3166: Bring Back Your Childhood Dreams by Chris of Keep Thrifty on Improving Mental Health & Self-Help

[00:00:00] Delicious, meat nutritious and the snack that packs a real protein punch, Wonderful Pistachios.

[00:00:05] Each 1 ounce serving has 6 grams of protein, giving you over 10% of your daily value and

[00:00:10] making Wonderful Pistachios one of the highest protein nuts out there. But perhaps more than

[00:00:15] that, I love all of the flavors they have. Their sea salt and vinegar ones are my favorite when

[00:00:20] I'm craving that flavor but still want to keep it healthy. But that's just the tip of the

[00:00:24] iceberg. Wonderful Pistachios come in a variety of flavors like chili roasted, honey roasted,

[00:00:30] smoky barbecue and jalapeno lime to name a few. Perfect for enjoying with family or friends and

[00:00:36] taking them with you on the go. Whether you're a pistachio purist who loves cracking open every

[00:00:41] nut or you prefer the convenience of no-shells pistachios, Wonderful Pistachios has got you

[00:00:47] covered. Grab Wonderful Pistachios and elevate your snacking game today so fill up with a

[00:00:52] healthy snack when hunger strikes. Visit WonderfulPistachios.com to learn more.

[00:00:58] That's WonderfulPistachios.com. This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 3166,

[00:01:05] Bring Back Your Childhood Dreams by Chris of KeepThrifty.com and I'm Justin Molyk.

[00:01:12] I'm going to jump right into today's post as we optimize your life.

[00:01:19] Bring Back Your Childhood Dreams by Chris of KeepThrifty.com.

[00:01:24] Some people have great clarity of what's on their bucket list, the things that they want to

[00:01:29] accomplish with their life. But others struggle, not even knowing where to start. If you're

[00:01:35] struggling with finding big dreams worth chasing, consider seeking inspiration from a

[00:01:40] younger version of yourself, digging up your childhood dreams. Children have an amazing

[00:01:47] ability to dream, to think of possibilities for the future without care for what's possible

[00:01:53] practical or socially acceptable. As we get older, our vision for our lives tends to narrow

[00:02:00] as we're influenced by the messages we get from our peers, media and advertising. Some of this

[00:02:07] shift comes under the guise of practicality but too often we end up discarding dreams that could

[00:02:12] be worth pursuing. As my wife and I have explored goals in our own lives, one of the

[00:02:19] recurring things we've seen is how the spirit of our childhood dreams still speak to us.

[00:02:25] So think back to your childhood. What did you want to be when you grew up?

[00:02:29] How did you picture your life? Where would you live? Where would you travel? How would

[00:02:35] you spend your days? Do any of those dreams still speak to you? A little white shack.

[00:02:42] When my wife Jamie was young, she dreamed of living in a little white shack with the

[00:02:46] lover of her life and kids. She didn't dream of having a ton of possessions or living in luxury,

[00:02:53] just being close to the people that mattered most to her and focusing on quality time together.

[00:02:58] Our grown-up sensibilities would tell us that our path should have been climbing the corporate

[00:03:04] ladder, upsizing to a bigger house, and pursuing the material goods that show you've made it.

[00:03:10] But her dream as a child was a pure and honest reflection of her character.

[00:03:16] Raw and unfiltered, it reflects her true priorities. Priorities that I share.

[00:03:22] Over the last few years, we've shed the possessions that didn't add value to our life

[00:03:27] and downsized to a space that suited a more moderate lifestyle. With our recent purchase of

[00:03:33] a small piece of land, we now have plans to build our little white shack and make that dream

[00:03:39] come true. What if your dream isn't all that practical though? It's easy enough to minimize

[00:03:45] and downsize, but what about a dream that seems unachievable? Reframing dreams using

[00:03:53] wise. Maybe as a kid you wanted to be an astronaut. While certainly a legitimate profession,

[00:04:00] it's not exactly the easiest job to get into. There are only about 150 in the world

[00:04:06] at any given time. Setting that as your goal now may be the right move. If you're all in,

[00:04:12] I say go for it. But if it's out of reach or something would disqualify you altogether

[00:04:17] or conflicts with other goals you have, you needn't give everything up, you just need to

[00:04:23] reframe it. A great method to doing this is to use the why method. Let me explain.

[00:04:30] We all did this as kids so it should be easy to resurrect. Don't accept your goals at face

[00:04:35] value. Ask why. Then ask why again and again and again until you get to an answer that speaks to

[00:04:45] the heart of what your goal truly was. So let's play through the astronaut example.

[00:04:51] I want to be an astronaut. Why? I wish I could get into space. Why? I love the thought of

[00:04:59] in zero gravity. Why? The thought of feeling weightless sounds so freeing. Why? Because

[00:05:07] I'd be like a bird able to soar without touching anything. As we went through these questions,

[00:05:13] each answer led to something more practical and more actionable. By the end, we have a target

[00:05:20] that still accomplishes the goal without all the constraints and challenge of becoming an

[00:05:25] actual astronaut. We can get to the heart of the dream, being able to soar, in a variety of ways.

[00:05:33] Save up $5,000 and go on a zero gravity flight. Get a pilot's license or try out hang gliding.

[00:05:41] Any of these are significantly more achievable than becoming an astronaut

[00:05:45] but still embodies the spirit of the original dream. If you had wanted to be an astronaut as

[00:05:51] a kid, you now have three really cool options that you can put on your list and start pursuing.

[00:05:58] Why's in action? As a kid, I wanted to do a ton of things when I got older. I wanted to be

[00:06:05] a standup comedian. I wanted to be a stay at home dad. I wanted to be a teacher. I wanted

[00:06:11] to run my own business and create software. Any of these might be possible but doing all

[00:06:16] simultaneously by those definitions would probably require a cloning machine. By using why's though,

[00:06:23] I've been able to get to the core of each of these in a way that makes them achievable

[00:06:27] regardless of my situation. I said I wanted to be a standup comedian but what I really wanted

[00:06:33] was to bring people joy, to make them laugh. I get a chance to try this with my wife and kids

[00:06:39] every day, much to their chagrin, with my cheesy sense of humor. I said I wanted to be

[00:06:45] a stay at home dad but what I really wanted was to be a present father, to give my children love

[00:06:51] and attention. I get a chance to do this with the time we carve out together for movie nights,

[00:06:57] daddy daughter dates, and everywhere in between. I said I wanted to be a teacher but what I

[00:07:03] really wanted was a chance to share knowledge and help others. I get to do this through this

[00:07:09] blog, sharing what I've learned and learning from my readers as well. I said I wanted to

[00:07:15] run my own business and create software. What I really wanted was a chance to create something

[00:07:21] meaningful and impactful that I own end-to-end. The work I've done the last two years with this

[00:07:27] blog and with my app, Thrifty, have been a great way to fulfill this. What were your dreams?

[00:07:34] As you look for inspiration and for dreams worth chasing, think back to what you wanted as a kid.

[00:07:40] Dig into each possibility with the goal of finding the heart of what that dream was really

[00:07:46] about. When you get there, you'll likely find a world of opportunity and excitement for the

[00:07:52] future. Happy dreaming! You just listened to the post titled Bring Back Your Childhood Dreams

[00:08:02] by Chris of KeepThrifty.com and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:08:07] Thank you to Chris! I think this could work the other way around too. So for example,

[00:08:13] when I was a kid and my mom remembers this well, I wanted to be a pediatrician with four kids

[00:08:19] and even in a specific order boy girl girl boy but that's definitely not what I want now.

[00:08:26] Using the Y method, I think I just wanted to help kids my age at that time. Now it's more about

[00:08:33] helping anyone at any age by sharing great articles. Pretty close. After that, I wanted

[00:08:40] to work in an office. Well, have my own office actually. But now my office is in my

[00:08:46] house and I much prefer that and working for myself instead of for someone else.

[00:08:52] Using the Y method, I think I just wanted status. Which actually isn't important to me now.

[00:08:59] So I think it could also give us a bit of perspective of where we came from and see how

[00:09:03] we changed over the years and what it is that we truly want now. And if we're there or if

[00:09:09] there's something else we should be working on to get there. And of course keeping in mind

[00:09:14] that always searching for the next best thing will constantly leave us unsatisfied.

[00:09:21] Which is what we talked about yesterday and the day before. If you want more about

[00:09:25] making life pleasurable as it is now and having enough, I'd recommend checking out

[00:09:30] the previous two episodes. And speaking of status, I have an article about that tomorrow

[00:09:35] coincidentally so be sure to check that one out too. But that'll do it for today. Hopefully

[00:09:40] this one helps you in your journey. Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow for

[00:09:45] the Friday Show. We're your optimal life. Bye weights!