GIVING VOICE TO YOUR DREAM
Power Talk
Many people talk about doing less and having more, but most people are too afraid of the judgement of others to put action to their dreams. When you look at the world around you right now you will see many people who are overworked, marriages breaking up, children out of control, mental health issues on the rise and a lot of complaining, tired people. In Marcia Wieder’s book, “Doing Less and Having More,” she says, “What if you were the one who said, ‘Life has gotten way out of control and I would like to change this. I want to change the way we live, the way we relate to each other, how we work and how we play.’”

Well you can be that person! One person at a time is how change is made. What is your voice saying to yourself and to others? Are you expressing your passion in words to others around you? When you take what thoughts are in your head and express them to others that is when they become actions. Your dream can begin to live.
It will take practice for you to begin to communicate your dream clearly and the people to practice on are your good friends, family, and supporters.

Once you have identified people who share your dream, find ways to brainstorm with them on a regular basis. Share your resources and inspire each other to work at reaching your goals. People get a sense of fulfillment from making a contribution to other's lives and dreams.

In this busy world in which we live it is easy to get overwhelmed so be supportive of others and find others who are supportive of you. It is imperative that the people you have in your team are people whom you can trust and count on. When you find these people hand onto the relationships - they are more precious than gold.

When you are sharing your dream you don't have to have to have the whole business plan figured out. That is what your collaborative team is for. Bring what you have so far and ask for their input. When the team has more input, it creates a stronger buy-in as well. Share the whole picture with the team as well as sharing the steps to reaching the dream.

However, you also need to be concise so that you do not lose their focus. This is where it is important to work on the "elevator pitch." In the article by Stacey Ferrera entitled, "4 Ways to Share Your Vision and Lead a Successful Team," she states that and elevator pitch has approximately 5 sentences.

Sentence 1: Share the desired end goal
Sentence 2: What are the benefits of the vision
Sentence 3-4: How do you plan to reach the vision
Sentence 5: How will you collaborate towards that vision

Then above all - HAVE COURAGE - GO OUT AND LIVE YOUR DREAM!

TYPES OF PEOPLE YOU NEED ON YOUR SUPPORT/DREAM TEAM:

1. Visionaries - a visionary is someone who can inspire others and can see potential to make changes in the world around them. However, the visionary needs to be surrounded by a team of people who can help them bring their vision to life. If the visionary tries to do everything themselves they can burn themselves out and the vision may die. To ensure this doesn't happen they need to build a support team or as some people put it - a dream team. The visionary must share their vision and then delegate various jobs to others who will then act as part of the team.

2. The Strategist - is a person who can see the vision and can break the vision down into projects, goals, and tasks in order to lay out how to get from where you are now to where you want to be. They can lay out timelines and see issues that need to be tackled to bring the vision to life.

3. The Executioner - is a person who can communicate clearly to the workers, who are going to be carrying out the various tasks. It is taking the expectations and goals and analyzing what is working and what needs to be tweaked to work better. They also communicate back to the rest of the team about any concerns that arise.

4. The Workers - the people who are the legs of your vision. They are the ones that bring the vision to life, can give feedback on what is working and what isn't, on where support is needed etc.

SKILL SETS TO LOOK FOR IN PEOPLE ON YOUR DREAM TEAM:

1. Courage - able to voice opinions in order to be heard. Able to articulate clearly back to team on what is expected of them in their position and to ask for clarity when they are unsure of what is being asked for.

2. Empathy - able to support the whole team and build trust amongst the team members so that the team communicates well. Able to ask for what they need

3. Communication - able to build a team where it is safe to air any issues arising that could hinder the vision from reaching fruition. Have regular team check-ins to ensure that support is being provided. Be honest and bold when giving reports and keep the interactions of the team friendly.

4. Vulnerability - be willing to be open about what support you need and address any skill sets that are missing and need to be added. Voice concerns about timelines or any other concerns you have about moving the vision forward. It is hard to ask for what you need but it is crucial so the vision doesn't fall apart.

To reach the goal takes the whole team of supporters.