I had this dream about Richard Branson last week. No, not that kind of dream. Just a dream. A dream about nothing, really. I remember seeing him walk into the room, coming over to me and extending his hand. He said “Hi, I’m Richard Branson” to which I replied, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
He walked away and I just stood there thinking “I just met freakin’ Richard Branson! ”That was it. The end of the dream.
Strange? Yes. Bizarre? Sure. I mean, I am a fan. He’s unique, entertaining, and defies conventional business wisdom and I really do love that. But, I can’t say that I go to bed thinking of him every night.
Do dreams really mean anything?
The dream seemed to come out of nowhere and I wondered why Sir Richard found his way into my dreams.
There are a multitude of theories to include those from heavyweights such as Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. Many see dreams as just nonsense and believe it’s our brain creating fragments of images from our memory.
For others, however, dreams are full of symbolic messages that may not be clear to us on the surface. A common thread to all theories seems to be that if we just dig a little deeper and think about what is going on in our life, we’ll usually come up with an interpretation that makes sense.
I’ve honestly never given nocturnal dreams much consideration but I thought it would be a fun exercise to do a little research. The dream about Richard Branson stood out a bit so I wondered what was percolating in my mind. I’ve found that it’s apparently common to dream about celebrities. Who knew? I don’t recall dreaming of any before. Richard Branson is as much of a celebrity as an entrepreneur, I believe, so I’m glad he was my first.
There was an interesting article on Huffington Post about dreams and celebrities.Behavioral therapist, Shelly Smith, says “Celebrities portray and carry some kind of message that’s associated with personal accomplishment.Furthermore, Smith says, “The people who pay attention to their dreams are going to get a lot out of their dreams, no matter what.”
Hmmm, okay, so let’s just go with this train of thought for the minute. I’ve never been a person to miss an opportunity to learn.
What message is Sir Richard portraying that it was so important that he was visiting my dreams? Turns out, quite a lot. Oh, I don’t hope to be the entrepreneur that he is or have an innate desire to have a trans-Atlantic journey in a balloon but there are certain ideals that he holds that are quite important to me.
In an article from March 2014, BBC News highlighted what Sir Richard believes are his Top Ten Tips for success. Although I’ve never felt you should try to be like anyone other than yourself, inspiration does come in many forms.
I’m inspired by his non-traditional approach to life and business. He goes for it – with major gusto! You may not be an entrepreneur like he is but the principles he puts forth are still motivating and worth thinking about.
Overall, I’d say these are the top six tips for success that resonate the most:
1. “Follow your dreams and just do it.”
Follow your dreams and get involved in life and the things that interest you. If you are going to create a business, make sure it is your hobby, your passion or something that you really enjoy. If you are going to work for someone, make sure it inspires to to get out of bed everyday and your environment is motivating. If you are going to take up something in your spare time make sure it is something that you truly want to do and are not just pressured into doing.
2. “Make a positive difference and do some good.”
No matter what you are doing , you can make a hell of a difference in this world. If you are in a position of power like running your own business, use that responsibility wisely to affect positive change. Maybe you are the baseball coach , or maybe you are not even the leader. Doesn’t matter. We can all do our part and it DOES make a difference.
3. “Believe in your ideas and be the best.”
You definitely need to believe in your ideas.” “You’ve got to have passion for it and you’ve got to be able to inspire other people to have a passion for it too.
4. “Have fun and look after your team.”
Make sure that you’ve got the kinds of people in your life that you work with and that you spend time with socially that have a positive impact on you. People who genuinely care about people, who look for the best in people and who praise and don’t criticize.
5. “Make lots of lists and keep setting yourself new challenges.”
“I make copious lists because I think it’s the little details that make for an exceptional life vs. an ordinary life. In this way you catch the details and it refreshes your mind in setting new challenges and targets.”
6. “When people say bad things about you, just prove them wrong.”
“I think the best thing to do is just to prove them wrong in every single way.”
He also said “Do what you love and have a sofa in the kitchen.” I’m still pondering that one. To me, these six thoughts sum up some pretty awesome sentiments about life, success, leaders, and engaging everyone around you. So I’m glad that for whatever subliminal messages were trying to get my attention arose.
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It’s time to hear from you.
Everyone has a story; everyone has wisdom and insight. Tell us about the wisdom that you would pass down to others.
I would love to know 1) Do your nocturnal dreams actually mean anything and 2) What success tip would you pass along?
