Don't Dream Big. Dream Many Small Dreams. Here's Why

Earlier this week, I had a friend from church email me. She was curious about my publication plans and was asking how she could help. (Huzzah!) Along the way, she told me to "dream big."

It's not like I haven't heard the phrase before.

Still wanted to singe it black like a marshmallow in fire, even so.

Big visions are filled with smaller dreams

If you follow my work, you know I consider myself to be a visionary. It's easy for me to get lost in idealistic imaginations. I'm one of those people who will fight and hope for utopia despite my cognitive understanding we'll never quite get there, simply because the notion of the alternative disrupts my sense of justice and beauty.

So, yes. I've dreamed big. Many times. I made vision boards and easily imagined the life I wanted.

The problem with visions, though, is they don't happen all at once.

They happen by seeing and accomplishing a dozen or even hundreds of small visions every day.

This all came to the fore for me as I've been preparing to launch a new devotional as a product of my podcast, Faithful on the Clock. I had no problem thinking and getting excited about selling the book.

But the small dreams, the steps like shooting the cover image? Working on Amazon KDP? Sending invitations to people I wanted on my launch team?

I couldn't picture myself doing and finishing those things, at least not easily. Everything was nebulous. As a consequence, the only thing I felt about them was anxiety, because my brain couldn't anticipate and get comfortable with crossing each of the finish lines that would be necessary.

You have to feel as much as you know

I point this out specifically because gurus will tell you over and over that the secret to success is breaking up the larger goal you have into smaller tasks. I, however, posit that

simply identifying or breaking down the points of the journey are not enough to achieve a larger goal. You also have to have pictured yourself walking through each of those smaller steps in the same way you imagine the big finish line, or your brain will not establish the anticipatory familiarity with those steps that allows you to feel confident, stay motivated, and move forward.

For most of my career, I've heard successful people advise others to keep their eye on the prize. We're supposed to be laser focused on that final finish line we want to cross, the big dream.

But perhaps that causes some of us to stumble. Because we do not take the time to watch ourselves walk the entire walk from start to finish, it can be hard to feel like it's safe to act. We become paralyzed, not because we don't cognitively know what to do, but because we don't have a positive emotional sense of connection to the tasks.

Importantly (and counterintuitively), we cannot get this positive emotional sense of connection the necessary tasks unless we intentionally imagine difficult scenarios around the tasks as much as we imagine ideal ones. To be truly confident, we have to consider problems that could come up and imagine ourselves conquering those issues. By imagining yourself handling the rough stuff, you'll be able to keep your cool and stay on track if the rough stuff becomes reality. The key is to understand there are only so many contingency plans you will have time to make. Identify the problems that are the most likely to be a thorn in your side, mentally work through them, and then physically get going.

Dream small things, over and over

I'm about as visionary as they come. If you want to put me in a bad mood and face a lecture on small-mindedness, just tell me something isn't possible. I'll happily pop popcorn and spend the entire evening passionately trying to rip apart the logic behind your "can't." That's what happens when, as you grow up, you're forced to eliminate "can't" from your vocabulary as a matter of survival. You end up a little stubborn.

Yet, I'm still learning what it takes to turn visions into real life. I've seen and felt what happens when I am more careful to slow down and picture myself conquering every point that's necessary. Because of that experience, I can't help but think now that the "eye on the prize" advice I hear at every turn is wildly unpragmatic, keeping you from the extreme emotional clarity and in-the-moment, flexible responsiveness you'll need to proceed through your entire journey.

The real way to win is by dreaming, over and over again, many small things that, when linked together, construct a larger and more beautiful whole. The more you go beyond simple identification of steps and truly picture yourself doing each task, the more profoundly sure you'll be about your ability to manifest what otherwise seems too big to happen.

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