Live The Life of Your Dreams

Posted on May 21, 2014 by Jeff Nicely, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

As a child, I had an unstoppable fascination with airplanes, and that fascination became one of my life dreams. I would spend hours sitting in the grass gazing into the skies just to catch the glimpse of an airplane flying overhead.

Proverbs says, “As a man thinks, so his life becomes.” So what about you? What are the things you think about? What dreams are you carrying in your heart? Are the dreams alive and taking flight, or are the dreams being squelched by the pressures of life? Your thoughts will give flight to the life that you will live! What is the life you’re dreaming, thinking and creating for yourself?

I’ve learned that in order for me to live the life of my dreams, I have to…

DREAM: Ask yourself what it is that you really want? What will it mean for you to achieve that particular dream? How will that dream fulfill your life and make you a better person? Ask yourself WHY you’re really pursuing this dream? What is your real motivation? Become very clear about what you want you and know with certainty why you want to achieve that particular dream. Now watch as that dream grows in you until you’re consumed by the thought of it.

For me, I thought about airplanes, I read about airplanes, and I watched airplanes until I could physically see myself boarding the plane and taking my seat, ready to take my very first flight. And out of that clear dream that I could visualize as if it were really happening, I remember the day I walked across the tarmac in Roanoke, VA and onto the Piedmont Airlines flight bound for Chicago O’Hare. I was 15 years old, I paid for the ticket myself, and I lived the life of my dream!

THINK BIG: When a dream consumes you to the point that you can see yourself living in that new reality, when you have feelings as if you’re already there, living in that dream, then the dream takes hold of you in such a way that you realize that YES, your dream is possible. It’s then that your dream begins to expand and your mind begins to realize that there is so much more that is possible as well.

Once back on the ground in Roanoke, VA, I noticed a sign for the Piedmont Aviation School and my dream increased. Flying as a passenger was a dream come true for me, but flying as the pilot was now my “Think BIG” dream. As this bigger dream began to grip my thoughts and my emotions, I remember realizing that this dream was taking over my life to the point that this was no longer just a dream, it was becoming a “must accomplish” for me. I remember this big dream becoming a passion for me. And I remember feeling as if I couldn’t escape this dream. I realized that I had no option but to find a way to make this dream a reality for me, and that’s when my creative thinking kicked into over-drive. I remember the day when I felt I had no option other than to live the life of my big dream!

With the dream firmly in place and increasing in scope, there was just one more thing for me to do…

TAKE ACTION: Tony Robbins says, “The path to success is to take massive, determined action!” A dream that consumes you is only a dream until you put action to the dream, then you begin to live the life of your dreams. And that’s exactly what I did.

I remember thinking through how I would turn this dream into reality. I imagined what I would say to my parents, I remember visualizing the conversation as if it were happening in that moment. I remember thinking through my parents possible responses. I imagined myself answering their questions and concerns, and then I remember planning the time when I would actually have this momentous conversation.

The day of conversation came, and with fear and a a level of confidence pulsing through my veins, I made the big ask of my parents. “Mom & Dad, I want to drop out of college, get a refund of the money you have invested there, and I want to ask you to put that money into flight school.”

Prepared for their responses, I answered several of their questions before they asked them. “While in flight school, I’ll attend community college, complete my general studies courses, and I’ll get a part-time job. What do you say?” There was some discussion, but my parents finally agreed, and within a week I was enrolled in flight school and taking to the skies.

That was one of many moments in my life when I felt so very alive. I felt alive because I was living the life of my dreams. I was alive because this dream had taken root in my soul and became a driving force for me. I was alive because the dream expanded and became bigger than I had ever imagined it could. I felt alive because I didn’t settle…I pushed myself to dream even bigger dreams, I took massive, decisive action, and I turned my dream into reality. Today, I’m proud to be a private pilot but more than that, I’m #grateful to my parents who gave me permission to dream and to to turn my dreams into reality.

This is just one of many dreams that I’ve turned into reality in the course of my life and all because no one told me otherwise. I thought it was normal to dream, to think big and to take action to make my dreams a reality. And today, I know it’s possible. I’ve lived this process many times over, and my life is better for it!

Are you living the life of your dreams today? If so, how? What has made it possible for you to live the life of your dreams? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below. I look forward to learning from you. Challenge me by your examples to more courageously live the life of my dreams, go for it!!