. During our Big and Big Things meetings, we will often take a stack of magazines with us ranging from Vanity Fair to Popular Mechanics to Food and Wine to the latest J. Crew catalog. Sometimes we will even start our sessions by watching a new movie on Netflix or by taking a walk along the harbor. The more sources we can use for inspiration, the more original our ideas will become. If we are simply looking at one source all the time for inspiration, everything we do will end up being based on that single source and what we do will quickly start looking exactly the same.
Once we have reflected on our progress from the previous month, and we have filled our minds with inspiration, it’s time to dream.
To do so, we start by taking 15 minutes to individually write out our dreams and goals. At this point, anything goes. Fill up a notebook, type out the list on your computer or iPad, whatever you do, don’t stop until the 15 minutes are up. Dream about ways to improve your daily work flow, things you can do in the next 30 days to live a more AMAZING life, where you want to be in a year from now, five years from now, etc. Dream about things that you might think are impossible now or ways to impact the world. If it pops into your mind, right it down.
3. +1 your Dreams
Once your 15 minutes are up, it’s time to look at your list and +1 your dreams. Often when we start our lists, we write out things like “exercise more” or “get to bed by 10pm.” Both are good ideas and great things to dream about, but these are not BIG Dreams. We call it a Storm of Big Ideas for one simple reason, at the end of your Dream Storm, you should have a list of ideas that rock your world and once accomplished and turned into a reality will have changed the lives of others. This is what Chris Guillebeau calls your “Legacy Project.” Check out his manifesto “The Tower” for more details on creating Legacy Projects.
One by one, look at your list of dreams and goals. Take a few seconds and think about each goal. For each item on your list, ask yourself, does this seem possible? Would turning this dream into a reality be fulfilling and result in a more AMAZING life? Would this dream make the world a better place? Highlight each item on your list that forces you to pause for a second longer or creates an uneasy feeling in your stomach. We want to identify the dreams on your list that fire you up and seem nearly impossible now. Continue to refine your list until you have narrowed it down to the 3 – 5 biggest, scariest, most amazing dreams. Or what Mary Marantz call’s your bHAGs.
Now, +1 each of those 3-5 dreams. Take 15 minutes for each dream and let your mind wander again. On a blank sheet of paper or in a new document, write out what accomplishing your dreams will look like. Try to describe each dream in as much detail as possible. The more specific you can begin to get will allow you to quickly take the steps to turn your dreams into a reality. At the end of your Dream Storm, you should now have 3 – 5 BIG dreams written out in full detail. Now it’s time to turn your dreams into reality…
Be sure to check back next Thursday for the final installment of our mini series on Dream Storms: Dreams = Reality, taking the first step.