Change is the Only Constant when Daring to Dream Big

Last updated on March 18th, 2023 at 09:28 pm

Dreamers’ biggest problem is the belief that their dream will turn out exactly like it’s pictured in their minds.

Nothing could be further from the truth. One of Steve Jobs’s early computers was the Lisa. Have you heard of it? It was named after his daughter. No? Well, Mr. jobs spent millions of dollars in development for this device that ultimately failed to gain any broad appeal in the computer market.

If he had stuck with the Lisa idea–determined that his vision for Lisa was precisely how his dream would be, we might not have ever known Apple products as we do. Jobs’ absolute dream was to create a personal computer that was easy for people to use. He didn’t get stuck holding on to only one way to make his dream a reality.

Your dream will change dramatically before you’re done.  It will end up looking nothing like what you have envisioned by the time you achieve success. Dreams require that you be as flexible as Gumby-the-toy while you are working through your dream process.

You might start out as a watercolor painter only to evolve into an oil painter, then go from painting landscapes to people before your painting dream sees the success you seek. It could take 30 years before the world appreciates your work. It’s hard to say how your dream journey will unfold because successful dreaming requires stretching and growing.

You must change from who you are today.

I first began blogging on a little-remembered platform called AOL Journals. No one really understood what blogging was back then, but I liked the idea that I could write, hit publish and share my thoughts with the world, even if the “world” I was writing for was my mother and a few good friends.

Before long, I migrated to Blogger and then eventually to my own hosting, website, and blogging platform. All I knew was that I wanted to be a part of the online conversation and make people laugh at parenting.

I had to blog.

My blogging style changed, and I decided to start 8 Women Dream to teach women that they could share their dreams online, and if they stuck with it, they could make their dreams come true.  At first, we were a local group of women meeting once a month; then, as the Internet exploded, it became apparent that we could help more women if we regularly shared our dream journey online.

8 Women Dream changed from focusing on ourselves to how our stories could help other women (and men) worldwide be brave enough to take a dream risk for themselves.

I wouldn’t be here today if I weren’t willing to change and grow with this dream of mine. Technology is constantly evolving and changing the world as we know it. Learning to ride the wave of change kept me in the game.  It also enabled me to change how I made a living.

Consider what this website would look like if I left it at 1990 standards. No one with a mobile device could read it, and all of you would probably make fun of us.  Change is a natural part of the dream equation.

The 8 Women Dream website started with the idea that women could buy their own glass slippers rather than wait for a man to bring them to them. It’s not a feminist agenda – just the idea that we make better partners, friends, providers, and people when we are learning to fish ourselves.

Some of the things you try will work perfectly, while your other efforts will fall flat–just like Steve Jobs’ Lisa computer. Some of what you do may resonate with people; other times, it won’t. People will love you, and people will hate you. Your family may think you are out of your mind.

But you must carry on and continue to expand.

Change is the only constant when you dare to try your hand at dreaming big.

It’s easy to quit your dream when everything about dreaming big requires that you change and grow. So many of us are resistant to change. Change is scary, so we want everything to stay the same–even when it might not suit us. We want our children to stay young and those we love to live forever. Life doesn’t work that way.  Going after your dreams pushes this fact up in your face.

You have to adjust and change, or your dream will die.

Photographer and entrepreneur Heather Montgomery came to dreaming by way of wanting to sell the beautiful jewelry she once created. She did sell quite a bit of it before deciding that the jewelry business didn’t appeal to her as a dream anymore. The idea of growing her jewelry line and changing her life into what it needed to become was beyond what she wanted to do then, which sent her into a bit of a dream-identity crisis.

She looked at selling products online, and everything she tried didn’t resonate with her soul.  It wasn’t until she approached becoming an empty nester that Heather decided to get healthy and fit. After losing 100 pounds, her real dream sort of fell into her lap.

If Heather had resisted change, she wouldn’t be where she is today — coaching other women to take control of their health and fitness and showing them it’s possible after age 40.

Author, Life coach, and public speaker Lisa Powell Graham started her dream journey wanting to write and publish a book.  She succeeded in the book writing part only to get stuck at the editing before publishing.  There the book dream stayed.  Lisa had to begin a new dream journey and search for what it is that she wants most from life.  The journey has taken her down a road where she now owns commercial real estate property.

Artist and photographer Iman Woods moved across several states to recreate a new version of her dream.  South African motivational speaker Sue Faith Levy left her family and life-long friends to move in with her husband and start a new life. World travel writer Natasha vonGeldern left Australia for the UK and watched her daughter begin school. Keynote speaker Kelly Swanson has steadfastly stayed a speaker, but her dream requires that she spend a great deal of time on the road.

Oprah Winfrey first began her career as a talk show host on AM Chicago until she was offered a syndication deal for The Oprah Winfrey Show. In 1986 it was a standard format for talk show hosts to spend most of the show handing the mic to the audience for questions instead of sitting in a chair interviewing guests for the hour. At the time, Phil Donahue was the reigning king of this format.

But Oprah didn’t stay with this tried-and-true framework for talk show success; instead, she moved to sitting in the chair and conducting the interviews herself. Sometimes she would allow audience participation, but she no longer ran up and down steps letting the audience ask the questions.

Oprah’s dream was to have a platform that she could use for a purpose greater than herself.  Keeping that dream in mind, she could roll with the changes to create the life she dreamed of.

Deepak Chopra began his career as the chief of medicine at New England Memorial Hospital (now called the Boston Regional Medical Center). After meeting with transcendental mediation guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Chopra quit his New England Memorial Hospital job and started Maharishi Ayur-Veda Products International. This company specialized in alternative products, like herbal teas and oils. (Source: biography.com)

Thus the whole-body healing Deepak Chopra we know today was born. His dream was to help people find balance and healing. He didn’t stay stuck on the idea that he had to work in a hospital to fulfill his dream.

Both Oprah and Deepak allowed their dream journey to determine how their dreams would manifest. They were both willing to change and take big risks, secure in the belief that the outcome would somehow deliver the dream.

They were open to change.

Your own dream journey will require that you grow.  You will become more than the person you are today. Dreaming successfully requires being open to constant change and being willing to adapt–beyond the decision never to give up.

It’s in the change process that you become your dream. You have but one precious life. Your dream is worth being comfortable with change.