I love dreams and people who aren’t afraid to share them.
To divulge your deepest hopes and desires takes guts. When you open up your dreams to others you are also encouraging the extent to which you have accomplished those dreams to be put on a realistic scale. It shifts your dreams from up in the hazy, day dreaming space in your head to the action orientated reality. It forces you to think about who you wanted to be and who you actually are. To honestly ask yourself if what you are doing and where you are is what you want to be doing and where you want to be. This can be scary. No-one wants to realise that they are heading in a direction they didn’t want to go, doing something they don’t like and living somewhere they hate with someone they don’t love.
But this is why the intersection between dreams and reality is important.
Scary yes. But totally worth it. Some people like to call them reality checks, but I think dream checks is better. Not prioritising that you are being realistic but prioritising that you are living your dreams. Dreams are realised, they change, they evolve, they adapt. So thanks to the inspiration from Kyle, Richenda and Rachel – who all wrote about their dreams, today I am having a dream check.
Sunrise cartwheels on the beach in Thailand.
When I was about 10 I decided I was going to be the sports physiotherapist for the Australian Olympic team.
I would work once every four years when the Olympics was on, I would get to travel the world, and in between I would have a family and be a writer. Easy. I had the best plan. I would be perfect for this life. My whole child hood I was either playing sport or reading books, writing poems and talking. My school reports alway said I was good at spelling and sport but talked too much and was a little bossy. However, when I was in my last years of senior school and started doing work experience, physiotherapy all of a sudden stopped appealing.
It seemed too much of a distinct, definite and decided career path for me.
Instead I began coaching kids in all types of sports and did a science degree and a commerce degree. I travelled lots. Read lots. Exercised lots. Talked lots.
Although I never became the physiotherapist for the Olympic team (note that I wanted to be THE physio not just one of…) I do feel content with achieving the reason behind that. I wanted to understand the human body and be surrounded by inspiring people who are driven and challenge themselves. I wanted to encourage people to live happy, healthy and active lives. And I wanted to travel. Over the past decade I have coached, encouraged and motivated children and adults to row, ski, run, play netball, do aerobics, attend spin classes and just do stuff. I have also travelled all over the world, met my perfect man and through a degree in human physiology and neuroscience, I get some of what makes the amazing human body tick.
Me and my perfect match at amazing Palmyra in Syria in 2008.
Along the way I also realised that not everyone has the opportunity to live a happy, healthy life.
So this was my next dream. I wanted to help make the world a better place.
I started a masters in international development and spent the next few years managing everything digital and social at Save the Children Australia. I wanted more children to know the feeling of being happy and healthy. To grow up running around outdoors, eating nutritious food and having a family that encourages and supports you to live your dreams. It sounds corny, but I wanted to be part of changing the world. And I was. And I still am. After a few years in the non-profit sector I realised you do not need to work for a development organisation to change the world, and that perhaps it was not the most effective and efficient avenue for me. That my skills, knowledge and passion could have more impact elsewhere.
Today technology is the catalyst for change.
So now I am connecting and empowering people in companies, governments, universities and non-profit organisations with Yammer. We are enabling people to do their job better. They can find information faster, work more efficiently, share knowledge easily and collaborate effortlessly so the bigger problems are solved. Yammer is changing the way organisations work. And that is changing the world. It’s exciting.
I don’t feel like I am done with this dream just yet so I am going to keep on chasing it. I want to be part of technology making the world a better place, by connecting and empowering people. While I do that I am going to write and run and encourage others to do the same. Sounds good for now. But you never know, tomorrow I might wake up with a new one. I love dreams.
Have you had a dream check recently?
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