Dreaming of Success 

In his song “I Never Had a Dream Come True,” Stevie Wonder sings about a love that is perfected in his dreams.   When he dreams about his unrequited love, he is in paradise and vows never to stop dreaming all the while pleading to us, the listener, to “keep on dreamin’”.   Indeed Mr. Wonder is fond of his daydreams and he is not the only one.  Frank Sinatra encourages us to “dream when the day is through” while Aerosmith shouts “dream on, dream on, dream until your dreams come true”.  With all this dreaming going on, is there any work getting done?  As a child you have undoubtedly had your stargazing interrupted by the sound of your teacher’s voice asking you to answer a question.  The image of the daydreamer has always been a picture of a slacker with no motivation and nothing better to do.  But is it possible that dreaming can help you reach your goals?

The idea of dreaming or visualizing has been around for thousands of years.  We know that Japanese Samurais use to meditate and think about an upcoming battle in order to have mental clarity.  More recently the idea of imagining what you want has been made popular by the bestselling book and movie about the Law of Attraction called The Secret.  The Law of Attraction declares that if you imagine and dream about something you want, that thing will eventually manifest into reality.  The theory also affirms that dreaming is good for everyone and that dreamers are the ones who succeed in life.  This is a far cry from the impression most of us have about those who are dreamers.  While most would agree that there is more to success than just thinking about it, the underrated practice of seeing your success before you are a success is a valuable mastery to hone.

 Success Before Success

Many years before he was a huge movie star, actor Jim Carrey wrote a $10 million check for himself.  The purpose of this gesture was to motivate himself towards his goals.  In one interview, he talks about his habit of seeing his success before he was a success.

"I believe in that sort of thing," he says. "I'm not some sort of infomercial guy, but I do believe in visualizing what you want in life.”

Like the ancient Samurai, today’s athletes also visualize themselves competing in their sport in order to help them enhance their performance.   Sometimes called mental practice, this exercise was once seen as strange but is becoming more and more common among professional and Olympic athletes.  Studies are showing that the cognitive aspects of athletic task are just as important as the physical ones.  Mental rehearsing is a combination of recalling skills you have already performed and preparing your body to successfully perform them again.  This may be the reason that those who use visualization along with their physical practice are better prepared for their competition.  NBA great Michael Jordan often said that he visualized the ball going into the basket before he even took the shot.  He would also visualize himself making a last second, game winning shot.  I can remember as a kid dribbling the basketball down court and making a heroic buzzer beater to win the game.  Little did I know that this technique of success before success could be used in all aspects of life. 

Dreaming of a Better Way

In our world today there is a great emphasis on productivity and performance.  In order to get somewhere you must work constantly and be willing to do anything to succeed.  But is there a better way to look at the road to success?  If there is, can dreaming and visualizing be that way?   The idea behind getting what you want at any price raises many questions about the ends justifying the means.  The possible benefits of conceptualizing may go further than just motivation; it may actually help a person realize a better method of obtaining their goals. 

On the topic of obtaining what you want by any means; Jim Carrey had this to say, "I always have disclaimers in every prayer.  You've got to be careful that everything you wish for has a disclaimer. 'Please let me be human and not hurt anybody or whatever.' "

Better solutions for a person who wants to achieve in their own way may be realized through seeing a fanciful situation and then coming to a plausible conclusion.  For example, let’s say that you would like to grab your cell phone that is too far for your arms to reach.  You might imagine that your arms begin to stretch and grow long enough to reach your phone.  That outrageous solution may lead to a more feasible solution such as using a longer object to pull your phone closer to you.  The example can be used in a similar fashion when pertaining to your dreams and goals.  You might need a certain amount of money to do some home repairs.   So you begin daydreaming about finding a large amount of money stashed into a wall in an unused room in your home.  Then you may come to a realization that renting out the room may provide you with enough money to cover some of the expenses for the home repairs.  As adults we usually do not have daydreams that are as farfetched as the previous examples but they may help illustrate the process in which the mind uses visualization to solve problems.

So where does this leave us?  It seems that those individuals, who have the tendency to get caught up in their daydreams and imaginary sequences with no real intention of making a reality from those scenarios, will most likely be seen as slackers.  However, many with the powerful ability to imagine with aspiration, and then take action towards their goals, seem to be the ones that succeed.  The beauty of the possible benefits of dreaming and visualizing is the idea that these practices can be applied to many areas of your life.   Whether someone is trying to get rich, become a better athlete, or even become more socially active, having a mental picture of what success looks and feels like can be the “X-factor” that can make success possible.

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