Lamisha Serf-Walls

Dream Discovery Pt. 2- Exercises

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Yesterday I talked about the two types of people that generally have trouble defining their dreams; the Reality Seekers and the Survivors.  Today, I want to give you some exercises that anyone can use to help get your imagination going in order to make room for your aha moment.

4 Ways To Find Your Passion

Set Your Intention:  Sometimes all it takes is mentally setting the intention to find your passion.  Maybe you want to write it down as a formal goal or create an affirmation that states you want to remain open to discovering your dreams.  However you choose to set the intention, do it.  Simply deciding that you want to do something sets the energy in motion enough that seemingly miraculous events take place to catapult you toward what you desire.

Meditate:  I know I have talked about the benefits of meditation, but I have to mention it again.  Meditation allows you to calm your mind and be open to inspirational ideas, thoughts, and inklings that will guide you along your journey.  If you aren’t sure how to meditate or find it difficult to sit still for even 5 minutes, check out guided meditations online.  You can find some really great videos and information that will help you get to a regular meditation practice.  Often when our minds are so cluttered with day-to-day responsibilities, we don’t hear the little voice inside that is giving us the information we need.  When you quiet your mind, you release the resistant thoughts that keep your inspiration at bay.

Make a List: Sometimes when we aren’t sure what we want it helps to create a clarity list*.  It is very easy to do and can provide a ton of information for what you really want in your life.  Simple take a sheet of paper and draw a line down the middle.  On the left side include things you don’t want and on the right side list what you do want.  Using your life experience, make a list of items you don’t want. For instance, if you are looking for a passionate career, you might say “I don’t want a boss that is a micro-manager” and that might mean “I want to be my own boss or have the freedom to do my work independently”.  Make the list as long as you need to in order to provide some clarity to what you want.  Once it is complete fold the paper back and look at the items you have listed for what you want.  Now you have a starting point for your discovery process.
*This exercise is one Michael Losier uses in his Law of Attraction books.  For more information click here.*

Have Fun: You may be wondering how having fun can lead you to a life of your dreams, however if you are like me, when I am trying to figure something out, I can get a little obsessive about it.  I find myself searching and thinking and worrying about it far more than I should.  This only creates more resistance in your thought process and can inhibit your inspiration completely.  Sometimes to gain momentum you have to not try so hard.  That can be difficult for some of us to learn since we have been taught that if you want something you have to work really hard at it.  That’s not always (or mostly) true.  Often when you are having fun and thinking about something entirely different, you get a major aha moment that sparks your interest and inspiration.  So if you find yourself thinking about this too much, take a step back and go do something else.

While these exercises may seem pretty simple you will be amazed at what they can do.  I hope they help you move toward the discovery of your dreams and if there is anything I can do to help let me know!

Happy Dreaming!

Dream Discovery: Start Where You Are

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Since I started my blog, many of my posts have been aimed at readers that have defined what they want to achieve and may need a little inspiration and insight to get them moving.  I have posted inspirational links, dreamer highlights, and general motivational tips for when things feel slow-going.  And while I think that information is beneficial , I realized this week that I hadn’t really touched on how to find your dream.  So, today I want to take a step back and start at the beginning with some tips to help you define your dream.

People who have yet to define their dreams generally fall into two categories.  There are those that deep down know what they want to achieve, but have written it off as impossible and unrealistic, and others who have been so focused on simply surviving life, that they haven’t taken time out to allow themselves to want anything more than they truly need.

If you fall into the first category or as I like to call them the ” Reality Seekers”, you have probably thought of several things you wanted to do in your life, but there is a little voice telling you that for some reason or another it is unachievable.  You have a long list of reasons why it could never happen, yet there is still an underlying urge to do it.  Maybe you want to perform in a Broadway show, but the idea of doing it seems so “out there” that you can’t even imagine how it might happen, so you have resolved the situation by only dreaming the achievable dream.

My advice for you: Start where you are.  Visualize a life where you can have, be, or do anything under the sun.  Imagine you have a magic wand and can grant your ultimate dream wish.  What would that look like?  How would it feel?  Is it a dream career?  A once in a lifetime experience?  Would you travel the world?

You don’t have to have just a singular dream.  In fact the more you have the better.  The key is to get you to think beyond what you deem is reality and get into the magical realm of ultimate possibilities.  Is it still hard for you to get out of that reality box?  Try thinking of all the things in your past that really got your fire going.  The things that made you light up and made your soul sing.  For me, it was dancing, creating, and working with people.  Helping others to achieve their goals and celebrating with them when they learned something new.

The key for the “Reality Seekers”, is to move you more into a space of imagination and possibility.  Think magic.  Think ultimate possibility.  Imagine a life full of free-flowing energy, freedom to do what you want, and a life full of fun and passion.  Don’t worry about how you will achieve it, just milk it for all the inspiration that you can.  You will be amazed at what you come up with and you might find your dream was there all along.

The second group is a group I like to call the “Survivors”.  They have been living a life just making it through the next day.  Working, paying bills, taking care of every day necessities without ever really thinking about a thriving life.  They often believe what they are experiencing in life is all there is and when asked what is their dream, they have absolutely no idea.

If you fall into this category never fear, there are plenty of things to do to get your inspiration and dream discovery process going.  Understand that the life you have lived up to now has served you as it needed to, but the fact that you are looking forward toward a thriving, passionate, and wonderfully happy life is a step in the right direction.

Don’t know where to start?  Start where you are.  Look back at where you have been and use it as information for your future.  While you may have been more focused on surviving, chances are you had moments of daydreaming and thinking “if only….happened, I could finally be happy.”  Can you tap into what those things were?  Maybe they weren’t specific dreams, but it will get you moving in the right direction.

If that doesn’t work, try making a list of descriptive words that you want for your future.  Words like abundant, happy, free-flowing, freedom, ease etc. can begin to move you away from the “survivor” mindset into a more peaceful and inspirational state of being.  As your mind ponders the various feelings you want in your future, you may begin seeing specific situations, careers, opportunities that create those feelings.  If so, write them down and don’t discount anything.

You are beginning a journey into the unknown.  A space that you haven’t often ventured into and it may seem foreign at first, but no matter what keep going.  Keep thinking, imagining, visualizing, and feeling what your dream future feels like.  You might also want to do some research about various careers that offer those same feelings.  Maybe you want to look at dream vacations, read inspirational stories, or watch programs of other survivor’s reaching their goals.  You might even find it beneficial to work with a dream (or life) coach to help you through your process.  (Of course I would love to work with you if you are interested in some one-on-one coaching.  If so, please feel free to contact me and we can chat about how I can assist you.)

No matter where you find yourself in the dream discovery phase, the most important thing to remember is to start where you are.  Whether you are taking baby steps or flying leaps to your dreams, you will get there when the time is right for you.  Everyone’s journey is different so don’t feel like you have to be as fast or as slow as someone else.  Enjoy the ride because as you move into the space of your imagination and inspiration there is so much to enjoy!

Dreamer Highlight-Leonie Dawson

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Welcome back to the week dear readers.  I hope you enjoyed your lovely (hopefully long) weekend and that you were able to squeeze in some relaxation amongst the other festivities you had planned.

I have a treat for you for this weeks Dreamer Highlight.  And because she is so incredibly inspiring and there is so much to her story, I decided to highlight just one dreamer this week.

I stumbled upon Leonie Dawson about 3 years ago as I was doing some research into coaching and dreaming.  I can’t tell you how I linked with her site, but I can tell you that it felt like it was meant to be.  Everything from her website to blog posts, to inspirational newsletters spoke to every fiber of my being.  I hope you find her equally inspirational.

Leonie Dawson is a self-proclaimed “self-help author/artist/hippy who has also evolved into an entrepreneur + philanthropist”.  Not only is she living the life of her dreams (at one point living in a tree house), she helps other women from various backgrounds live and create the life and business of their dreams.  She has created a ton of products, workbooks, journals, and other inspirational tools to guide her clients along their individual paths to greatness.  She is a more spiritual coach and really walks her talk by living her soul’s purpose every day.  She shares her life and journey as well as her products and services on her website here.  Read about her life and her dreams on her about page and see how this wonderful dream goddess has come into her calling to help others.

So how did she get to the life of her dreams?  She followed her heart.  She listened to the deep yearning that kept her moving forward and acted on it as long as it felt right to do so.  She also treated each move as an adventure.  Moving from place to place, she did so with a sense of wonder and magic.  Leonie is the perfect example of following your intuition and using inspired action to get to the life of her dreams.  It was by following her heart, her soul, and the passion she had within that got her to the wonderfully abundant business, beautiful family, and the incredible life she lives each day.

Please check out Leonie Dawson’s website and blog.  I guarantee you will feel the magic of her energy just by reading more about her journey.  I encourage you to embrace that magic and use it to propel you forward into your dream life.  Remember, if she can do it, you can do it too!

 

(Note: I did not receive any compensation for this or any dreamer highlight.  These are simply examples of inspirational people living the life of their dreams meant to motivate and inspire you to do the same. )

Dreamer Highlight: Jordana: My Meandering Trail & Michelle Ward

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I am so excited to share two amazing dreamer highlights with you this week.  The first one is a little different from what I normally share, but is equally inspirational.  Enjoy!

When I first began my blog, I stumbled across Jordana from My Meandering Trail as she was in the middle of preparing for her hike up the Appalachian Trail.  I had no idea at the time what a huge achievement that truly was, but I was consistently inspired by her dream.  In case you were wondering the hike is over 2,000 miles and entails many nights spent camping outside, lots of new people, and lots and lots of hiking.  Just the sound of it makes my legs ache, but I was thrilled to follow Jordana as she strategically documented her plans.  She shared her thoughts on picking her gear, food choices, as well as her adventures as she makes her way up the trail.  So, how did she begin this journey of her dreams?  She just decided to do it.  She researched her way through it.  From talking to others that have hiked the trail to spending early mornings in line to get the best and most affordable gear she could, she did it.  And now, she is hiking to her heart’s content and is sharing her journey on her blog.  While hiking and outdoorsy things may not be your cup of tea, rest assured that her journey will enlighten and inspire.  Remember a journey of (in this case) 2,000 miles begins with only one step.

The other dreamer I wanted to highlight here is Michelle Ward the When I Grow Up Coach.  I have mentioned Michelle several times on my blog and it is partially because it was her blog that really got me thinking about becoming a life coach in the first place and also because her story is so great.  You can read more about how she got to be the wonderful coach she is here.

What she did.  She walked away from what she thought was her dream of becoming an actress and stepped into a space of coaching other creatives to the career of their dreams.  Michelle worked in the corporate world and did her time in the 9-5 job for many years before she finally found her thing.  That thing was coaching others to take a leap toward their dreams.  The inspiration doesn’t stop there though.  In addition to becoming what she calls a woman of the world (read woman solopreneur), she has quit her day job, written workbooks, co-authored a wonderful book, and overcome breast cancer.  She is inspiring for far more than just the work she does.  Michell is creative-life-coaching-amazeballs-ukele-playing-cancer-survior with a spirit that is simply amazing.  Please check out her website and her blog for more inspiring information and tidbits.  She truly is an inspiration for women everywhere.

So, there you have it, two incredible women achieving the life they once dreamt and if they can do it, so can you!

Know of someone who is living the life of their dreams and want me to give them a shout out?  Share in the comments below or email me at lserf13@hotmail.com and I would love to include them in this series.

The Importance of Owning Your Dream

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How many of you have had a dream, but you wouldn’t dare share it with anyone else for fear they may laugh or dismiss the possibility of it coming to fruition.  Maybe you have some doubts about making your dream a reality and would just as much forget the whole thing altogether.

Many of us have been there before as we wonder if we can really live the life of our dreams.  We think about it very timidly because we don’t want to get our hopes up too much and be disappointed in the long run, but in order for your dreams to become reality, you have to own them.

Why?

Because by simply setting your intention and focus on that which you desire, you automatically begin flowing energy toward it. 

It is almost like setting a specific goal.  Say you want to run a marathon and it has been something you have thought about for a while, but never really declared to yourself that you would do it.  Instead of beginning your training, this idea is nothing more than a whim that comes and goes without much energy or inspiration behind it.

But, when you say I intend to run a marathon, it becomes more real.  And the more you focus on it, the more you think about it.  The more you think about it, the more inspirational nuggets you find along your journey that will lead you to completing the marathon.

Dreams are the same way.  You have to own them and make them real to yourself.  Instead of saying “I would love to writ a book, eventually…”, declare it.  Set the intention that you will do it.  That doesn’t mean shouting it from the rooftops and sharing your dream with any person that will listen.  That can actually cause your dream to fizzle out before your fire get’s going.  (More on that in a later post.)

Declare your dream.  Visualize it.  Feel it.  See it.  Imagine it.  Feel the amazing delicious energy that stems from it and milk that feeling for as long as it lasts.

Well all have dreams, but if we don’t own up to them, they are nothing more than passing thought that may never come to be.  Take the first step and declare that you will achieve the life of your dreams.  Only you have the power to make that happen, so why not start now?