You’ve heard all the productivity advice; plan your day, work your plan, block time, get things done, hack life with zen habits, first things first, etc.
But how about doing nothing?
…Or dreaming?
…Or sitting and reflecting?
Dreamers vs. Doers And Productivity
Doers are the productive ones. Dreamers never accomplish anything.
That’s the myth.
But a closer look reveals a different truth…
Consider: It is from dreams that the most productive enterprises and activities in life emerge.
Henry Ford had a dream…To make the automobile inexpensive enough that everyone could afford one.
Entrepreneurs have dreams…They are driving or taking a shower and letting their mind wander and suddenly they have an idea that employs thousands of employees for decades.
Here’s an amazing fact…
While all the planners and doers are running around getting things done, the dreamers are changing what gets done.
Walt Disney was a dreamer
Steve Jobs certainly dreamed
Henry Ford dreamed a different world into existence
Martin Luther King had a dream
JFK dreamed of putting a man on the moon
(Read more about famous vision statements here)
Dreams are dangerous
They alter the future.
If you are a doer, I respect you.
But if you are a dreamer, I’m scared of you. Because if you add a little “do” to those dreams, you will change my future.
A Dream Dare
I dare you to spend 30 minutes reflecting and dreaming.
Take a walk. Just you. Go sit on a bench in a park. Better, climb a tree and sit in the branches. Go to the beach and just sit, alone, you and your thoughts.
Begin to reflect. Be quiet. Listen to your thoughts. What issues and troubles bubble up? What dreams and hopes about the future rise above the noise?
Turn those thoughts in your mind like a diamond to the light. Let it speak to you. Begin imagining a better way. A different way ahead. Does your true love flame? Is it what you are doing now?
The pounding surf and roaring waves of daily life get our attention. But in the quiet of the tide pools — if we are very still — we begin seeing things move beneath the surface. Our skittish dreams emerge from the shadows.
Only when these dreams are seen can we be truly productive doers.
Awesome post Stover! It reminds me of the story of Joshua Bell playing the violin in the subway. The question ultimately is what are you missing and passing by while so busy and obsessed with all the things that you have to DO!
Spot on Shasheen,
I’ve noticed over the years that when you take a leader or entrepreneur out of the fire-fighting mode for a short while, the important things rise quickly to the surface. New perspectives emerge. New paths.
I love this post! So often people take things on face value
and don’t see deeper. It’s the people who are willing to see
deeper who are the dreamers. And as you say, the dreamers
are the dangerous ones because they change things. They
see what doesn’t exist and ask “Why not?”
Thanks Richard,
Here’s to living dangerously!
Haha, a wonderful read.
As a dreamer who’s finally been fed up with never seeming to get ahead unless in inconsistent inspiration mode, I found the missing step from dreams to tiny but powerful steps to put them into reality was to write step by step guides for myself, starting with the end in mind and working my way backwards all the way to where I’m sitting and needing to put the computer on the table to get started.
If I struggle, which I do alot, I begin with the beginning in mind and back and forth from the end until the plan meets somehow at the middle.
A waiter’s pad (idea from James Altucher) and a pen is all I use to direct and control my focus, and it really works. I’ve never felt such a steady state of self confidence from directed energy into small steps leading up to the bigger picture as I do now.
I used to be great at seeing the big picture but not able to make myself be patient enough to choose something amongst all the shinies and take the first steps.
Thank you for this great article, and what I’d like to add is this:
As a dreamer, find a way to give yourself direction by writing down tasks for yourself.
The way to being a dreamer who does is to know you can do something, and how to do it.
Break down a task you’d like to do into steps, and continue breaking them down until you have a certain feeling that ‘Ah this step I know I can do, and I just wrote it down so I know how/what to do it.’
And then choose to do it, it’s just a tiny step so it won’t ‘cost’ you anything.
Thank you again,
Kind and best regards,
Jørund Heim
Thanks for the great ideas.