Dream Career
The following is an exercise I gave to a client of mine recently. She has a “great” job producing television commercials (you have seen her work). Objectively her situation is great. Subjectively she wants to be doing something else. Her heart is not in it. She has other dreams and she has started working with me so that she can pursue them. The problem is that until she quits her advertising job she will have to put an amazing amount of time and energy into producing those TV spots. When in production she works 12 hour days. She is rarely 100% off the clock. Until the time that she makes the Big Leap into her dream job she needs to be very careful to protect her mind, to continue to cultivate her next steps and to keep her sense of hope and possibility alive. In short, she needs to keep dreaming.
What happens if we take that literally? I told her we could make a big impact in less than 5 minutes a day. Here is her exercise:
TAKE BACK YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS
You don't yet have full control over your schedule. This is the situation. No reason to struggle with it. But, in the process of dealing with it, perhaps you have given up too much of your mind. This dream journaling practice is a subversive way of tapping into your subconscious. It is about shifting gears before you go to sleep (if not much sooner). It is about preventing your day job from cannibalizing your dreams....literally. It is also about planting positive seeds in your unconscious that, believe it or not, will sprout later in your waking and dreaming minds. This will also help to develop your intuition (which is already stronger than you trust)
It should take up about 2 minutes of your time. Seriously. If it takes more than 5 you are doing it wrong. (Caveat: If you get inspired and want to journal that is cool with me :)
BEFORE BED: Write “Dream Career” and tomorrows date in your journal. Place the journal next to your bed so you can reach it with as little movement as possible.
1st THING UPON WAKING: Write down the 1st FIVE words that pop into your head.
That's it.
Worried you'll forget? Writing on the top of the page each night sets an intention and starts the process. Place your journal on your pillow every morning after you write in it so you have to pick it up just to go to bed.Do you see what this accomplishes?
Curbs the inertia of your days stresses, most of which stem from a job you want to move away from.
Shifts your mind towards positive thoughts before you go to sleep. You should feel a smile when you write “Dream Career”. This is both a title and a command. Dream about your dream career. You are programming your subconscious. Don't believe me? Try it.
You are stimulating your unconscious mind to focus on something that is not yet real. You are asking yourself to be creative. Ever wake up with a great idea? Inventors do it all the time. Musicians and artists as well. A lot is happening while you are asleep. Why not harness this potential?
Bracketing your nights (and your days) with positive thoughts. This is good sleep hygiene and a great way to start your day.
Having an impact on your waking consciousness. Ever wake up from a bad dream and have a terrible morning? Ever ask your unconscious to dream about the life you want to create and then walk around in the wake of those dreams all day?
No? Why not try it? Let me know how it goes in the comments below.