#59 How To Achieve BIG Dreams

Rachel Denning (00:00.782)
Hey, my friends, I hope you are doing fantastic today and I hope you are pursuing your goals and dreams with vigor and excitement and you're chasing them down. I hope you're allowing yourself to dream and to live the kind of life that you want to live, not just acquiescing. Today I'm going to talk about how to achieve big dreams, how to go after it, how to make things happen.

And what's interesting is we're losing this. A lot of people, when I go and speak and I teach and clients we have in our monthly coaching program, and the clients that I have, it often comes up that they stopped dreaming. And this is a frequent conversation I have with people that in their 30s or 40s, they say, man, I haven't dreamed in decades. I just stopped dreaming. I just thought that life was just, you kind of settle in and acquiesce and this is the way things go.

What's interesting, I had a conversation with a young adult yesterday. He said, he said, most of the young adults around my age are saying things to me like, well, you know, you just kind of get into school and you get into the job and you kind of get into the quote, groove of things. And then you just kind of, you know, let life will kind of direct your path and you kind of see where you end up going. Right. And it was fascinating to me when he said that, it just blew my mind. Like, that's what's happening. That's what happens to all of us. Right. We get in a spot where.

We kind of, we play the victim. And these circumstances happen, I'm not gonna argue that they don't happen, obviously they happen, and they come into our life in these huge forces, financial forces, or relationships, or tough circumstances, or, you know, life just throws everything at us. I agreed, it happened to me too, right? It happens to you, it happens to all of us. But what happens is the mindset, the mindset there, and the attitude of, well, ugh.

You know, life's tough and then we kind of play the victim and then we settle in and that so -called groove, my friends, becomes a rut.

Rachel Denning (02:09.389)
and good people, smart people, talented people.

They get stuck in a rut and they'll stay there for months or years or decades or tragically even a lifetime. And it breaks my heart just it's so sad when I meet people who have been in a rut or as one client told me one time he said he'd been felt like he'd been in a walking coma for the last 10 years. Right.

So today my friends, we're gonna talk about dreaming big and how to actually achieve big dreams because it is 100 % possible for you and for me and for all of us. And I believe that. I wholeheartedly believe that. And I've seen it, seen it in my own life. And if I can go from where I was to where I am and where I'm going, anyone can do this. Anyone can do this. And I've taught these principles to others and it has transformed their lives. In fact, this is what I do when I'm coaching. When I'm coaching clients, I'm helping them totally transform their lives.

And the power of coaching is that it is customized, it is individualized, it is personal. And so you take these principles and you just dive in, it's a deep dive at a personal level that's totally customized to your current conditions, your current goals, your current desires, your current calendar, schedule, circumstances, and say how are we gonna transform life for the way you really want to live, right? man, that's so powerful. It is so powerful.

So here we go. First step to dreaming big and achieving big dreams is to actually dream, to have a vision, to see it. It's fascinating to me how many people don't allow themselves to dream. They stop dreaming. And I've heard a number of reasons. Some people will say, well, it's just not realistic. Right. Others will say, well, once you get into life, dreams are for kids, dreams are for teenagers. But.

Rachel Denning (04:13.549)
You know, once real life sets in, you gotta dig in and you got the dreams. Other people say, well, I stopped allowing myself to dream because it was so disappointing. I felt so frustrated because I didn't see how I could do it. Isn't that interesting? And I get it, I get it. It's painful to dream if you don't believe that there's any shot or chance of making it happen. But this is the first step, you have to dream.

So if you stopped dreaming or you've never been much of a dreamer, I want to challenge you, invite you to see yourself in the future. See your best self. Like see the life you want to live and see yourself literally in the scene, in the scene. See the details. I remember doing videos and trainings about this 10 years ago, 10 years ago about seeing the details of your day, right? Of, of see yourself, see your week, your ideal week.

and your ideal days, what are you doing? What are you working on? Where do you live? Where are you spending your time? Who are you spending time with? What excites you? How do you get up in the morning? How do you spend your mornings? How do you spend your days? How do you spend your evenings? What are you doing day in and day out? What are the details? You have to see it, because if you can't see it, you'll never hit it, I promise. If you can't see it, it won't give you the emotion, the power, the excitement behind it. You will not get there, because fear,

and doubt and worry, especially about the how. Because people start to dream and they're like, well, I don't know how, I don't know how that will happen. And that fear and that doubt and that worry about the how and about the details that they can't currently see, they just discount it all and they throw it all away. And you guys, I did the same. I wanna make this clear, like, when I was a young man and I was on my own and struggling, I was broke.

And I was broken and I was discouraged and like the fear, I don't know if you guys have felt this.

Rachel Denning (06:21.933)
I don't even know if it was fear so much as I just acquiesced to this idea that I would always be kind of poor and that I would just live out some humdrum existence. I remember looking at successful people or people that I perceived as successful, maybe they had a nice car, a big house or something. And I literally remember as a late teenager, even into my twenties, looking at that and my immediate thought belief system was I'll never have that.

That was the way I thought you guys. This blows me away. I literally, and I believed it. I mean it was just this, it was an immediate belief reaction of like that, I'll never have that.

And because that's what I had grown up around. And that's what I was exposed to. That's what I knew. Right? That was my reality. Nobody ever trained me or taught me or challenged me to say, why couldn't you have that? Why couldn't you do that? Why couldn't you achieve success in an incredible relationships and great health and awesome spirituality and financial success? Why can't you have those things?

It never crossed my mind. I just automatically believed that I couldn't. And it was the doubts and the fears and the worries, you know? And then other people struggle with this, and I did too at some point of, well, who am I? Who am I to be happy? Who am I to be successful? Who am I to be talented and brilliant, powerful and influential and joyful? Who am I to make a difference, right? Or we constantly ask, well, what will others think?

What will my family think? What will my friends think? What will they think with this elusive they? We're worried about this they, what they think about us instead of worrying about who we wanna be and how we wanna do life on our own terms. And here's the coolest thing about dreaming my friends, is that all of our dreams are gonna be different. And so we can all have big, ambitious, exciting, wonderful, healthy, positive dreams and they'll all be totally different, which is wonderful. That's what makes the world so great. It's so exciting and so fun.

Rachel Denning (08:36.685)
And yet we constantly worry about what others will think about our dream. Or we question whether it's right. And you know what's interesting is I found out through my own experience and experience with so many other people around the world, very often I believe the dreams we have, those big, bold, audacious dreams, I think they're gifts from God. And perhaps they are things that he wants us to do and to become.

So I want you to have more vision and less to -do lists. Or at least have a vision that is attached to your, have a to -do list that's attached to your vision rather. Get a vision, see the scene, see yourself succeeding and happy and thriving and wonderful and then attach your task and your planning and your scheduling to that thing. So many of us are spending our lives,

planning and scheduling a life that we just do not love.

We gotta stop doing this.

So see, see it, and you know what, my friends, it's not enough to see it every once in a while. We've gotta see it every single day. Every day, I'm not kidding. And I hope you have a vision board.

Rachel Denning (10:03.885)
with pictures that inspire you and motivate you and challenge you, I hope you will sit down and in your mind envision who you are at your very best in one year, three years, five years, 10 years, 20 years from now, 30 years from now, see yourself at who you really wanna be. And do it every single day and pause. Pause not only to see it, but to feel it. You've been.

You've got to feel it because that emotion will drive you. And if you do this every day, if you can see it every day, it will literally influence the actions of that day. And then my friends, then your actions will propel you towards your dreams. Then here's the next part. Okay. The next piece is you have to get the training. I, I keep quoting Archaeolicus and I think I will forever and always, right?

Man, I think we get all value from me quoting him every single time I do a podcast episode. He said, we do not rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training. So this is absolutely true with our dreams. We don't rise to the level of our dreams and our visions, we fall to the level of our training. So the key then to success in achieving your dreams is to get the training that is equivalent.

to our dreams. Does that make sense? So the key then to achieving my dreams is to discover first of all, and then align, discover what training needs to be done, what skills I need to acquire, and then to train myself at that level. And then, then it's almost inevitable. Because if I have that level of training, then I will operate and live at that level of life. So what, what skills do you need? What training do you need?

Get really clear about that. If you wanna achieve your big, bold, awesome dreams, what kind of training do you need? Get that training and prioritize it. Okay, prioritize your training over your tasks. You do the training first, then do your tasks. Prioritize your skills over your security. Right, we're so afraid. We're so hypersensitive about security and stability, right?

Rachel Denning (12:32.781)
Focus on your skills. Get a list of the skills you need and then schedule them. Put them in your calendar. I should be able to see that, right? I should be able to look at your calendar and be like, okay, there, I can see what you're doing to build your skills. And I want to challenge you to make sacrifices for your skills. Sacrifice for skills. It will be worth it. See, but then this isn't wishy washy wishing, my friends.

This is strategic training to build the dream. So what kind of training do you need? What kind of training do you need? Make a list of those, of the training and of the skills, schedule it in, start making it happen, make it a priority in your life and watch what happens. Now the challenge here is, is actually, you know, you do that, following through with it. Can I just lovingly call you guys out a little bit here?

Can I be blunt and bold? Most of you won't do anything about this. That's just human nature, right? And we're fighting against human nature. We naturally, so even in a mentor session today, we are rereading the common denominator of success by Albert Gray, one of my favorite, favorite all time essays and articles. And he says that, he's like, human nature is just like, we're all humans and the natural desire of humans is like to take the easy way, right? To...

to like, yeah, I should do that, that'd be good, and procrastinate and put it off and do the things we'd rather be doing, right, that are easier. But we have to focus in, so I'm gonna call you out and invite you and challenge you, all of you, every one of you, do this. Get really clear about your dream, what it is you want. Find out what training and skills you need. Schedule it, sacrifice for it, plan it, prioritize it, and then start getting things done.

Now the next piece is people. You've got to have a team. Nobody's ever going to rise to the top without a team. You have to have a team. And it could be your spouse and your children, your friends, family members, or it might not be. Sometimes your siblings, your parents even, or friends, or your neighborhood, associations, sometimes they are actually, when it comes to pursuing big dreams, sometimes they are your...

Rachel Denning (14:53.261)
They're the villains. I hate to say it like that, but they are. Honestly, sometimes they're standing in your way and they'll poo poo your dreams and they'll say, who are you? Why do you think you could do that? You think you're so special and you can do something else and, and, you can't do that. You're too dumb and you're too this and you're too that. Right. And they they'll tear you down. And so you need to surround yourself with a community of people who will support your dream. Right. And a little side note here, make sure your dream is like a real

good, positive, awesome one. If for some reason you're dreaming about things that are detrimental to your life and to others, you could find a support group for that too, but don't. Build a community around living deliberately and living greatly and find people who have done it in a good, healthy way, not the people who've sacrificed the things that really matter most so they can pursue one little area.

but big holistic dreams, right? And find those people and talk about what you wanna do. Ask for advice from the right people and ask for help, right? Who do you need to know? Who do you need to get in touch with? Who do you need to surround yourself with? Make a list of that. Get clear about that too. Who needs to be in your community or what community already maybe exists that you need to join? Like where are your people?

Where are your people? And when you have the community, you're gonna get insights and inspiration and support and cheering and advice and correction and feedback right from a community that will help you. And then my friends, just go for it, man. You guys know me, right? If you've listened to this stuff or been around me, I love the whole ready, fire, aim philosophy. Like, pull the trigger, jump.

Get going, just take action, move. We just, we move so slowly. And I get it if their strategy right, but most of the people who achieve big things, when you talk to them, say, hey, what are your regrets? What would you do differently? And almost without exception, they say, I'd start sooner. I'd go bolder, I'd go bigger sooner. I wish I would have thought bigger. I was keeping myself small and down by my own limitations.

Rachel Denning (17:23.405)
So make bold moves sooner than later. What, quote, extreme things, I don't want you to do any crazy stuff, but legitimately, what kind of extreme things could you do right away to start getting the results you want? And I want to invite you and challenge you to stop putting conditions and restrictions on there that are like self -imposed. I literally remember.

Well, like I told you at the beginning, I had the restriction in the condition that why wouldn't have that? Why would I have that? Like it didn't even occur to me that I possibly could.

So there I was, you know, this lonely...

I'm the only kid struggling with my insecurities.

barely earning enough money to eat.

Rachel Denning (18:27.245)
pay rent.

Who, how could I ever have dreamed that I'd be traveling around the world with a family, seven children, all over the place, coaching, mentoring, leading, speaking, inspiring. I was terrified, I was terrified to speak in public.

And to even try to conceive that that's what I would do for a living. That's what I would do for joy, for fun. I love this stuff. That eventually I would love being in front of a crowd sharing things I'm learning and strategies that just work. I had placed my own conditions and restrictions on achievement. I had put a...

what they call a paper ceiling there. It was a false ceiling. Now I looked up and I see there's nothing there but a ceiling right above my head. There's nothing higher than my head right now, right? I can see, I'm looking up. There it is. I can see it. But it was a false ceiling. Ironically, that I had placed there. So move, move boldly in the direction of your dreams, my friends. Be bold, take action, go for it, get excited.

every single day. And can I give you another challenge? I know I've shared this before. I'm going to invite you to do again, rewrite your goals, rewrite your goals, get up every morning and literally rewrite your most important goals.

Rachel Denning (20:12.941)
Rewrite your most important goals so that it's in front of your mind every single day. And see yourself so that you take action.

So that you get up and go, hey, whew, I'm on this. This is my thing. And I'm getting the training, getting the training I need to do it. And if you'll get that training, you'll make it happen. It literally virtually becomes inevitable because you train yourself into excellence. I love this stuff. My friends, awesome is always an option. And training will take us there. So dream big.

Go out, achieve those dreams. If you want help, go to gregdenning .com and sign up for a coaching session. That's literally what I do. And I've had the privilege of helping so many people do this. Go sign up for a coaching session. Let's sit down, let's talk about your dream. Let's talk about your goals. Let's talk about your challenges and struggles and trials and circumstances. Let's get a real personalized look at where you are and where you wanna go and map out a clear...

training, skill set, mindset, heart set, plan, so that you can start living the life you really want to live, the life you were born to live, the one that's in your heart and soul that you want to live, that you're meant to live. Let's build that, let's make it happen. Love you guys, awesome's always an option. Reach out for it.

Rachel Denning (21:51.437)
Hey everybody, thanks so much for listening to this episode. I hope you got a lot of value out of it and found some things that you can apply to your life right away. Hey, I'm being totally sincere when I say I live to help you live your extraordinary life. So I hope you'll reach out to me if you have any questions or let me know how I can help you in any important area of your life. And in fact, you know, this podcast is brought to you by the School of Awesome Sauce monthly coaching program. Take advantage of that, get in there. It's the -

best way to get a breakthrough to the next level so you can level up your health, your spirituality, your emotions, your mind, your relationships, your finances, business, every part of your life. Just get in there where you have a coach and a mentor, you have a supportive community to make things happen. So jump in there, take advantage of this, try it out, get in there with us and level up your life. See you on the inside. Reach upward.