Dream: Your Ideal Future for 2024

Last week you reflected (if you didn’t – look up last week’s newsletter). This week is the time to Dream. Next week we get after it. 

What are your dreams … your ideal future? What do you really want? If you took some time to rest and reflect last week, inevitably your mind began to wander a bit. You began dreaming about what could be, maybe what should be … what can be and will be.

When dreaming about the future, there are a couple of parameters to help you discern if it’s a worthwhile dream to put to pen and paper. Let’s be real … not every thought we have is a wise thought worthy of pursuit! I would love to be a race car driver, but it might not be wise to pursue.

1. Does that dream honor and build up my family and the legacy I want to leave? Does that dream make my spouse and kids better? If not – it’s not a worthy dream. 

2. Does that short term dream put me in a position to pursue the long-term dream? 

3. Does the dream help me steward the resources and organization entrusted to me?

You get the idea. Don’t pursue in the short term what might not help you get you to where you want to be in the long term. Don’t pursue in the short term what might damage what you are entrusted to steward (i.e. lead).

I dream of playing lots of golf. That short term dream would cause me to miss too much family time, and so it’s not worth pursuing. The short-term fun does not get me to where I want to be long term. 

So, when I’m asking about what you dream about, let’s consider the implications before getting overrun with excitement.

Let’s put dreams into four buckets.

1)  Personal 

• Health and fitness goals

• Going back for more school or education

• Engage back into church and a healthy spiritual life 

2)  Professional

• Grow your business from Y to Z? 

• Expand with a new product offering?

• Pursue a new role and promotion?

3)  Relational 

• Bring your best to your spouse and re-engage on how to love like you used to in this new season of life

• Commit to take advantage of time with your kids and family

• Commit to restore relationships that are tense or broken 

4)  Financial 

• What are your goals for this year to set you up for future years financially?

• What’s your end goal at retirement?

• How do you prepare for kids or yourself going back to college? 

What are your dreams for those four buckets? What do you really want? Is your dream worthy of the sacrifice?

Do me a favor and don’t start strategizing yet. Keep dreaming. 
Write a descriptive paragraph about your dream and what you want. What do you want your life to look like, relationships to look like, business to look like? Think of yourself like an artist with your words and your job, and bring your vision to life. Articulate what you want. What do you actually want? Write it down. Then share it. 

Before saying why something is not possible or strategizing to make it possible … run your dream through the discernment filter and make sure you are on track with the legacy you want to leave. Then take the time to share your dream with your spouse, trusted friends, and family. Remember – just because they don’t agree or understand doesn’t mean you don’t pursue (unless it’s your spouse, then you need to keep gaining alignment). 

Next week we will dive into some ways to take your dream to reality in 2024. However, take time to keep dreaming this week while celebrating the new year. 

If you need some help processing what you are dreaming about or what your goals are – set yourself up with coaching and let us help you clarify what you want with the right steps in place to get you there.