Got this notion the other day after having a conversation with my son: Dreaming is Brainstorming.

Not the dreams you dream at night but the ones you engage in during your waking hours.

I’m also not referring to daydreams – they’re dreams that dream you. They just pop up without conscious volition.

The dreams that I’m addressing are the ones where you consciously dream about how things could be. These dream sessions serve as a catalyst for new ideas to pop up – just like brainstorming.

If you’re the type that doesn’t brainstorm very well (I’m included in that list), then dreaming can act as your catalyst. The reason I’m not very good at brainstorming is my mind immediately generates all the reasons why the idea presented won’t work. Brainstorming is like improv: you take what’s given to you and run with it. That’s how you get to the idea that could work.

But dreaming is free-form. You don’t come up with reasons why the dream won’t work because you say, “It’s only a dream.”

Reminds me of a story . . . many years ago I was on the phone with a friend and we were bitching and moaning about life. Somewhere in the middle of our conversation the following came to me: I said, “Do you know what our problem is? We’ve stopped dreaming.”

We were so locked in to the notion that life wasn’t working that we were blinded to options that dreaming could provide.

Your next brainstorm can come out of a dream. Make some time in your day to consciously dream. It just may be the catalyst to wake you up from your nightmare.

All the best,

John