“Just about the time I think I’ve settled into my current job…and my life … these crazy thoughts and dreams about what I’d love to do pop up again. I don’t understand why I can’t just settle in and be content?”
My client had done extensive work in resurrecting her Champion within. Yet I understood her struggle.
You see, our Champion within will never just let us just ‘settle’. Our Champion self will never ‘settle’ for the ordinary or ‘settle’ for less than our very best or ‘settle’ when we know in our ‘know-er’ we were created for more!
I responded, “You might know by now, but your Champion self will never allow you to settle or keep your purposes and missions stifled or stuffed.”
One of the reasons I love helping people break through the layers of shame, pain, past mistakes, trauma to resurrect that ‘wonder/awe’ part of them is because when they do, they become world changers.
They may be destined to change their own smaller part of the world, but deep within every single one of the untold thousands I’ve worked with, is the same kind of nudging and prodding of their uniqueness calling to them. It’s their invitation to the best in life … becoming their greatness.
That would influence.
That would make the difference.
In themselves.
In others.
In their world.
I find everyone’s story life giving and inspiring. Though I’ve counseled thousands of times in the roles of doctor/therapist, life coach, or mentor it never becomes routine for me.
I bet you’ve had that same feeling before. That you’d like to do something great. That there’s something in you longing to burst forth and…although you resist, that heart tug always comes back calling to you … in spades!
All of us have it. Some are successful at drowning it in addiction, at least for a period of time. Some people take a ride down the river called “Denial”
…and label it as something frivolous.
Yet it persists.
Yet it calls us.
Then it awakens us.
“That’s exactly what’s happening!” My client replied. “But how do I know if it’s just some crazy thing I’m thinking of, or really substantial and something I should actually reach for?”
As this amazing young woman shared her deepest thoughts and fears, I loved seeing those aha moments come to life on her face, as we together, discovered them. Which leads me to share this with you.
This young lady could afford to seek professional help, but some cannot. But we all can have those friends, that safe community (but choose wisely and carefully) where our gifts and callings find their own unique affirming aha moments! Put this on your “must do” list. That you’ll need that friend or those friends to help you discover every aha moment needed for you. To confirm every next step of every pursuit in your heart!
I loved her questions, and I told her there were 3 things that I thought marked a cause or a dream coming from the Champion within.
I wanted to share those with you with this week, to encourage you to rise to the challenge of you dream(s) … if they fit these criteria!
1. They keep coming back to you.
As I shared this criterion that I believe is part of the dream of a Champion, she appeared quite excited!
“So, I’m not crazy,” she proclaimed!
We both had a good laugh and she continued.
“I’ve wanted to do this audacious thing…so many times. It pops up. I get excited. I talk myself out of it. I put it away. Then, I have no other way to describe it. Just like a jack in the box…it pops up out of nowhere and stuns me. And sometimes it drains me.”
With a big smile, I responded, “Exactly! When it’s just a ‘crazy’ thought, it goes away and never returns. But a true dream, a true purpose, a true cause from your Champion…always returns. Often when least expected!”
Let’s list what crazy is NOT…
- When we seek great counsel and aha moments.
- When we calculate the risks of doing or not doing.
- When we learn to adapt by trial and error and to not freak out.
- When our plan of action remains from A to B and stays on repeat.
- When determination equals the next right thing.
- When the pursuit is our success and happiness.
Let’s list what crazy IS…
- NONE of the above!
What about you? Whether it’s a new lifestyle, a new business, creating a fabulous campaign, or chasing a health goal…if it means something to you … then it is worthy.
If it keeps coming back, it’s your Champion calling to you.
What are you waiting for? Take massive immediate action toward it today.
2. They are bigger than you are.
“You mean to tell me that, THAT is validation? That it is a real dream coming from the Champion in me? I thought the fact that it’s bigger than I am was what disqualified it,” my client responded!
“You might be surprised how many people I’ve worked with that thought for sure…that if it was bigger than they were…they’d crossed that fine line from pursuing a dream to living delusionally,” I said with a laugh.
One of the reasons that Champions dream dreams that’re bigger than they are…is they know it will require growth from them in every single area of their lives. And growth is what it’s all about. Always growing is the foundation of an abundant life.
Let’s decide what the abundant life IS…
- Having relationships that grow your heart life.
- Enjoying happiness that comes from connections and efforts.
- Balance that means not too much or too little of anything, and it moves us forward.
- Always living in the present.
- Receiving daily bread as more than enough.
- Experiencin gratefulness as a lifestyle.
What the abundant life is NOT…
- None of the above.
I love what John Maxwell says about growth:
“I have seen firsthand how effectively a life committed to continual personal growth produces results beyond our wildest imaginings. I encourage people to pursue a lifetime of growth not just because it’ll make them better, or open new doors, I encourage people to grow because growth increases hope.”
So, when your dreams are bigger than you are, rejoice! As John Maxwell says, you’re about to produce results beyond your wildest imaginings!
What are you waiting for? If it’s bigger than you are… It’s time to go for it!
3. You know they would make a difference.
“I desperately want to make a difference. I’m not sure that my idea of helping young women start their own businesses will accomplish that or not, but I would certainly like to find out!”
She was beaming, and I could feel the warmth in my heart. It was all the evidence that I needed to know to assure her this dream was indeed from her Champion.
I’m reminded what Jesus said about living like a Champion, “If you give your life away, you’ll find your life.”
He never mentions how, where, when, or who. He simply said, when you live this simple, selfless way, that intention alone has the power to direct you and give a life that you’re dreaming of. AND … He was all about … the abundant Champion-style life!
So, don’t let the craziness of your dreams stop you. Let it be the wind in your sails.
Years ago, I was summitting Mount Kilimanjaro, conducting some research. The captain of our team, Michael Gorton, one of my dearest friends, was talking about a dream he had on our trek. Long before zoom, long before Covid, he was dreaming of setting up a system where people could do virtual appointments with her their doctor.
It took years, much lobbying, and disruptive thinking…But out of that dream …Teladoc was born. It has made a difference around the globe.
What really changes the world? Ideas change the world! They’re given to normal folks like you/me/we that see a possibility.
Jeoffrey, my editor and partner in crime, shared this story with me, and I had to include it!
“Many years ago, I spent a week with a dear friend in services in Tulsa. A man from the church was friends with my buddy who spoke that week. This joyous, eccentric man from church, invited us to his home to show us his newest mission project. In short, this guy was building, all by himself, an ocean-going vessel…IN HIS 8’ CEDAR FENCED BACKYARD…that was blocks from downtown Tulsa!”
Jeoffrey…thought WHAT…this is crazy!?
“As I walked the 2 x12 wood plank from his back porch onto the deck of the nearly finished 40’ boat (are you ready? …it had a concrete hull) I was dumbfounded. I asked, knowing he had to be… ‘Are you an engineer? Or a… Craftsman of ship works?’ He said, ‘No I learned how to build this from shipbuilding books I checked out of the public library. That’s how I learned the cheapest material for the hull would be steel reinforced concrete’.”
Jeoffrey had to ask… Why?
“He said to me, ‘I know it sounds crazy but after I learned the fastest way to get medical supplies to our mission in Central America, was by boat and we couldn’t afford the costs of shipping, I felt like I was supposed to build one. So now I’m just waiting for the 2 Diesel engines to arrive. Once I have them in and running…she’s ready to launch’. Oh yeah and he paid for all of this!”
Jeoffrey had to ask one more thing … how are you going to get it out of your backyard? It’s not even on a trailer?”
“As soon as God gives me the funds for the crane I’ll need. Because of the weight of the concrete and steel construction, I’ll have to hire the largest crane within 500 miles of here, to lift it out my yard and load it on the trailer for our christening launch in Houston.”
Jeoffrey concluded.
“In the eyes of some he stayed crazy, until his ‘backyard boat’ hit the open seas, and children being treated at their mission received the lifesaving medicines they needed. Yes, in record time and at a fraction of the shipping costs … and they still do it!”
Champions think in possibility. They’re willing to dare the open seas, navigated by a vision no one else can see, and build ships of dreams … guided by need. I promise you if you have a dream from your Champion, it will make a difference!
Let’s build your ship and set sail, O Champion!
