Dream Without Fences

Carol Beebe is a certified life coach, an educator, and a successful business coach.

Standing at the lake’s edge with water lapping over my toes, I anxiously waited for the race gun to go off. Many miles of training had gotten me to this moment. For the past eight months, I had battled through biking and running in all types of weather as well as shivering in early spring lake water to be ready to stand here, shoulder-to-shoulder with twenty-five hundred other anxious souls. I felt confident knowing that I had trained my body physically to accomplish my race goal. Yet, my deeper confidence came from battling the barriers I had in my mind that could have kept me from this dream. Did you know that, the biggest barriers you and I face are often the ones inside our head? We create fences (barriers) that can block our progress towards a dream. Our fences are often decorated with words and thoughts (let’s call it, dream squashing graffiti) like; fear of rejection, fear of failure, lack of self-confidence, insecurity… Am I smart enough? Am I too young? Am I too old? Words and thoughts that roam around in our heads, keeping our feet firmly stuck at the water’s edge.

All of us can have self-imposed fences that keep us from stepping towards our dream. The bigger your dream, the taller the fence! How do you erase the dream squashing graffiti on your fences and replace them with a dream reaching mural? Become aware of your dream squashing graffiti. Spend quiet time reflecting on what is holding you back from stepping into your dream. Is it a fear of something? Insecurity? Past regrets? Ask God to help reveal the words to you. Write your dream squashing words down. Say them out loud. Make visible the words and thoughts that create barriers for you. Awareness of your mind’s fences is the first step towards breaking them down.

Then…Dream without Fences.

Now that you aware of your self-imposed fences, dream without fences. Brainstorm around your dream, write it down. Concentrate on the “What” of your dream, you can figure out the “How” later. Some of your dream squashing graffiti may try to sabotage your process, after all they have been roaming around in your head for quite a while! When they do, call them out, “That’s just my fear of rejection…Ignore” or, “Look at my insecurity trying to sabotage my dream…Ignore” Replace the sabotage with your dream reaching mural, “I’m so excited! I’m confident! I’ve got this!”

Then… Take a small step.

It’s time to put your toes in the water! Take one small step towards your dream. Make this first step easy and comfortable. Make one phone call, do a bit of research, share your dream with a person you trust. Do easy steps first to create momentum towards your dream. You will create confidence knowing that you are already walking on the path towards your dream.

Identify your fences, dream without barriers and take a small step or two into the water and…DREAM ON!