In this episode of Pathways to Fitness, we talk about some practical approaches to seeing our inner-most desires and dreams become reality. Jon discusses his morning routine and how he believes that nurtures and essentially works toward manifesting the dreams he has.
Resources mentioned:
Rachel Hollis: https://www.instagram.com/msrachelhollis/
Dave Hollis: https://www.instagram.com/mrdavehollis/
Start Today Journal Jon uses: https://shop.thehollisco.com/
[Jon here:]
Dreams and goals (which are not exactly synonymous) are some of my very favorite things to talk about. Like, I can get annoyingly JAZZED about discussing this topic with people. I love to talk about my dreams, but also encourage others in their dreams. I’m a natural encourager in this area.
As an entrepreneur, dreaming is simply built into my DNA. The term “dreamer” I think has often been synonymous with “unfocused” or “unrealistic”, but I think dreamers are a more accurate reflection of our creator and Heavenly Father, God.
Step outside and look around. E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G you see is the result of a dream or an inspired idea… literally everything. It was either God, our creator’s idea, or it was an idea of a human (which as I believe, we humans were an inspired idea of God’s).
It would only make sense that as manifestations ourselves of a creative God, that we would exhibit some of his characteristics. I think all of us have dreams and ideas within us. Some of us more easily or naturally embrace those dreams than others. To some people, the dreams and ideas that they have may be scary or seem risky which cause apprehension. For others, dreams hold excitement and mystery that calls to our inner adventurer.
I’ve come up with a snazzy little acronym that puts into words the unconscious (until now) R.E.C.I.P.E I take to move closer to physically seeing my dreams become reality. I’ll try to be brief in describing each:
R - Reflection
E - Embrace
C - Conscious Gratitude
I - Intentional Action
P - Prayer
E - Excited Expectation
R-eflection - It all begins with reflecting, in thought or prayer about what it is that you TRULY desire in your inner-most being. Those ideas that come to you that in the past or maybe currently you think are unrealistic or too “out there”, those are dreams that have been placed in you by your creator. The ideas for that ministry, that business, that non-profit, that community service project that you just can’t get off your mind. Those are your dreams and they’re NOT unrealistic. I believe it’s powerful to journal these and write them out in vivid detail.
E-mbrace - Embrace, which by its simplest definition means to “hold close”, is what you have to do with these dreams. Accept them. Hold them close and believe that they are possible for you to experience.
C-onscious Gratitude - Have you ever noticed what you focus on the most is what you tend to see more of in your life? Like, that new (or new to you) car you got. Inevitably when you get that car, then you see that same make, model and year of car driving around everywhere. You never noticed quite so many of them out on the road before did you? It’s because you’re now consciously aware of that type of car…. because it’s your daily reality. In the same way, when we focus on the things we’re thankful for, even if those things haven’t physically manifested in our lives yet, but have in our spirit, we will begin to see more of those things in our everyday life. I know, I know….I’m starting to get into talking about faith here a little bit (you know, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" Hebrews 11: 1) and faith isn’t exactly the topic of this podcast episode, but in a round-about way it is.
I-ntentional Action - Just having a dream or an idea isn’t quite enough to see it come to fruition. Just like getting educated or inspired everyday with books or podcasts isn’t quite enough if there’s no follow-up action taken. Just having a dream or idea will only get you so far without some kind of movement forward or action taken on your part to move toward that dream. I’m not saying that realizing your dreams requires you driving yourself into the ground everyday with action or that it ALL depends on you. I believe that dreams become a reality through a combined effort between us and God. I could probably do a whole other podcast episode on this topic and the dangers of thinking that it’s ALL up to us to MAKE things happen. That’s not the case.
P-rayer - It’s simple… prayer that is. It doesn’t have to be complicated or a show. Just simply being in thoughtful contemplation and communicating with God your desires, and thankfulness for the inspiration he’s placed in your heart. I know this one seems kind of repetitive to previous steps but it’s important. Verbalizing or journaling your gratitude for those things BEFORE THEY EVEN MATERIALIZE in the flesh is an important piece of this recipe. Notice I’ve mentioned thankfulness and gratitude a lot? Prayer isn’t just going to God like he’s a genie here to fulfill all our wishes. Let’s balance our requests with gratitude shall we?
E-xcited Expectation - This one is probably my favorite and maybe one of the more powerful steps in the RECIPE for seeing your dreams come to life. This involves all of the previous steps as I believe all of the previous steps help you get to that feeling of excitement inside. You know that feeling of anticipation that you get whenever you’re leaving on a trip the next day or there’s that special event that you’ve been waiting for and it’s tomorrow? You get that feeling in your belly. The butterflies. The racing heart. That feeling that you almost want to jump out of your skin you’re so excited? That’s the kind of expectation you should have about your dreams coming toward you. Some things that help you achieve this excitement is daily writing down your dreams and goals. Journaling your dreams one at a time and taking the time write them down in vivid detail. What color will that car be? How will your business or home be furnished exactly? How many people will your non-profit or community organization be able to help each week, month, year? How will you FEEL emotionally whenever you get to walk into that dream in REAL LIFE? I encourage you to write these things down on a piece of paper and get to a place where you can see every detail in your mind and almost feel it. When you do this you’ll begin to get that “butterflies” feeling inside as you anticipate and EXPECT your dream to become reality.
