I see a massive house. It’s too big really, but we went for it anyway.
The driveway is gravel and we’re surrounded by pine trees.
We have a photo in front of it. Cars on the drive. We’re all beaming to the sides of our face; me and Sarah arm in arm. We are smiling so much we look like we’ve won the lottery. We can’t believe this is our life. Xander is standing, small and cute and Sarah is holding another little bundle. I’m not sure if that’s a dog or a baby, but I do hope it’s one or the other, or both.
This house is ours and we have just bought it. It has a swimming pool. That’s all I know. I know nothing else about it. This is just a vision in my minds eye after all. The house has a swimming pool and we have a lovely family photo in front of it and I can hear my feet crunch on the gravel on the drive. We are over the moon. Giddy.
We can’t believe this is ours. This is our life. We love our life.
I’m sitting by the pool. It’s hot and I should probably put more sun cream on. I’m in thick swim shorts and an open shirt, wearing sunglasses.
It’s my birthday and we are in a villa for the week. I’ve invited a bunch of friends and family over . I have paid for everything. I’m in the best shape of my life. I’ve not actually tried to look good, I just tried to feel good and this is my reward. I’ve been doing all the things I enjoy and this is the result. Me feeling like this, being here. Happy, content, loved, generous.
I lie down on the warm tiles with one leg splayed in the pool. People are arriving later . There’s the distant beat of music in the background lulling me into the present moment as my thoughts drift away. Looking up at the blue sky I reflect how grateful I am that I can do this for the people I love. Invite them to share a holiday with us all. I can be generous and create experiences with and for people. Tonight we’ll all be here in this villa, eating together in the sun and we’ll have a glorious time. It’s glorious to be alive.
I love this. I love my life.
These are two visions I have in my mind right now. Two dreams. I have more.
I see them clearly. So clearly that I believe some version of these two realities will occur for real in my life. I have no doubt about that now.
I don’t currently have the money to buy a mansion with a pool. Yet some version of this dream is my dream. Truthfully, I don’t even know if it is the exact “right” dream, yet enough of it feels authentic and true and burgeoning for me to commit mental energy to write it down. I want to will this into being. I would like a version of this for my future.
It helps in some ways, especially in work. Will doing this right now get me the house with a swimming pool? That’s quite a good question to ask. This is my desire and I’d like what I do now to go some way to achieving it.
The family home with a swimming pool is my North Star. It’s not a compass, it’s definitely not google maps. It guides my way.
I’m aware there may be some ego or mixed up feelings in this dream. I might not want a swimming pool at all. Maybe I just “think” I want a big house and I don’t really. Maybe what I really care about is just me, Sarah, Xander and the family photo all looking happy.
It doesn’t really matter if what I’m foreseeing for myself is “right”. What matters more is the intention behind it. The feelings within the picture.
Love, security, excitement, hope, fun. There’s unbridled happiness in the very act of living our life. Whether the house has a swimming pool, or not, this is the emotional quality of the life I am willing into being.
Being by the villa in the sun in great shape feels more immediate and is helpful to give me something to work towards in the short term. I’d absolutely love to do this. Book out a villa for a week and invite the people I love. It’s the kind of day dream that makes me think.. why am I not doing that right now? Why am I not doing that every year?!
This is good. This is truth, this is real, this is actually what I want. I am so glad I let my mind wander. I let my mind dream this little dream. Now, to act upon it.
I call these little visions trailers. I have written about them before. They’re intentions for who I’d like to be but they don’t come in the form of plans or journal entries. Some call this manifesting. These are day dreams, wanderings, moments that flash across the cinema of my brain as I close my eyes to sleep or when I’m bored doing the dishes.
This is what I can see for my life. This where I’d like to be.
I have learned to speak these out loud. Share them, let them live and let me believe in them. Take these visions away from the shadows and into the light. Let them even have a chance of being possible
Some can be acted upon immediately and in doing so you grow into the edges of your life and expand. Others are longer term hopes and dreams that provide direction and clarity.
It doesn’t even matter what they are. It doesn’t even matter if they are deeply really truly what you actually want. What matters is that you let them be free from you. There’s no judgement. They are little incantations thrown from your wand - perhaps the spell will work and you will create this magic, perhaps it will fall flat because there was never any truth in it in the first place.
Tada!
There are many possibilities I don’t have visions of. There are many things I don’t dream about. Many people of my type dream of building big companies that IPO, I’ve never had this dream in my life.
Maybe the dreams we have can come true then? Maybe there is some volition to then? Maybe they do serve as some premonition for our longing or what could come good in our lives? Maybe they do deserve our time and our hope?
I remember a time when I would dream of cutting the chord to a mental health gym on the high street and being on Graham Norton alongside Stormzy talking about mental health on TV at peak fame. It never happened like that, that particular dream never came true. Some version of it did come alive though. I made some version of that happen. There was truth in it and it was worth sharing. Worth dreaming of. Worth fighting for.
Everyone has dreams. Your version of a mansion with a swimming pool, hitting the gong of an IPO or an epic holiday with mates.
What is yours?
Let it out. Dream it. Believe it. Write it down. Make it real. Smell it. Taste it. Be there. Feel the clothes you are wearing. Touch the person you are holding. Hear the sound of the birds or the sea or the applause as your feet thud out on stage. Wave your magic wand.
Let it be real.
One day, a version of it shall be.
Cheers,
James x
P.s 3 founder coaching slots left for those walking the path. Let me be your guide and walk it with you. Founders said some nice things about me.
