Hi sunshine! ☀ Let’s talk about sharing dreams today!
It seems like not everybody agrees on this topic, so it makes it even more interesting!
First I read the book “The List” by Yuval Abramovitz and I was convinced how important it was to share to everyone our dreams.
Then I felt upon this Ted Talk “Why you should keep your goal for yourself” that said the contrary to what I thought.
So I felt totally confused…
Should we share them or not??
As I am very curious, I made a little Poll on Instagram asking for your opinion 😉
As expected, opinions were really diverse (56% yes and 44% no)!
It helped me to ask myself “what do I think?” “What should I do about it?”
Then I just thought about my values and life.
One of my mission is to share everything I got because I don’t want to leave this world keeping for me things that could help others.
But it is only my point of view, there are very interesting positions against it!
So before explaining myself about the benefits of sharing your dreams online, I first want to start with the main reasons about why you shouldn’t (so that I can share a different point of view)
I also integrated some answers I received on Instagram, hope you like it!!
PS: I emphasized one point of view because I had more things to say about it, but by no means, I consider it as the truth or “better”. It’s all personal 🙂
PART 1 – Why You Shouldn’t Share your dreams
- Sharing online increase the expectation of others and make you pressure
- People can try to demolish your dreams, take the idea or make fun of you
- People can associate you to your goals and dreams and may put you into boxes
- Your goals are part of you, who you are, and nobody knows you better than yourself. You know what you should do in your life and don’t need other’s approval
- It can be excited to unveil only the result/consequence, once you achieved it (like “haha didn’t see it comin’ ya!”)
- According to this TED talk, people who talk about their ambitions may be less likely to achieve them. (because when you say it to someone, your brain would think that you’ve already done them)
However, regarding this last point, I just realized that it was the contrary of another TED talk I mention in the reason n°6 below 😉
These points are completely legitimate.
But some of them seem to be linked by fear.
Fear is for me, a dream-killer: it’s a state of mind that puts a limit and prevents new events/opportunities from happening.
PART 2 – Why You Should Share you Dreams
+ why it reinforces the chances of realizing them
1) Become an inspiration
By sharing your ideas and dreams, you allow people around you to discover new things about life. Whether it’s about new ideas or just positivity, you can become a source of inspiration. And I would even say, a motivation driving force!
→ By motivating indirectly your surroundings, it motivates yourself
2) Open new opportunities
If you share your dreams online, you don’t know who will see it.
And even more, if people keep sharing your post!
Who knows if someone you don’t know will contact you, creating new opportunities! You can receive more feedback, and you will discover that almost everyone is willing to help us if we tell them of our need, and we are available to help in return.
For example, Yuval Abramovitz shared his list on Facebook. On his list, there was his dream “Interviewing Oprah Winfrey”.
Guess what? A few days later, someone he didn’t know who has the contact of Oprah sent him a message, to help him make his dream come true!
3) Make new friends
Sharing your list is also an opportunity to make new like-minded friends.
Indeed, if you read the dream list of someone who has exactly the same goals as you, you may feel connected with them! (and I would even recommend you to get in touch with each other) ♪
Thus, it would make it easier to find people who will be willing to realize their dream with you, while making new connections!
4) Sharing makes your dream more real and believable
It makes it easy to see your achievement and to see it as more concrete. Of course, it also contributes to making you proud even during the process.
It’s also a way to measure progress!
5) Feel supported and loved
When you receive encouragement from people you know (or not), and that acknowledge your vision, it can become a big source of motivation! Benevolent persons will respect you and what you’re doing!
→ Knowing that you’re supported and surrounded by kind people will boost you to give your best
6) Gain clarity
When you have to explain your goals to others, you have to be able to describe them. (may sound easy, but for me, that’s not always the case haha)
Others may ask you questions and offer their insight. This gain creates more depth and allows you to see things differently.
However, it does not mean they will change your goal, because you’re the only one who decides. So don’t be closed to new suggestions: just listen and choose to take it or not!
→ Be more clear about what does the goal really means and get new perspectives
7) Beating the fear of being judged
Sharing online helps to learn to be vulnerable.
Vulnerability is not a bad thing; on the contrary, it’s a bridge to new connections! It’s a strength you can be proud of because it requires lots of actions and courage. Others feel closer to you, it deepens connections.
In this way, sharing your dreams will strengthen your capacity to ignore other opinions.
It will help you to affirm yourself and be more confident.
Don’t believe that by sharing with others, you’re not allowed to fail or to change your dreams. It is, of course, okay to change your mind and not finding your goals exciting anymore.
But don’t be afraid of how others would react! Sincerely, in the end, they do not care 😉
8) Turns accountability into a boost
Maybe people will remind you of your goal next time you see them! It’s like a kindly refresher that can motivate you even more.
Besides, according to this TED talk (enter the cult of extreme productivity), the reason we do not act on our goals is that there are not enough stakes.
He says that we should leverage fear by ensuring the stakes are too high. In this way, we can make the most of the fear of social accountability to boost us to realize our dreams.
9) Spreading positive vibes
Positive people are more numerous than we think. They should make their voices heard to spread this optimism and exciting way to live life!
By shouting out loud their dream, they can have an impact: bring light and hope.
PART 3 – CONCLUSION
So what about some concrete dream list example?
Well, I’ll see you very soon!! 😉
I’ll be sharing with you tips on how to construct and state properly your dream and goal list (it is really important to do it right because it can affect how you act)
And then, of course, I’ll also share mine!!
Looking forward to it!
By the way, what do you think about featuring the Instagram community and including some of their answers in the article?
Do you think it adds some values and depth?
Thanks for reading and have wonderful days!