Is Your Career Vision Big Enough?

My husband and I have been watching reruns of Lucifer recently.

In the show, Lucifer (a.k.a The Devil), helps the police solve crimes.

He does it by using his superpower: drawing people’s real desires.

He just looks them in the eye, and they immediately tell him what their biggest dreams are.

Sometimes I wish I had that superpower...

Too often when I ask my students about their career goals, they share a watered-down, small, “realistic” version of what they really want.

It’s like they are embarrassed to pursue their real dreams, worried about what other people might think if they actually follow their ambition.

→ They don’t apply for the promotion, they don’t ask for the raise, they don’t start a side hustle, and they don’t invest in themselves.

It breaks my heart because I know that downgrading your dreams, especially as a high achiever, is a recipe for disappointment.

You will always know that you wanted more but you settled.

So today I want to play Devil’s Advocate and show you why - and how - to dream big, so you can start the journey towards your real desires.

Why Most People Dream Too Small

Well, there is an entire laundry list of fears that make you think small, but we’ll focus on two.

1. Worrying about what other people think

Many of us have been taught that we need to fit in. When our dreams are bigger than average, it feels like we stand out, and not in a good way. It’s like having a giant spotlight pointing in our direction for everyone to see when all we want is to blend in. That can feel extremely uncomfortable.

2. Fear of failure, or finding out that you are not good enough

Fear of failure rears its ugly head when we don’t have enough faith in our ability to figure things out. We believe that if we're not ready now, it might mean we'll never be. When the gap between who we are and who we want to become feels too big, we shrink our dreams so we don’t feel so incompetent. We make the dream smaller, instead of making ourselves better.

How To Create a BIG Career Vision?

Our brains can be our worst enemies or our best friends.

It’s hard to just talk yourself out of fear, but you can try and trick your brain into dreaming without limitations.

And you’ll do it by playing pretend. When we think hypothetically and there are no perceived risks or consequences, we let our imagination run wild.

All you need to do is ask yourself one question:

In an ideal world, where money is no object and I can’t fail, what will I do?

Do not stop to ask yourself “But what if…” do not edit the dream in your head to make it more realistic. Spit out the first thing that comes to mind, even if it is outrageous.

And if you want to take it a step further, increase your time horizon.

In an ideal world, where money is no object and I can’t fail, what would my life look like a decade from now?

The further away the dream, the easier it becomes to dream big. We are more realistic when it comes to the near future, but we let ourselves be more optimistic about a longer time frame.

If you do this well, you’ll find out that your real dreams are much bigger than you led yourself to believe. You’ll get motivated to pursue them, and that is how you’ll grow your career faster than you ever imagined.

It’s simple “vision math”:

If you aim small, you accomplish small things.

If you dream big, you’ll make the impossible possible.

Your Next Steps

Creating a career vision that drives massive growth starts with a mindset shift.

You have to realize that both faith and fear require you to believe in something that hasn’t happened yet.

The only difference is that faith has an upside. Believing in yourself could make your dreams a reality.

Fear guarantees you won’t.

Don’t make your dreams smaller, believe you can make yourself better.

I believe in you and I’m rooting for you.

Maya ❤️