Why You Should Dream Big

People often fall into extremes. Some spend years lying on the couch, lost in daydreams. Others, having become “truly grown-up,” stop dreaming altogether. They live in a harsh reality of their own making and try to impose this reality on those around them.

Which is better, you might ask? The answer: neither. Both options are equally bad. In the first case, a person indulges in made-up illusions and takes no real action, living life in fantasies and thoughts. In the second case, the person is also stuck, afraid or too lazy to look over the low fence that surrounds their world and see how much interesting stuff is out there. The only advice here is to develop your imagination and creativity—there’s nothing more to add. For those who do nothing, the advice is to stop just reading and thinking, and start rolling up your sleeves and taking real steps.

Why You Might Lack Energy

Now, let’s consider another scenario. You genuinely want to achieve something in life and even make some attempts to carry out your plan, but it’s all in vain. You simply don’t have enough energy to see things through, or it’s hard to even get off the comfy couch. What’s the problem? The answer is obvious: you lack the energy to act. You might really want to reach your goal, but you can’t even take a small step toward it.

Take a close look at the illustration (imagine it if you don’t see one). The universe is abundant and can easily give you enough energy to become as remarkable as Einstein, Osho, or Caesar. But here’s the thing: this energy can’t be stored inside you and never truly belongs to you. All energy belongs to the universe. You can’t accumulate a large amount of energy through special practices or techniques. What you can do is clear your channels so you can let more energy flow through you. But even that’s not enough. Even if you become like a powerful pipeline for energy, you need to know exactly where and why you’ll use it. You’ll never be energetic and lively if you’re not striving for anything.

The Universe Gives Energy for Your Goals

The universe always gives you exactly as much energy as you need to achieve your goals (as shown in the illustration). The bigger, brighter, and more ambitious your goals, the more energy you’ll receive—if you’re ready to accept it. If you don’t dream or want anything in life, you have no energy, simply because you don’t need it. On the other hand, the more global your goals, the more energy you get. But don’t go to the other extreme and set goals you don’t actually believe in. That will only lead to disappointment and give you another reason to feel sorry for yourself.

What to Do If You Lack Motivation or Energy

I’m often asked what to do when you don’t feel like doing anything, or when you have clear goals but no strength to achieve them. For the first group, my advice is this: if you don’t want to do anything, look within, remember your childhood dreams and desires, and see how you can transform them into something meaningful in your adult life. Start working on this right away. First, doing what you love will give you an extra boost of energy. Second, you’ll have concrete goals, and you’ll start receiving energy to achieve them.

If you already have clear goals but can’t make yourself act, then you need to work on the goals themselves. The first reason might be that the goals aren’t really yours—they were imposed on you from outside. It’s logical: if you don’t want to do something, your soul resists, because you can’t fool your soul (after all, you always have enough energy to go to the kitchen for a tasty snack or to your boss for your paycheck). So, you need to find your own goals by asking the right questions and doing special exercises.

The second reason: the goals are yours, but you haven’t defined them clearly enough. You want something, but you’re not sure what. Your goals are foggy. Here, too, you need to do exercises to clarify and strengthen your goals. As a result, you should feel truly passionate about your goals. But this can bring another problem: you might start working on your goals around the clock, and your loved ones may start to worry about you. That’s normal. When you’re pursuing your true goals, you can work day and night without feeling tired. As Adriano Celentano said in the wonderful film “The Taming of the Scoundrel”: “You only get tired when you do what you don’t like. I do what I love and never get tired.”

Key Takeaways

1. Energy doesn’t appear out of nowhere. It always comes for a reason—to achieve a specific goal.
2. The bigger your dream or goal, the more energy you’ll receive.
3. Your dream should be big, but realistic for you. You must believe it’s possible. If you don’t believe in it, you won’t get the energy.
4. You can’t accumulate energy. You can only create conditions to always receive as much as you need.
5. If you don’t want to do anything, remember your childhood hobbies and transform them into adult pursuits.
6. If your goal doesn’t inspire you, it’s either not really yours or not clearly defined and thought out.

In short, the main idea is this: your primary task is to come up with dreams and turn them into goals that not only inspire you, but make you tremble with excitement at the very thought of them. Then you won’t need to force or motivate yourself to act. That won’t be a problem anymore. In fact, you might even have to hold yourself back a little to cool your enthusiasm.

Wishing you dreams that inspire you and easy achievement of your goals.

Author: Psychologist, coach, and trainer Alexander Konelsky