Using Imagination to Create Your Career
What’s the wildest dream you have for your career? For your life?
Did you just cringe a little when you read that question? I know I did.
Why is that?
Because having a wild dream requires us to use our imagination.
And imagination isn’t something for us serious grownups, right?
WRONG.
One of the key behaviors we must master to design a career we love is to imagine new possibilities.
Imagination is key to moving ourselves forward and creating our next professional reality.
But imagination doesn’t always come easy to us, does it?
Let’s pretend for a moment that you’re my sweet and mostly-obedient dog, Grayson.
Grayson has a nice big backyard to play in, and he loves to act like the master of his domain amongst the squirrels and birds that come into his territory – running around, chasing things, and generally pretending to be fiercer than he really is.
When we first moved into this house, the cost of putting up a fence around the property line was pretty steep. So instead, we decided to train Grayson not to leave the backyard.
And, after a few years of diligent training, Grayson has come to believe that he’s not allowed to leave the yard.
His social conditioning – treats when he behaves well, scolding when he steps out of bounds – has reinforced this.
Because of this, even if Grayson could IMAGINE leaving our backyard for a most excellent adventure, he doesn’t even see it as a possibility.
He’s been conditioned to keep to the boundaries that have been set for him. And he can’t imagine anything beyond that.
Of course, Grayson is a dog. And you are a human being.
But this, my friend, is why using our imaginations – and I mean really, truly pushing the boundaries of what might currently be feasible or viable – is so challenging for many of us.
Because we’re fenced into a certain reality – and can’t see anything beyond that.
What if you could reimagine every aspect of your work life?
Why you do it, what you do, when you do it, how you do it – EVERYTHING.
You don’t have to stay in your backyard!
You don’t have to be limited by what someone else says is possible/realistic/feasible for you.
You just have to be willing to reexamine the foundational assumptions that, today, are fencing you in.
What might you imagine for yourself if there were no limits to what you could dream?
Onward,
PS: Want to kick your imagination into overdrive? Check these out:
PPS: Oh, the irony. Just a few short hours after writing this newsletter, Grayson bolted from our backyard to slobber all over our neighbors next door as they arrived home… I guess even dogs have imaginations after all!