The Best Years of Your Life… Now!

A fantasy is a dream without “drive”…

Drive is the inspiration and the  personal energy that transforms a dream into reality.

Without drive your dreams remain fantasies you take out once in a while – look at – have a brief jolt of “what if” and then put away and forget about.

So what creates drive?

Trauma. Plain and simple – emotional truama – that point where you are shocked out of your “sleep walking ” and suddenly wake up in a moment of clarity. A phenomenon that can go one of two ways:

It can push you into a new direction that will change and transform your life – or further solidify and cement the “place” where you now reside – maintaining your status quo.

The problem is your dreams do not live in your status quo.  If they did they wouldn’t be dreams they would be your day-to-day life!

What causes the necessary emotional trauma that literally “kicks” your life into a different trajectory?  For many it’s the stark realization that they have reached a dead-end.  The realization that they keep doing the same things over and over expecting a different result.  You know, how you  keep telling yourself that “someday” or “when the time is right” I’m going to do this or that – and of course the someday never comes and the time is never right.

For some people the shock comes when they finally realize their life is a dead-end.

That nothing is going to change. They can see the rest of their lives following a predictable pattern repeating the weeks, months and years that have already passed them by…

The “trauma” may come in the middle of the night or in a flash of realization.  Or it may come as a result of financial hardship – emotional trauma like a divorce or the death of a loved one.  Something happens to wake you up.

For those who live the life of their dreams they call this event their “why”.

“Why” is the sum total of those events which come together at one point in time to cause you enough emotional trauma to jolt you into action.  It becomes your personal story – your rationale – the very foundation upon which you build your new life.  The life of your dreams.

When your “why” becomes bigger than your comfort zone – your status quo – only then do you find the inspiration – the “juice” – the personal energy and determination to actually do something.  Your “why” becomes a constant reminder that keeps you on track day-to-day as you consistently apply your attention and energy to those actions which transform your life.

Have you found your “why” yet?

Maybe you have but you burry it because you’re afraid of what may happen if you let it out.  Maybe you’re afraid of the changes that will come once you acknowledge your true self – which you see reflected in your dreams every time your exercise your imagination.

-Bob Baran

Turning On Your Dream Machine

This is a fun little exercise you need to engage in on a regular basis – turning on your dream machine.

I’m talking about your unimpeded imagination.  That part of you that knows no limits  – where anything is possible – and you can pretend without feeling guilty!

So here goes:

First – Money is no object!

Second – Relationships and other commitments have no bearing!

Wow! That really clears out the “web of limitation” in a hurry.  Now while you’re in this rarified atmosphere where fear, uncertainty and doubt don’t exist – and where anything is possible – do the following:

Write down ten things – experiences or relationships – any combination that you would like to make a part of your day-to-day life….

Come on! Don’t think too much about them – you’ve been putting them on the back burner for years – now bring them out and put them down on paper.

And don’t stop until your list has at least 10 items.

As you look at each item on you list – how does it feel?  Can you detect the unique emotional flavor each item resonates?  It’s there – it may be subtle or dramatic – but everything you’ve written down has it’s own vibration.

So what does that mean?

Simply put, if the emotional vibration (or flavor) of that which you want “resonates” with the combined vibration you have come to know as your day-to-day life – the opportunity to experience that particular item already exists somewhere in your life – you just have to choose to let yourself become aware of it and experience it.

So the next question is:  What on your list already fits?  What’s already possible right now for you to experience?  What’s only a matter of your deciding you’re ready to experience it – now?

Those things on your list that fit this criteria are a matter of your choice!

What about the rest of the things on your list – the ones that don’t fit into the reality of your current day-to-day life?  Are they fantasies?  Impossible dreams?

Not at all

Whatever is humanly possible – you can experience in your life – if you are willing to change the trajectory of your current day-to-day reality.  It’s the ole “right place at the right time” thing.  If you can’t “see” the possibility of the remaining things on your list becoming your reality – you need to change your perspective – which will then alter your day-to-day life.

Look at it this way:

If your current life does not provide the necessary “pathways” which have the potential of leading you to your “dreams” – you have to add new pathways.  Pathways are people to people relationships.

The quality and quantity of your current relationships already determine the “size” and “scope” of your day-to-day reality.  By increasing the number of relationships in your life you also increase the number of possibilities that are open to you.  Do you get this?

It’s always a matter of relationships – because all opportunities will come to you through other people.  If you limit the number of people in your life -  you limit the number of opportunities to make your dreams come true.

The instant you start to create new relationships you change the trajectory of your day-to-day life.

Here’s the biggest secret of all:

You’re never more than two or three degrees away from the ideal set of circumstances – opportunity – to make any of your dreams come true.  It’s just a matter of building relationships which are the pathways to your dreams.

Then paying attention so you recognize the opportunity when it “appears”!

-Bob Baran

When “why” makes you cry…

Great change will come over you in that moment of clarity. All the layers of posturing – compromising – and excuses you based your life on –  no longer hold your attention and distract you… Your life isn’t working and you can’t deny it any longer.  You find yourself standing alone because the false light of your rationale has led you to a dead-end

Now with nothing left to hang on to – you finally let go.

Unburdening yourself in a deep catharsis – you begin to sob at first from  frustration and confusion – and then the tears flow from the realization that you’ve come so far away from your heart.

In that moment you reach your true self… That place beyond your ego.

No more mind games – no more excuses.  You realize you can’t do it by yourself – you never really could. You are finally ready:

So you ask for help from a power greater than your ability to imagine.

You open yourself to all possibilities.

Finally throwing off the limitations of your own narrow minded rationalizations.

And in the instant you ask – a great wave of healing energy begins to overwhelm you.  All your fear, uncertainty and doubt is swept away.

You are no longer the prisoner of your own mind – and a profound knowingness comes over you  as a clear vision of what can be – you feel it as if it is already is so.

Your life has become transformed.

You know your destination and embrace the adventure that now lies ahead.  You don’t know how you are going to get “there” – you just know that you will.

You have found your mission – your “why” – your heart.

Your true self.

-Bob Baran