THE DREAMERS DICTIONARY
The digital revolution is so massive and unstoppable that it will change forever how we learn, how we work, and how we live. The gap between dreaming and doing has closed and we now stand at the very edge of possibility. Both internally and externally we are making connections faster and in greater numbers than ever imagined. Across the board industries will transform and major companies will fall. The world as we know it is up for disruption, and that’s a good thing.
The Connected Age
I have always believed in luck, but only because I know the power of belief. Luck is often perceived as this volatile and otherworldly force that comes and goes as it pleases. However in most cases, what people refer to as luck is merely the manifestation of opportunity derived from skills they themselves do not fully understand. Luck is simple and predictable, and like any other skill, you create it. Always plan on being lucky, but work as if luck wasn’t in the plan. Take more chances, be more active, show up more often, and luck is yours for the taking.
Luck
Attention
We possess no instrument more powerful than our attention: That’s why everybody wants it. This is the attention economy and we’re all in the game whether we like it or not. Today, attention can be payed, sold, bought, and earned. To be a real player you must master both your focus and your self-awareness. Limitless access to information brings with it limitless opportunity- but the only ones cashing in on the new currency of attention- are the ones that can control their own.
Flow
Flow is the state of optimal consciousness where the purest work is born. You enter this state by becoming so immersed in the present that everything else fades- Action merges with awareness and time slows. The part of your brain that controls self-editing goes dim and you become like water, strengthened by a softness that allows you to bend, change, and adapt on the fly. You lose yourself to the moment and in the process find your true potential. You let yourself go, and yet as a result, you return stronger.
Habit
It is our habits that shape our present existence, and in turn, design our future. The key to building anything is repetition. Every day we repeat around 40 percent of our behavior, making habit the artist, and ourself the clay. Good habits sculpt the key to all success and bad the unlocked door to failure. We are what we repeatedly do. Change your habits- change your life.
Control
Control is found in detachment. It is not that you own nothing, but rather nothing owns you. Maintaining control requires an alert and expansive state of awareness. You are not just “going with the flow” but rather embracing and making constructive use of it. Control is the art of learning from everything. It turns stumbling blocks into stepping-stones and obstacles into opportunities. Everything serves our highest good if we make good use of it.
Responsibility
Every action has its pleasure and its price. In acknowledging and accepting both sides, you become responsible for your actions. It’s up to you to give your life meaning. It’s time to stop blaming others, get off your ass, and go get what you deserve. Only you can change you- You have to own your story to write the ending.
Gratitude
Gratitude is gold. It is the transformative currency most easily exchanged for success and happiness. Gratitude is an expression of conscious awareness of our lives. It is not simply an emotion response, but also a choice. When gratitude becomes a habit of the heart, we can remain open to joy and possibility, regardless of what comes our way. Appreciate all that is good, take nothing for granted, invite your ego to step aside, and watch everything around you grow in ways you never could have imagined.
The Artist
Art can take us out of one world and into another. It can uncover parts of ourselves we didn’t know existed. That is the beauty of the master artist. He had to go to this other world alone first. Art is the expression of a mind that has journeyed across boundaries, and survived, only to return to tell the tale. It’s not about what the artist sees, but what they make others see.
Style
Style is a confident expression of who you are- when the way you dress becomes the way you walk, the way you talk, and the way you move. It’s knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn. Anyone can wear labels but style exudes who you are.
Culture
Culture is the perspective by which we understand life itself. It is rooted in our experiences- how we define them and how we let them define us. Culture is us. We make it and shape it as we love it to be. It is what we know, what we believe, and whom we share it with. Culture unites us. The more we know about the cultures of others, the more open-minded, tolerant, and global we become.
Adventure
Adventure is the exploration you take into the unknown. It is a change in the habitual routine of your existence through a departure from the ordinary in every single instance. It is turning your life into an art piece- turning your story, into the story- and thus turning you, into the hero
Purpose
Having hopes, desires, and ambitions are what makes us human. Our purpose is to fulfill our truest desires- those that come from our authentic self- the part of us that longs for more than just possessions or temporary pleasures. We can know we hit the sweet-spot when our desires become more about being, rather than doing or getting. The power of our purpose must be greater than the pain we experience along the journey.
Faith
Whether it be God, gods, deities, friends, idols, or an idea, faith drives us to become something more than what we initially believed ourselves to be. Faith chips away at the walls of doubt and insecurity that have blinded us into fearing our own potential. We may place our faith in whatever we choose, but above all, we must never lose faith in ourselves.
Curiosity
Curiosity is the compass of the heart and the lust of the mind. Follow it, and wander into the wonderful. Satisfy it, and feel the cognitive ecstasy. Live it, and see the patterns in the chaos. Herein lies the truth of our potential. Do not be afraid.
Passion
Passion is ignited when we catch a glimpse of our true potential. The line between work and play blurs as we slowly lose ourselves to the process. The world around us fades and our head, heart and senses overflow with curiosity and love as if the entirety of our being has been hijacked by god.
Success
Success occurs when our courage habitually triumphs our fear. When we are ambitious enough to focus on exactly what we love, never settling. When our failure becomes fuel and our pain a tool. When we know who we are and who we want to become- having faith we’ll figure out how the hell to get there. It starts with one step. How bad do you want it?
Intelligence
Intelligence is determined more by the questions you ask than the answers you give. It is rooted in passion and curiosity and it thrives in truth and love. Intelligence is more than just knowledge; it is imagination and action.
Patience
Patience is the essence of strength. It is not an absence of action; it’s hustle and timing. It’s trust in yourself and trust in the process. Master patience and master all.
Desitiny
Understand that no road map exists for which to lead us. The future is completely unknown and moving entirely too fast to predict. Our control of the future is solely based on our growth in the present. Unforeseen opportunities will be in play. Our goal is to be ready to jump on them, whatever they may be. Destiny is choice, not chance.
Happiness
Happiness is found when we are present to accept life’s gifts. When we focus on the present, knowing and appreciating its value, we realize what blesses us and lose what stresses us.
Karma
The ability we have to interact with the world based on our present intention and the sum of our previous actions. To ensure balance, the Universe tests everything we think, say, and do. Karma’s only a bitch if you are.
Power
The ability to get things done - rooted in courage and grown in access to people and information. As the availability of knowledge and connectivity expands, so too does the availability of power. If power is what you seek, the time to start learning is now.
Respect
Respect is the art of understanding and valuing perspective. Only truth retains value and within each perspective is a piece of the truth. Through the embodiment of multiple perspectives you become able to see bits and pieces of universal truth- the places where perspectives align. Here, your truth grows truer and you become you-er. Respect is always a matter of perspective.
Talent
The special ability we possess to inspire and connect with the world. When talent is applied to areas of great passion we enter a state of flow - where learning speeds up and time slows down.
Energy
Greater energy comes from a greater presence. Those who establish presence in the moment radiate energy. We can feel it. To be present, we must be at peace; not lost in the past or worried for the future. Thus, ironically, to have more energy we must be more at peace.
Confidence
The fearless, limitless, failure is not an option mindset that arises from within when our passions collide with our purpose.
Failure
The lens through which we gain the proper perspective on success. Defined individually by our passions and our purpose, it is temporary pain, not defeat, a pitstop, not a dead end, it is our teacher on the road to extraordinary possibility
Intuition
The strongest power of the human mind to connect with the world that arises through simultaneous connections of all cognitive processes: the instinctive and the rational, the conscious and the subconscious, the human and the animal- resulting in sudden and immediate seizings of reality never before seen or imagined.
Persistence
The ability to endure hate, resistance, and defeat until what you wish to accomplish is complete.
Wealth
The power of the mind and spirit to flow freely and grow completely.
Desire
The irresistible craving to feel, that becomes action’s true motivator and habit’s creator.
Fear
A powerful emotional response rooted deep in our subconscious that hijacks rationality, sets imagination ablaze, and creates a lens to the future-- a lens of limitless possibility.
Courage
The triumph of fear that minimizes the risk and maximizes the reward.
Strategy
The art of planning what is invisible to others.
Loyalty
A lifelong promise to all that you love.
Growth
The ongoing process of developing your physical, mental, and spiritual value.
Creativity
The art of connecting the dots.
Imagination
The power to see the dots not yet connected, unleashed through the art of playing with perspective.
Leadership
The art of showing the world its true potential.
Mindset
The perspective you choose in navigating the world. High or low, it will take you wherever you let it go.
Chance
An opportunity sparked by the desire to grow, created through risking all that you know, and fueled by a fear of going with the flow.
Identity
The art of being unmistakable.
Dream
The art of creating the future.
Ambition
A burning desire to be your best, no matter the cost.
Genius
The right idea at the right time.
Love
It makes the fucking world go ‘round.
Competition
The critical driver of performance and innovation.
Winning
The natural result of being better than you were yesterday.
Peace
The most powerful form of understanding.
Wisdom
A fusion of the intuitive and rational minds catalyzed by taking risks… and surviving.
Strength
A degree of power, hidden in pain, learned in experience, and held together by faith.
Focus
The art of doing only what matters, to you.