We always hear, dream big, play big, don’t settle. We read articles, see them on TV, and hear them repeatedly from the most prolific figures in the coaching industry. We must dream bigger.
As a human performance coach, I believe in the concept and power of big dreams. I coach, inspire and encourage people to discover what they really want in life. As a behavioral science junkie, I also understand that thinking and dreaming big, too big, can paralyze us.

Dreaming of someplace other than where we are is part of human nature. We learn, grow and strive for what’s next (We can argue the sanity of not being at peace with who, what, and where we are another time). But why does it seem that few people achieve a “breakthrough” performance?

Are some people meant to attract abundance in their lives, and others only suggested to accept who they are and what they know? I don’t think so, but an adverse physiological response to dreaming big can exist.

In his book, Boundaries for Leaders, Dr. Henry Cloud highlights some critical principles leaders should understand to cultivate the highest performance levels from individuals and teams effectively. Cloud shares the power of positive emotional states versus the destructive nature of negative emotional states as it relates to performance. For the sake of this article, it is reasonable to assume that we are all leaders of our own lives as adults striving for another level of personal performance as parents, friends, and family members. Thus, the applicability of Cloud’s teaching.

When a person is in a positive emotional state (happy, rewarded, loved, peaceful, abundance), a healthy flow of blood is provided to the brain’s prefrontal cortex, the executive function center of the human mind. This is the location of the brain from which creativity, decision-making, and solutions are derived. In a negative emotional state (fear, anxiety, hate, sadness, jealousy, guilt, shame), blood flow is restricted to this area of the brain, and a person loses the majority of any “thinking” ability other than their most basic instinctual ability, also known as a fight or flight response.

So, back to dreaming big. When we think about the big things, we want in our lives that we do not currently have (money, fame, house, relationship, great fitness, wonderful career, impact on humanity), human beings mostly have a fight or flight reaction. The concepts are “too” big. Because we do not know what life looks and feels like once we achieve these big dreams, we actually have the same physiological reaction in our brains as if a tiger were chasing us, Fear. This causes blood flow restriction to the prefrontal cortex, inhibiting one’s ability to make decisions, think creatively, and derive solutions. Thus, no action is taken, and our dreams remain exactly that, another form of our inability to execute.

It’s great to dream big; now, our opportunity is to stop judging ourselves for not achieving those dreams and recognize we need to change our approach. Dream big but think small. Break your dream down into small, tiny, seemingly insignificant activities. Two things happen; one, you start to make progress, and two, you teach yourself to overcome the fear of the outcome.

Dr. Robert Maurer shares the power of taking these tiny steps in his book. We avoid the fight or flight response and empower ourselves to take action.

So dream big, but break your thinking down into what one thing you can do today. It will be a small step in the direction of your dreams.