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Last updated on April 2nd, 2012 at 11:31 am
Dreaming requires transformation.
And transformation is the Rubik’s cube of dreaming – the puzzle you must solve; the skill you must master; the muscle you must strengthen, and the conversion you must execute. Much to our dismay, we must change in order to succeed at dreaming.
If we were ready for our dreams to happen right now — we would be living our dreams right now. This is the painful answer to the dreamer’s puzzle. There is no such thing as the overnight dream success. We must become masters of our craft and rise above whatever is needed to arrive at our cherished outcome. There’s much work to be done.
We must become different than who we are today.
And in order to be different we must do our dream work over and over until we burst through our dream glass ceiling.
Sociologist, Malcolm Gladwell argues that it takes 10,000 hours of determined practice to rise to the top of a craft. He points out in his book, The Tipping Point, those who put in 10,000 hours of practice effectively make their own luck because they work harder than the rest of us, so when opportunity knocks, they are ready.
The rest of us drop out before we reach the coveted 10,000 hour place. When opportunity knocks at the top of the hill, we’re still at the bottom deciding which backpack to take.
What does the 10,000 hours give you? It takes you from being a beginner at whatever you seek and turns you into an expert by the end. Think about how great a public speaker you’d be after you give 10,000 speeches.
Does it really take us 10,000 hours to finally change?
I have some terrible habits that aren’t good for me. I eat bread when I am not suppose to; I drink wine too late at night and suffer heartburn into the wee hours of the morning; I put off dream tasks that need to be completed; and I am terribly hard on myself at times. Some call this vices, or bad habits. I call them dream-delayers.
What if I traded the time spent indulging my shortcomings for something that takes me closer to my dream? Could I comment on more blogs? Maybe finish the Marketing Kit I’ve been working on for two months? Execute the email newsletter that patiently waits to be finished in Mail Chimp? What about the bloggers I need to write and ask if I can guest post? By completing my dream tasks I’d take steps toward my dream while whittling down my 10,000 hours.
But why do I turn away from my dream tasks for a slice of toast with butter, or browse the Internet looking for photos of the places Anthony Bourdain has been lately, while contemplating getting out the cinnamon and sugar and a tall glass of milk?
I didn’t hike this weekend. I didn’t walk around my neighborhood. It is just as easy to surmise that if I spend 10,000 hours indulging my vises instead of my dreams, I’ll be Jabba The Hutt inviting women to blog with me in the year 2020 — with this blog no more a success than it is today.
How do we change?
How do we put in as many hours as we can to get to our sweet 10,000 finish line as quickly as possible? How do we turn away from our shortcomings and turn into the habits that will serve as the foundation to our dreams?
It came to me this weekend as I laid on the floor of my bedroom, with my legs flopped over my mattress at 2:00 in the morning, due to the fact that I’ve discovered this Yoga exercise that takes away the pain in my shoulders from spending too much time sitting at a computer (another vice), and I must simply get out of bed and do this whenever my shoulders bother me at night.
It’s at this point in my 2am ritual that I decide to meditate. I pull the blankets from my bed over my body and relax into the floor. Midway through meditation a voice in my head reminds me that if I did this exercise every day I will be pain free. Catherine – just do this one thing.
One thing.
One moment of self care – no matter how crazy I look to everyone in my household when they discover me storing loudly from the floor with some Indian meditation mantra playing continuously in the background.
I realized that by meditating and taking care of my body at the same time, I feel more energy the next day and a sense of peace guides my actions. I feel like accomplishing one more dream task. It’s just one change – one ritual that helps my day go better. It’s one thing different that breaks up my routine.
Where would our dreams be in 6 months if we just did one thing different?
One thing better. One thing healthier. One promise kept. One move forward. One small change. One meeting attended. One dream started. One phone call. One email. One opened book. One moment of self-care. One.
Then when I consider the slice of toast, I might be inclined to eat just half, or only have the milk ,or decide on a big glass of water instead. One change. Nothing more. In 6 months that small change might make the difference in me writing one more column, emailing an inquiry, submitting a guest post that tips 8 Women Dream into the stratosphere.
Not to mention my butt might shrink.
Instead of beating ourselves up for our vises and making ourselves out to be weak, what if we just look at how we can subtly change the vice? When I haven’t walked, maybe I decide to wake early the next day to stretch . . . maybe I stretch before bed . . . maybe it’s only 2 stretches . . . but it’s change. Just pick one little thing Catherine.
Famous athletes try different training techniques to break up their workouts, along with different ways of eating, and new ways of taking care of their bodies. They try one thing different to fine tune their quest. They understand that one small difference can change the way they feel, then the way they think — and before they know it, their 10,000 hours have passed and their dreams are coming true.
What one thing different can you do this week that will take you closer to completing your 10,000 hours?
Catherine
Catherine’s dream is to be a motivator and published writer. She is testing her theories on motivation with this blog and the seven other women who have volunteered to be a part of her dream project. Catherine also writes about her life as a mom at the blog A Week In The Life Of A Redhead. She would also like to be invited to speak at TED as the next Erma Bombeck. Catherine posts on Monday mornings and fills in when needed.
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Catherine Hughes is the founder, content director and editor-at-large of 8WomenDream. She is passionate about helping women step out of their own way and strike out into a world waiting for their special talents. She’s a published author and a former award-winning mom blogger. Catherine has helped companies both large and small create engaging web content, social media narratives, and unique blogging platforms. She claims to be a redhead, but don’t hold that against her.
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