“100 Dreams? I can barely think of 10 big things that I want, big enough to call them dreams anyway!”

This is a common response to one of the first activities I ask my coaching clients to begin. That’s right, I ask them to make a “Dream Inventory” of at least 100 dreams – a list of all that you want to HAVE, want to DO, want to BECOME.

I give people a lot of help to get them started, but sooner or later my clients are left with themselves and their own ability to conceive their deepest, perhaps God-given, inspirations and desires.  Some go way beyond the 100-mark and keep adding to the list, and marking things off as they achieve them, for the rest of their lives. Others struggle with inspiration. Why is this?

What inspires you? What are your dreams? 

I know two sure sources of inspiration for me. First, I read a lot and am constantly inspired by what I read. Novels, non-fiction, business books, devotionals, scripture, purposefully inspirational stuff…I find inspiration in all these sources. But books and magazines aren’t the only sources.  I find much on Twitter to inspire me, sometimes on Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, even an occasional billboard!

I also find inspiration in my relationships. I need people. I need conversation with people. Not idle “cocktail” conversation but the kind of conversation that peels away masks, day-to-day boundaries, and superficial dribble. I want conversation that causes people’s eye to light up, ideas shared that bring people alive, including me. Conversations that create a safe place to ask dangerous questions of myself and others – this is what brings me alive, inspires me, brings out my best thinking.

I was reading an article called “Provoking Thought” in Ryan S. Fortney’s blog, The Pax Integral, where Ryan asks:

What gets you to write? What inspires you? 

Another shares that her writing “exposed myself for the nut that I really am” and another says he’s in it “for the love of the game” – I love that. Why not dream a little, just for “the love of the game”?

That’s what I want to know; What inspires you? How do you “prime the pump” to get you thinking about the Big Things in life, or at least the momentarily profound? What are your dreams and what are their inspirations?  What takes you to The Intersection of Purpose and Now?

Please, share your stories (better yet, share your dreams!).  Please, use the comments section of this blog – DREAM A LITTLE!

P.S. One of my favorite books to help you “Leave the Land of Ordinary” is Bruce Wilkinson’s The Dream Giver.  
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