Dreaming Big with your Moonshot Goals

It feels a little clique writing about anything about big dreams or dreaming big because it feels like a kid’s fairy tale.

However, unironically, dreaming big can change your life, and improve the lives of others.

Examples of Those who Dreamt Big

Bill Gate’s dream “A Computer in Every Home” happened because he saw the benefits that computers and the internet could provide. He did this by creating his company Microsoft and persisted even when people called the internet a fad in 1999.

Oprah Winfrey was fired from one of her first TV jobs because the producer said she was “unfit for television.” She then became one of the premier talk-show hosts and even has her TV network now.

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream for Civil Rights in America. At a time when segregation was the norm, he challenged the status quo and fought for equality for all. That fight is continuing in his honor today.

What is Dreaming Big?

To dream big you don’t have to become a house-hold name entrepreneur, celebrity, or civil rights activist.

How I view dreaming big is:

“Realizing a goal that, despite the tribulations along the way, will lead to an outcome worthwhile to change your life and that of others.”

Joseph Torgler

Everyone dreams big differently. Perhaps your dream is to become financially independent so you can travel the world, or build a thriving small business in your community, or maybe your dream is to have a family of your own.

Whatever dreaming big for you is, it is something that is your North Star – a guiding point in your life. Most likely, it is something you don’t have yet but wants to work towards.

It doesn’t matter how trivial it might seem. If that goal is your big dream – go for it!

What Dreaming Big Isn’t

I would be remiss if I did not include this point. Achieving your big dream isn’t a panacea for lasting happiness. It isn’t like you to achieve your dream goal and then you are done.

Human minds get used to things, no matter how good it is. Eventually, you will go back to the same level of happiness along the way. That is why lottery winners are usually back to their typical routine after two months of winning life-changing money.

That is why it is important to learn how to beat the hedonic treadmill along the way.

Also, dreaming big changes as well. That is okay. Bill Gates stepped down from Microsoft to focus on his new mission – his charity fund. Oprah Winfrey now focuses on empowering female entrepreneurs.

As you grow, your dreams can change too – that is normal and natural.

Why You Should be Dreaming Big

1. Expand Your Comfort Zone

Dreaming big expands your comfort zone. Research has found that those who repeatedly expand their comfort zone report higher levels of confidence, life satisfaction, and improved relationships.

Most people’s big dreams rest well outside their current comfort zone. However, if you expand your comfort zone by 1% each day over the next year, it will be 5x the size in just one year. That is the amazing thing about getting uncomfortable. It gets easier and easier as you learn more and more things.

Check out this guide on how to expand your comfort zone.

2. Not have Any Regrets

The research found that people’s biggest regrets in life are in the areas they had the largest opportunity for change. Mainly, areas where they felt they could have seen tangible prospects for change, growth, and renewal.

It was the hard challenges that people regretted not going for. Not pursuing their dream job, not losing those extra 30 pounds, or not sticking with their dream partner.

The challenge is there for a reason, it helps us become better.

3. Make other People Better

When you are doing your best, other people will be inspired by your example and will be willing to try for themselves their big goal. Also, if you provide a service or product as your dream – you can drastically improve people’s lives. Like  Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, or Martin Luther King did. 

4. Time is Limited

Unfortunately, we always think we have more time than we do. One of my favorite illustrations of these concepts is Wait but Why’s “A 90-year Human Life in Weeks”.

It can cause some anxiety when looking at it but seeing each week as a bubble helps us realize we only have some much time in the world.

5. You will Increase Your Confidence

Having Mastery Experiences increases your self-efficacy and feelings that you can tackle any new challenge. When you go for your big dreams, there will be stumbles but also major accomplishments. These successes help you feel confident in tackling the next challenge.

See this guide on how to increase your feelings of self-efficacy.

How to Dream Big

1. Reflect on What You Want

The first step is knowing where you want to go. Take some time and reflect on what you want your big dreams to be. Do you want success in business, entertainment, creative endeavors, your relationships, financial independence, or something else entirely?

Guide yourself along with questions like, “what is it I want?” or “what do I value?”. Clarifying these for you helps show yourself what you want, not what you feel like society is telling you to do.

For more inspiration, check out this guide on how to make a unique bucket list.

2. Write Down Your Goal and Keep it visible

Studies show that keeping material visible helps increase student’s retention of key concepts. The same applies to goals. After you finish dreaming big, put your big dream on a sticky-note and keep it somewhere visible. Look at it and remind yourself what you are working towards each day.

3. See Your Obstacles

One of the biggest reasons people fail to keep working towards their big dream is they stumble into obstacles. Then they go “What the Hell – why am I even trying this in the first place,” get frustrated and give up.

Don’t let the “what the hell” effect get to you. It is those tough challenges that make working towards your big dream a struggle but also rewarding. No journey worth taking is easy.

To better overcome these obstacles, it helps to envision them ahead of time. WOOP to overcome your obstacles.

WOOPing means you visualize the obstacles that would prevent you from your goal and come up with an “if-then” statement to conquer them.

Such as, “if I go to the party and there is pizza, then I will remove myself from the kitchen to avoid breaking my diet”, which makes an automatic response you can stick with in the moment.

4. Acknowledge, but don’t except Limiting Beliefs

Fear of failure and imposter syndrome hold people back from achieving what they set out by dreaming big in the first place.

It will get uncomfortable at times, you might feel like a failure or imposter but you have to keep going anyway. If you let your limiting beliefs win – then you can never achieve your goal.

Treat yourself like a best friend. Practice self-compassion as you guide yourself to accomplishing your goal.

5. Be Flexible

As the saying goes, “Blessed are the flexible for they are never bent out of shape.”

Your goal might shift, and some obstacles might stop your plan A. What is plan B? One of the tips for goal attainment is to not be attached to the process but to instead focus on the outcome. When you have what you are working to, you will have the how.

For instance, let’s say your dreaming big goal is to lose 30 pounds. The first stop is the gym and a personal trainer. However, a pandemic hits and all the gyms close. You can still lose 30 pounds. You could turn to YouTube workouts, research better diets online, and exercise in your home with body-weight exercises or runs around the neighborhood. There is always a way to the goal – sometimes we just have to be creative in getting there.

6. Live Life a Day at a Time

If your big dream takes years or decades to get to, sometimes that is demoralizing waiting to see a big payday after years of waiting. It might feel like the day will never come.

Instead, celebrate your little wins along the way. Did you work on your big dream today? If so, that is a win! Learn to celebrate your mini accomplishments too. They will provide the needed boost to stay on track.

See this guide to learn how to celebrate the little victories!

7. Believe in Yourself

Olympians need to believe in themselves to win the gold medal. They train for years for a specific day against others who are world-class in the same discipline. Any moments of doubt will lead to failure.

When researchers studied a medaled Taekwondo Olympian, they found she practiced motivational self-talk.

The chart shows she had low negative thinking, high anxiety management, high goal setting, and high positive self-talk. Borrow this idea from the Olympians. We can encourage ourselves along the way too.

Main Take-Aways

• Dreaming big can be scary at first. However, once we decide to go for our goals, our life becomes richer, more vibrant, and we can work on our goals without any regret.
• Everyone’s big dreams are different. It takes knowing yourself and what you want from life to work towards goals that are meaningful to you.
• Pursuing your big dreams can be tough. However, some positive self-talk and preparation, it makes the journey much easier.

Action Item

Practice dreaming big. What is your biggest dream right now? Reflect on it. Then dedicate twenty minutes for the next week to work on your goal. See how being practice and moving towards what you want improves your mental health and life!