Category Archives: Risk

Oh, the Anticipation!

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It has been said that when left with incomplete information, we fill in the blanks with the worst-case scenario.  Human nature seems to lead us down the path of worry.  Anticipation of the unknown can create a host of anxieties.

What are we doing to ourselves?  Looking back, those events we spend so much time worrying about rarely play up to our negative expectations and often never happen at all.  It’s the anticipation of the event that gets our blood pressure to rise, adding stress to already stressful times.

How can we change?  Here are a few things that have worked for me:

  • Look back at similar circumstances and remind yourself that the worst-case scenario very rarely happens. It likely won’t happen this time, either.
  • Walk through the worst-case scenario playing in your head.  How would you react? What would REALLY be the worst that could happen?  See yourself living through it. Learning from it.
  • To counter the above exercise, walk through the best-case scenario.  See how you can shine in a difficult situation.  As you do this, take note of what you need to do to support this happening so that you are best prepared.
  • Find someone to alleviate your fears by reminding you of your knowledge, your expertise, or your preparedness – whatever it is that you have that is going to carry you through this event.
  • Finally, remember what you are doing to yourself.  Sometimes simply remembering that you are worrying about situations that will likely not take place may bring a little peace.

And then, walk through it.  Make the presentation.  Ask for the raise.  Have that difficult conversation with your kid, spouse or parent.  Step into the hot air balloon.  Put on your party dress.  Go.  Shine.

Coaching: Choices

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Have this week’s posts reminded you of a choice you’ve been struggling with? Putting off? Ignoring? Are you ready to put some more thought into making that decision and then, perhaps, going ahead and making it?

Got one in mind? Then let’s move ahead with this week’s mini coaching engagement.

Here we go…

You’ve delayed making a choice this long… what criteria do you need to have met in order to make your final decision? What internal or external obstacles do you have in making this decision?

Have you been waiting for someone else to make choices for you? Are you intentionally giving your power of decision away to them? What benefit are you receiving by passing on this power? Is it well placed?

And here’s a favorite question of mine to consider: If nothing changed from how it is today, what would the future look like? How does answering this question change your perspective on the importance of making this choice? Has it made it more important? Less?

After answering these questions, what will you do next? What will be your first step toward making your decision? How practical would it be to give yourself a deadline to make it? When you meet the above-defined criteria, how quickly will you make your choice after that?

What is clearer to you now? Are you ready?  Choose.

The Gift Of Choice

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Thinking about choices this week and going back to remind myself – and you – of what a gift it is to have choices in front of us.

The Gift of Decision Making Originally posted 7/13/2011

I am, as always, about halfway through reading four different books. I also have several un-read books on my yet-to-read shelf and a reading list at the ready on my nook. So when I knew that this week’s topic was going to be decision making, I finally picked upGet Off the Fence by Rhoda Makoff, Ph.D. and Jeffery Makoff, ESQ. I’m not done (see sentence #1), but I think this one will end up on my list of recommended readings.

At the very onset of the discussion, the Makoffs remind the reader that being able to make big decisions is a gift. It means that we’re alive; that we have choices. These are good things.

When was the last time you felt like a big decision was a good thing? OK, if your last major decision was to get married or have a child, of course it was good. But even those good decisions can leave us agonizing over whether our choices are the right ones.

The Makoffs also share a quote from General Omar N. Bradley who led the D-Day invasion of Normandy that marked the turning point of World War II in Europe. He said, “This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: We are given one life, and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind or whether to act and, in acting, to live.”

Please, go back and read it again. And maybe one more time. The more I read it, the more power his words seem to have.

Will you wait to for circumstances to make up your mind?

Or will you act and, in acting, live?

It is our decisions that define who we are. Letting circumstance or other people make our choices permits those things to shape our lives.

Making your own big decisions is a gift that allows you to have the life you choose.

Coaching: Be Bold

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It’s time to be bold!  Even people with high levels of confidence have areas in their lives where they are less emboldened.  Bring to mind an area where you could be more confident and show more boldness as we go through this week’s coaching exercise.  I encourage you to really think about your answers and write them down.

Here we go….

Where or when would it be helpful to you to be bolder?  Is there an idea you’d like to get across at work?  A relationship where your feelings aren’t being taken into consideration?  An activity you’d like to try but are afraid to do?  Got it?

What first step can you take to move toward boldness?  Remember, you don’t have to be aggressive or brash.  Think confident and assertive instead.  Identify what you can do to lean into your discomfort.  What can you do to begin to remove the fear that’s held you back from being bold?  What will you do?  What will you say?  Who will be there?  How will they react?  Play the scenario out in your head.  Do you feel your confidence building?

Set a goal around this first step.  Include what you will specifically do and by when.  Write it down.  Put it in your calendar if you have to.  If you’re feeling really bold, tell someone else your plan.

Then go do it.  Be bold.

Boldly Be You

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It is best when we can boldly be who we truly are.  Regardless.

How often have you allowed other voices to sway your decision-making?  When we make decisions based on what other people think, we are giving them a lot of power.

In a presentation that I gave recently I asked the participants to write down the names of those who influenced their definition of success.  In the discussion that followed it was mentioned that the people on the list would likely be surprised that they were there.  Wouldn’t you be?

This happens when we don’t hold enough confidence in ourselves.  When we lack the boldness to make our own decisions.  Define our own success.  Make our own way.

I’ve been learning that every decision I make needs to be right for me, and that I don’t have to explain what I do to everyone else.  Sure, there are people that should hold some sway – my husband, for example – but even he can’t fully know what’s best for me.

I must come to that understanding myself and boldly be me.

Boldly be you.

How To Be Bold

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There are times when I am bold.  Others when I am not.  And then there are times when I look bold, but I’m shaking on the inside.

How to get to that place of boldness; that place where our confidence shines through and we know that we’ll be able to perform at our very best?

For me, information is key.  The more I know about a topic, the more emboldened I am.  I’ll find out information about people on LinkedIn.  I’ll read articles on the topics I know will be addressed.  I fill my head with as much knowledge as I can.

Of course, time doesn’t always allow for the collection of information.  What’s the fallback plan?  Here are a few other tricks that have worked for me:

  • Remember what you do know.  If you are presenting or have been asked to join a meeting, it’s usually because of the expertise you bring to the table.  Be confident in what you already know.
  • Remember what you don’t know.  Don’t try to fake something that you don’t have.  Nobody expects that you know everything so when you don’t, say so and offer to find answers later.
  • If you are going to be in the front of the room, remember that almost everyone in the room is happy that they are not in the front of the room.  Audience members usually bring more grace than we realize.  Everyone knows public speaking can be unnerving.
  • Relax.  Can’t?  Start with breathing.  In through the nose for four counts, hold for four counts, out through the mouth for four counts, hold for four counts.  Repeat.  Relax.

Often the bolder you act, the bolder you get.  Even if you have to fake it a little, boldly bring your best.

Pushing Through Fear

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It’s true that in order to learn something about ourselves we oftentimes need to slow down, be quiet, and listen to our thoughts.  That said, sometimes being a part of a hair-raising adventure or achieving a sought-after goal will teach us something as well.  How will we know how far we can go if we don’t take life to the edge from time to time?

Not too long ago I was pretty freaked out by my treadmill.  I would walk on it but I couldn’t imagine running on it at all.  Now I can run on it because I pushed through that fear, first by jogging and then by running in short bursts to prove to myself that I could do it without flying off the back of the machine.  I guess I’d watched too many YouTube videos….

The first time I traveled to Europe I traveled alone, had messed up my reservations, and flew on the first anniversary of the September 11th attacks.  I was tired, a little worried, and expected London to feel like home (it doesn’t) so my nerves were pretty shot.  If I remember right, I think I may have even come home a day early once my work there was done.  It wasn’t a great first experience but I learned that I could do it.  And I knew the next time would be better.

A friend recently shared a picture of her young not-so-daring son with his hands triumphantly in the air as he came to the end of his first rollercoaster ride.  I’m sure he was terrified as he was strapped in, but now he knows that he can do it.  He learned that fear doesn’t have to hold him back.

Maybe you honestly don’t have time to be still, read a book, and be introspective.  Fine.  Instead, figure out what scary thing are you avoiding and then find a way to do it.  You’ll discover something about yourself that way, too.

Not So Fragile

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People are not as fragile as we think they are.  A professor of mine at University of Texas – Dallas reminded us of this often, challenging aspiring coaches to dig deeper with their clients.  She was right.

In an advice column I read over the weekend, a friend had informed the writer that she had chronic bad breath.  Her letter was to ask what to do about her breath, not about how upset she was with her friend.  Quite the opposite, she was happy that someone had enough courage to tell her the truth so that she could do something about it.

The last conversation I had with my coach was about getting a little tougher with one of my clients.  It was then that I reminded myself that he probably isn’t as fragile as I’ve been treating him.  My job is to ask tough questions….

Thinking about tough conversations, my mind goes to all the managers out there who are now in “review season.”  A performance review can be delightful to deliver – or it can be the worst thing ever.  Remembering that the employee is not as fragile as you think they are helps in preparing for what might be a difficult exchange.

Of course, strong as the other person may be, anyone can be brought to tears if a hard message isn’t brought with love and respect.  We’ll talk more about that side of the equation tomorrow.

Does Your Ego Hold You Back?

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How much do you miss out on because your ego gets in the way?  Once again, this blog serves as my confessional as I tell you that there have been times when I’ve not done things because I thought I’d look less than competent.  Protecting my ego with a blanket of fear, I’ve let opportunities for fun, for advancement, and for various challenges pass on by.  Usually I’ve regretted it after the fact.

I’ve posted before about pushing through fear and ambiguity.  At the heart of much of our fear is not the fear of the activity itself, but a sense that our ego will be bruised somehow.

The interesting thing is that when we push through the fear and set our ego to the side, we’re still able to get through the event and often end up having a great experience.

Afraid you’ll look foolish when presenting?  People are usually impressed that you got up in front of a roomful of people and were able to get through it.

Think you’ll look silly trying a new activity during a team-building event?  Everyone looks the same as you and you’ll get to know your coworkers better in the process.

Does the prospect of taking on a new role leave you thinking that it might make you look less competent?  It’s not a promotion if it doesn’t scare you.

On occasion our egos serve us well, giving us the confidence to do things that maybe we wouldn’t otherwise do.  But when it gets in the way of diving into new activities, it’s time to, once again, tell the ego where to go.

Learn more about the services I offer and how we can work together on the Breakthrough Strategies website.

Distracting Opportunities

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Have you ever been distracted by an opportunity?

While catching up with a fellow coach recently, she shared with me an opportunity that had come to her and her son’s company.  She stated all the reasons it seemed like a good thing to do but, it turned out, the positives disappeared when they looked at the bottom line.

Everything that presents itself as an opportunity may not be an opportunity for you.  And when it isn’t an opportunity, it’s a distraction.

These opportunities come to us all dressed up and looking good.  They feed our egos, get us dreaming a little, and – if it’s not a true opportunity – can move us away from our mission.

Unfortunately, these so-called opportunities aren’t easy to identify when they first come our way.   A few things to watch out for:

  • An exclusive “deal” – Our egos are stroked when we are told that someone wants to work only with us or has come to us first.  This doesn’t mean it’s a good deal or a good fit.  Check your ego at the door and analyze the situation objectively.
  • Offers or suggestions to do something you already decided not to do.  Again, it’s flattering to be asked and to have your value recognized; however, you decided against it before.   What’s changed?
  • Any request to do something that leads you away from your primary goals and long-term vision.  Opportunities that are almost a fit cause us to stray from the path we have defined for ourselves and take our eyes away from what it is that we should truly be striving toward.

At the end of our conversation, we both realized that there were plenty of so-called opportunities that had distracted us and burned valuable time and energy.  I’m living, learning, and hoping that less and less time will be spent on pseudo opportunities that pump up my ego and more time will be spent on those real opportunities that will get me to the goals I want to achieve.

Preparation vs Courage

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When I left my corporate gig several months ago, I heard over and over how courageous I was.  As reflected in a post from May 23, 2011, I wasn’t feeling courageous at all. I was prepared.

Courageous Preparation

Well there, I’ve done it. I’m out here on my own and I am, evidently, courageous.

Funny thing is, I’m not feeling all that courageous. I feel peaceful. Happy. Excited. Ready.

And, being as I am, I had to think about the juxtaposition of that. Why are so many people telling me I’m brave when I feel differently? Granted, I don’t feel cautious or worried. But I don’t feel particularly courageous, either.

Let’s, for a moment, think about courageous acts. Soldiers are courageous when they go into battle. Skydivers and bungee jumpers are pretty brave. People who go on missionary trips, they seem courageous to me. So do mountain climbers and firefighters. What do they have in common?

They prepare.

There are heroic instances of instant, on-command bravery that happen every day. Someone wrestles a gun out of a thief’s hand during a burglary. A bystander pulls someone from a wrecked car before it explodes. A child calls 911 as his parent lies helpless on the floor.

And then there is planned-for courage. Much of the world looks at this kind of courage and thinks, “that’s a little crazy.” For the person planning to be courageous, it doesn’t feel that way at all.

Take a skydiver as an example. According to www.skydiving.com, before a solo dive takes place the would-be jumper goes through five hours of training followed by seven jumps. Three to four of these jumps are with two instructors and the remaining jumps are with one instructor. By the time the skydiver jumps solo, do you think she feels brave? Perhaps.

I bet more than brave she feels happy, excited and ready. Maybe even peaceful.

So I’m not all that courageous. I’ve simply prepared to make a proverbial jump.

I’m ready. What are you preparing for?

I want to be YOUR coach! Learn more about how we can work together on the Breakthrough Strategies website.

Fix Your Eyes On The Horizon

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When we find out what it is we want, then we are able to look ahead at the path to travel there.  Only then can we see our destination….

See Your Destination

It’s heartbreaking to see a friend who feels stuck in his circumstance.  Actually, if the person feels stuck there, it’s likely true that he is stuck.  One has to see the way out in order to get out, after all.

That’s what happens when all we can see is the chaos, disappointment and fear around us.  Getting out requires us to lift up our heads and see a better place down the road.  It requires us to see a new destination.  It requires us to ignore what is going on around us to move toward that new and better place.

And that, Dear Reader, is more easily said than done.

It’s easier to stay in a hated job than to update a resume.

It’s less frightening to stay committed to a spouse lost to addiction than to venture out into the world, alone.

It’s more comfortable to stay unemployed than to go back to school.

It’s less demanding to take pills for high blood pressure, high cholesterol or back pain than to commit to a workout plan.

However, if you can feel the happiness of working in the right job, believe you have the power to take care of yourself, realize the control you have to determine your health or understand what a new degree could do for your life, then the statements above cease to be true.

The current circumstance doesn’t change, does it?  The destination does.  If we believe we are destined to live the life we have today, then today is what we will have for many todays to come.  On the other hand, if we lift up our heads and look to the horizon a new destination might be revealed.

Moving toward a destination turns the current circumstance into a part of the journey, not somewhere we are destined to live.

Fix your eyes on the horizon.

Visit the Breakthrough Strategies website!

Coaching: Luck

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Are you ready to be a little luckier?  See more serendipity?  Take advantage of chance?  As the Roman dramatist, philosopher, and politician Seneca said: Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.  Today we’ll think about how we can better prepare to be lucky.

Here we go….

How have you been “lucky” in the past?  What would the outcome have been if you hadn’t been prepared to grab your good fortune?  How did your choices make the difference?  What can you learn from that experience?

When you look at your goals, what kind of luck do you need to achieve them?  Is there a certain person you should meet?  A place you should visit?  An experience you need to have?  How can you prepare for the opportunity before it presents itself so you’re ready when it comes?  What is the possibility of moving yourself into Luck’s path sooner versus later?

How do you respond to events that happen to you?  Are they problems or opportunities?  What if you shifted negative thoughts instead to curiosity, persistence, flexibility, optimism and risk-taking?  How would that change things for you?

Are you open to being lucky?

Yes, I’m a coach ~ and I’m also a keynote speaker, retreat planner and business consultant as well.  Learn more about the services I offer by navigating to my company website, Breakthrough Strategies.

Being Open To Being Lucky

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The articles, theories and studies that center on cultivating luck or taking advantage of happenstance all have “flexibility” and “openness” as necessary behaviors needed to take advantage of chance.  And while there are other traits listed, in my experience being open and flexible is more important than others.

How so?

When we’re not open to change or inflexible when it comes an outcome, we’re unable to recognize when something has happened that could be to our advantage.  When that happens, we are (obviously) unable to take advantage of it and luck floats on by without our knowledge that there was something that could have been grabbed onto to change the outcome.

Being open to new experiences, events, and people is exactly what brings “luck” to us.

Isn’t it lucky that you knew the person who hooked you up with the hiring manager for your last job?

Isn’t it lucky that you were able to arrange your schedule to go to an important meeting on behalf of your boss?

Isn’t it lucky that you were able to take advantage of those free tickets when everyone else was busy?

Adjusting schedules, being open to meeting new people, and figuring out how we can be flexible to make things happen can make our lives seem pretty lucky.

Turns out, luck is what we make of what happens to us.  We simply need to be open and flexible when it comes our way.

Visit the Breakthrough Strategies website!

Your Response Can Change Your World

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Events happen every day that could change the course of our lives.  These events can be good, bad or neutral – and our reaction to them can be good, bad or neutral.  Essentially the very same experience can create profoundly different consequences for various people as well.

A job loss can be the best thing that happens to one person and yet seemingly the worst thing to someone else.

An introduction to a particular person can be a single, non-event to somebody and life changing to another individual.

A college job can be “just a paycheck” to one student and the beginning of a life-long career to his or her co-worker.

How we respond to events creates our future, explained in part with Dr. John Krumboltz’s Happenstance Learning Theory.  This theory states that if we are to respond positively to happenings in our lives, we need to answer with the following:

  • Curiosity
  • Persistence
  • Flexibility
  • Optimism
  • Risk Taking

In thinking about a job loss, for example, approaching the future with curiosity, persistence, flexibility, optimism and risk taking is bound to bring more positive results than wallowing in apathy, feebleness, rigidity, pessimism and hesitancy.

Our perspective and attitude can impact so much.

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Missed Expectations

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We’ve all had that moment of realization when we know that we’re going to miss meeting someone’s expectations.  Whether it’s our boss, our boss’s boss, our kids, our spouse or our parents, it feels the same.  That sinking feeling rolls into our stomach.  Our tummy takes a little turn and we feel a little like throwing up.  Palms sweat.  Breathing becomes short or stops altogether.  Panic sets in.

What’s the next action?  What seems to come next for many is to avoid the issue.  Evade the soon-to-be disappointed person at all costs while several desperate attempts are made to try to figure out a way to meet the expectation.  Hope against hope that a miracle will take place and all will be well soon.

Mostly we end up just delaying the inevitable, don’t we?

So what’s the right course of action?  In the course I teach we read Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and among the suggested self-awareness strategies is “Lean into Your Discomfort.”  A good time to perfect this skill is when we’re about to miss expectations.

I get it.  It’s uncomfortable.  However, it’s not nearly as uncomfortable as it will be when the affected party finally discovers the miss and then asks the inevitable question, “How long did you know…?”  Better to confess now, regardless of how awful the outcome might seem.

If done in the right way and particularly if events beyond our control have played into the situation, chances are you’ll find an understanding person on the other side of the conversation.  Assume you’ll be met with disappointment but don’t be surprised when you experience grace.

After all, we’ve all had that moment, haven’t we?

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Share Your Talents

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I’ve been busy reading the latest edition of Esquire cover-to-cover (I would subscribe even if there weren’t any men in my household) and a few days ago I read the article about Chuck Berry.  Yes, he’s still alive and playing at a local bar once a month.  Playing all the favorites – Maybellene, Roll Over Beethoven, Johnny B. Goode, Memphis, Tennessee.  What he’s not playing is anything he’s written and recorded in recent years.

“You know, your ears record,” he says. “You might can sing a song once you hear it. You’re selling what you heard.”

The article goes on to point out how Berry’s music shows up everywhere in rock and roll.  Instead of seeing this as the honor it is, as the amazing contribution it has been to an entire genre of music, Berry sees what others have taken from him.  And so instead of continuing that influence and entrusting the world with his music, he’s socked it away to emerge on the inevitable tribute album to come after his death.

I’ve worked with people like this before.  Brilliant developers who wouldn’t document their work because they thought it would make their place in the company more secure.  Managers who wouldn’t share information with their teams in fear that one of them might take their job.  Or they would try to do everything, never delegating, for the same reason.

It reminds me of the parable of the talents where the worker with just one talent hid his away and ultimately lost that one, too.  And the person with many?  He used them all and was given even more.

The lesson in this is that we need to trust those around us with the gifts we give of ourselves.  From time to time we may regret having done that, but overall the people around us benefit when we trust them enough to share all our talents with them.

And we benefit from it, too.

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Trusting Others With Our True Selves

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Allowing ourselves to trust others with our true selves results in relationships with real meaning.  If we don’t, then what others see isn’t a true picture of who we are, as I wrote about last February in this post – The Courage to Talk Straight.

The Courage To Talk Straight

Taking risks and making big decisions go hand-in-hand, right? Lately I’ve been rethinking that. You might look at the career decisions I’ve made and think I have little aversion to risk. But that’s simply not true; or at least not in every instance.

What might look like smaller, less challenging issues actually get to me more than contemplating those bold choices. In Stephen M.R. Covey’s book The Speed of Trust, he describes people who build high-trust relationships with others as having the ability to “talk straight.” You know… they tell the truth, they’re honest, that sort of thing. I do those things – it’s the next thing that gets me: they let people know where they stand. Oooof! That one can be hard for me.

My intention is not to be dishonest, to act without integrity, or to distort facts. However, I will quietly keep my mouth shut when topics turn to a subject where I disagree with the majority in the conversation. I imagine this goes back to a history where my unfiltered statements hurt others and damaged relationships. The pendulum has swung to the other side where I’d rather have you guess where I stand, maybe even assume I agree with you, just so I won’t hurt our friendship in the long run.

Sounds like that is a reasonable survival tactic, doesn’t it? Well, no. In doing this, I’ve found I keep others from knowing me and leave people with a false – or at least ambiguous – impression of who I am. Letting people know me feels risky. Way riskier than changing jobs, going back to school, or getting married at 19.

And so I am beginning to let go of my protective barrier, bit by bit, conversation by conversation. According to Covey, my lack of courage is an integrity issue (ouch!) and having it described that way motivates me to flex my courage muscle. Now I’m taking little, daily risks to let people know the real me.

I hope they continue to like what they see.

Trust Yourself

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This week’s topic – trust – is so big I’m not quite sure where to start.  Last week a friend suggested trust as a topic and as she said it, I couldn’t believe we hadn’t spent time on it here.  OK, a little.  But not much.

Which is astounding, really, given how important trust is.  In business, in our relationships, in just about any interaction we have with another human being, how much trust we bring and give has an amazing impact.  We need trust.  We need to trust others.  And we need to trust ourselves.

Perhaps that’s the place to start: ourselves.  If we don’t trust ourselves I’m pretty sure we won’t be able to trust others.  It just makes sense.  So what does trusting yourself mean?   I think it comes down to two things.  Do you trust that you’ll make good decisions for yourself?  And do you listen to your gut?

When I first started my own business it was difficult for me to make decisions on my own.  Having not been in business before, I didn’t really trust that I’d do it right if I didn’t have input from others.  I’m pretty sure I made my husband a little crazy with my constant questions about what business card design I should choose or whether I should get one software program versus another.  After a few months I realized that the business is MINE and so I’m the one that needs to call the shots, take the risk and trust myself enough to make the call.

Which ties into trusting my gut.  Of course, to trust ourselves we must first take time to draw on our knowledge and instinct.  Moving too fast can result in untold misery as our gut checks in after the decision has been made – and makes us feel a little sick.  Science is just beginning to pay attention to what they call the gut’s “second brain” as the link between our heads and our stomachs has been found to be more than just hunches and intuition.  That “gut feeling” you have about something, it may just be your second brain trying to tell you something.

What it comes down to is that we need to be brave.  When deciding to do something, we need to move through our fears and trust that we have the ability to move forward confidently in the direction we’ve decided to take.  Conversely, when we decide to not do something, we need to trust our misgivings and believe that another opportunity will present itself even though we have to let this one pass us by.

Ultimately, you know what’s best for you more than anyone else.  Trust yourself.

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Dangerous Dreamers Revisited

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To reach our full potential we must see where we could go.  Must first realize the possibilities.  We must have a dream to pursue.  With that, I share again a post published on March 10, 2011.  Go ahead, dream dangerously!

Dangerous Dreamers

Today I intended to discuss how dreaming can go too far; how someone can end up with their head way up in the clouds without any grounding in reality.

Do you know anyone like that? I had to think long and hard and came up with maybe one, and that one is arguable (maybe he can achieve his big dreams!). I’m guessing that perhaps it’s the same for you, so talking about overdoing dreaming doesn’t seem like it’d be time well spent.

Take it to the edge! See if you can get so passionate about your dream that people start to wonder if maybe you’ve gone a little overboard. Dream dangerously.

Way back when Microsoft Fargo used to be Great Plains Software and Doug Burgum was still at the helm, Doug would challenge us to be dangerous dreamers and he’d share this quote from T.E. Lawrence:

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

Dangerous meaning, of course, that these dreamers will disturb the status quo. Wreak havoc with mainstream thinking. Tear down the walls. Upset the apple cart. Change the world.

As you dream, never worry about taking it too far. Worry more that you might not take it far enough, taking the path of least resistance. With your eyes wide open, be a dangerous dreamer.