Jeremy Cage’s life mission is to help unleash the full potential of as many businesses and as many people as he possibly can. His business experience spans three decades of delivering strong, profitable business growth for Procter & Gamble, Schering-Plough Healthcare, PepsiCo, The Lighting Science Group, and his own firm, The Cage Group.
He is a truly global citizen, having lived and worked in Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, and the United States. He is also the author of All Dreams on Deck.
“Most of us will die full of potential because we dream vaguely and dread specifically”
1. Dream Specifically and Dread Vaguely
In our day to day lives, we get caught up in a trap of dreaming vaguely and dreading specifically.
We know that we want to travel the world, quit our jobs, start a company, and find the love of our lives.
But…
If we travel the world, we run the risk of getting kidnapped by a nefarious terrorist group that will hold us in a cave inside of the mountains and keep us until someone pays our ransom of $5,000,000 or we die from malnutrition.
If we quit our jobs, we will lose exactly $7,500 a month in income, run the risk of never financially recovering, burn every bridge in the world, and …
The list goes on and on and on.
The reality is that we should be dreaming specifically and dreading vaguely.
The worst that can happen is rarely that bad, and if you get specific, you have an unlimited potential to achieve all of your dreams.
2. Climb the Ladder of Intention
Most of us have dreams, but we are not intentional about them.
We have these ideas in our head about things that would be “nice” to do.
We think that it would be “nice” to achieve the body of our dreams, have a passionate and loving marriage, earn 6 or 7-figures, backpack across Europe, go skydiving in New Zealand, or finally start up that line of awesome gym wear.
But we don’t act.
We don’t set the intention.
If you want to achieve your dreams, then you must start by climbing up the ladder of intentionality.
The first rung of the ladder, where most of us reside, is the rung of thought.
We think about what we would like, but we leave it at that. We relegate our dreams to the plain of our imagination and never move on from there.
Moving up the ladder, we then come to the rung of writing. This is where we take the first step in moving our dreams forward by writing them down with clear parameters and a specific deadline.
This can be as simple as writing down our goals in a journal or creating a comprehensive plan with step by step actions that we are going to take.
Then, once we have leveled up our intentions and written our dreams down, the third step is to actually state our dreams to the world.
Whether you tell your wife about your new intention of showing up as the best husband ever (and tangible steps you are going to take to achieve that goal) or make a statement on social media about when and why you will quit your job, this step makes your dreams more visceral.
You now have other people holding you accountable and expecting greatness from you.
It’s harder to back down on your dreams when your whole social circle is there holding you accountable for the intention that you set.
The final level of intention is to actually take action.
To leave the “what if’s” and “I cant’s” behind and to actually start making moves towards achieving what you want.
If you are serious about living your dream life, then you need to start by climbing the ladder of intention.
Imagine your goals in your mind, write them on paper, tell loved ones about your plans, and then take massive action to achieve it!
3. Create Dreams for Each of Your Grab Bags
Each of us has our own personal “grab bags” or areas of life that we hold dear.
For some of us its adventure for others its stability.
For some of us its intimacy and for others its excitement.
No matter what your personal grab bags are, you need to create and clearly articulate your dreams for each.
Is health a grab bag for you?
Then define your dream. Write out and climb the ladder of intention with your health, declare what you want your body to look and feel like and then go out and take the action necessary to make it happen.
Is your relationship with your wife a grab bag?
Then define your dreams for your relationship. How many times do you go out for dates? How do you treat her and speak to her? How do you show up as the passionate and loving man you have the potential to be?
If you want to die empty and truly live a 10/10 life, then you need to determine what is important to you and define your dreams for each area of your life.