Why does a person need a dream, is it useful to dream: psychology

There is probably no person in the world who has not indulged in dreams at least once in his life. It all starts from childhood - thoughts about the future arise in our clean heads. Psychologists say that in this way the child’s thinking is formed and the person’s imagination develops. They also note that most children’s dreams are illusions that are unlikely to ever come true. But this fact does not confuse the little ones in any way; fortunately, they have a short memory for disappointments. Streams of thoughts form in their heads and what is important to them is what is happening now, at the moment. Everything else flows away like a river that has no future or past.

Adults often become the main listeners to the dreams of their beloved child - he can talk for hours on end about what he would like. Because the world of dreams, magic and all possibilities is the world of a baby. In addition, they have an amazing imagination that has no boundaries. But as soon as years are added, a person grows up - dreams become more meager. We only think about what is possible. And the older a person is, the more impossible it is for him. That is, dreams become scarcer. And in vain! Psychologists are alarmed by the pragmatism of people. They have lost the opportunity to think, even if it is not possible, but good.

Dreaming is not only pleasant, but also useful! And then together we will learn a number of reasons why people should be dreamers.

What is a dream?

A dream is a product of the imagination, detached from reality in the present and aimed at activities in the future, carried out for the sake of realizing desires. The process of throwing refers to the conscious creation of possible images of the future. If some people have dreams that are as close to reality as possible, others dream of something fabulous and fantastic.

Every person in childhood and adolescence often indulges in dreams, but the older he gets, the more everyday responsibilities and needs crowd out dreams. Is it reasonable to dream of traveling to Niagara Falls when all your time and energy is spent on work and family?

It is worth remembering that dreams do not arise out of nowhere and are a reflection of the subconscious. Adults most often dream of something mundane, necessary for self-development and improving the quality of life. And then there are people whom society is accustomed to calling dreamers.

You are your dreams

Everyone knows that in our dreams we create an ideal future. That is, we are planning an ideal situation, without which not a single expected event is possible. Therefore, it is important to know what a person dreams of, what he expects from life. Not everyone, surprisingly, can decide on specific desires. This is the reason that they do not come true. Everything should have clear outlines. But don’t be upset, this situation can always be corrected, it’s like a mirror that just needs to be wiped with a clean rag.

Dreams and daydreaming

Daydreaming is a trait characteristic of individuals who consciously withdraw from reality. To some extent, this is an indicator of indecision and the presence of difficulties with self-determination.

Daydreaming as a character trait is formed in early childhood under the influence of unfavorable developmental conditions: rudeness, violence, loneliness and dislike. The child tries to compensate for the missing feelings and emotions with the help of a dream in which, for example, the mother does not excuse herself by being constantly busy, but can spend the whole evening with the child playing together.

Or there may be cases when a person dreams, but does not strive to take action to realize his dream. As a result, the dream remains just that, and this characterizes the person as an indecisive and unsure person.

Important

A dream must be the basis for a life goal, otherwise it will begin to hinder personal development and make a person unviable.

Unlived impressions and lost experience

It turns out that a dream (even one not related to work) is the point from which changes can start.

And this is an excellent alternative to walking in a vicious circle and being under-fulfilled. In my opinion, under-realization consists of two components: under-received impressions and unlived meanings.

How to understand them, these components?

I offer two techniques to help you explore and fill the gap in these resources.

Making up for lost impressions: exercise “100 things worth doing while you’re alive.”

Make your own list. Most likely, these will be the very impressions that you are missing now - inspiring bright moments, shelved in anticipation of a bright future. But now they can become a source of a bright present. No delay! The list may include both difficult-to-implement items (climb Machu Picchu or walk the red carpet in Cannes) and easy-to-implement ones (go on a weekend hike with the kids or attend a dessert-making master class). Sometimes difficult things only seem that way. One listener of my lectures shared that she would like to one day feel like a soldier Jane, but this is unrealistic without joining the army. The next day, she was sent a link to the Camp GI Jane website, where on the first page a group of girls were running through the mud - everything was as ordered. A ten-day program where you can feel like GI Jane to the fullest.

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Why does a person need a dream?

It is foolish to dispute the benefits of a dream, because it helps a person develop his imagination and distract himself from routine and monotonous life. But besides this, the ability to dream also performs many other important functions:

A dream gives birth to a goal. When a person begins to dream, he unconsciously evaluates the opportunity to make the dream come true, that is, he is encouraged to set a specific goal. The goal, in turn, helps a person improve and achieve success. If a dream cannot be made your goal, then it will not bring a positive result, remaining a dream.
A dream releases energy. When you dream about something, your source of internal energy is activated and much-needed goals appear to move forward. Thanks to a dream, your thinking opens up, and the released energy significantly increases its effectiveness. Due to this energy, your brain has the ability to calculate many ways out of a difficult life situation on the way to achieving an important goal.
Dreams develop creativity. Daydreaming helps you maximize your creativity and engages the imaginative areas of your brain. It is dreams that form such a quality as creativity in a person. Changes occur at the physiological level as the brain is replenished with more neural connections.
A dream motivates action. A dream helps a person get up from the heated sofa and begin to implement the assigned tasks. A person who has no dreams at all is prone to idleness and indecision. He simply doesn’t want to do anything, because in the absence of a dream he has no goal.
A dream helps you not to give up. If you have a dream, then you will never deviate from your chosen path and even in moments of despair you will remember why you are doing certain things. No matter how bad and difficult it may be for you, your dream will not allow you to quit what you have started and will always give you strength to overcome difficulties.
Dreams tend to come true. If a person does not dream of something transcendental, then he has a unique chance to make his dream come true. It is very important to remember that it is dangerous to break away from reality even in your dreams, otherwise you may be disappointed.

What to do to make your dreams come true

Imagine for a moment that you are a programmer who is asked to create a program for the human brain. The work should be done in such a way that when finished you can press the Inter key and everything will work. But this program is called Dream, which needs to be loaded onto the flash drive of our thinking. But it’s not enough to just write a project, you also need to make it so that you can click on Inter, that is, make your wishes come true. Let’s find out in detail what is needed for this.

Imagine for a moment that your wish has come true. And look at the current situation as if from above, play it out in your thoughts. Well, do you like it? Is this what you wanted? Believe me, this exercise allows everyone, without exception, to remove unnecessary dreams from the list and will allow you to focus only on the necessary and important ones. Thanks to the action, you will be able to refine your aim and shoot at the target without interference. And if you waste time on trifles, think about absurdities, then there can be no talk of any realization. Because time and effort are wasted on unnecessary things.
Formulate your thoughts clearly. Many people construct sentences incorrectly and project the future poorly. For example, if a person thinks that he wants a lot of money, then if it appears, it will flow away like water. Another is thinking about visiting England - also wrong. You need to think - I want to be wealthy, have a good job. Thanks to the complexity of the goal, there will be a lot of money and opportunities to realize other desires.
Make an accurate calculation. If you want to achieve what you want, take a sheet of paper and divide it into two parts with a strip. On the left we write the desire, on the right the actions that need to be carried out. This makes it possible to clearly calculate the steps of what and who needs to be attracted. For example, there is a desire to occupy a certain position. Why they don’t take it - we write all this on the right side. And we begin to work on the mistakes, step by step.
Let's get rid of doubts. If you don’t believe in anything, then nothing will come true. Wishes come true for those who believe in their dream and its realization. Also, you should not question your desires because of age, poor income and other circumstances. Are you not familiar with the amazing stories of those who overnight became millionaires and received an inheritance from an unknown person? Categorically do not allow viruses into your thoughts that can disable the program for a prosperous future.
Hurry up slowly. The dream must be real and achievable. This isn't to say that you shouldn't covet what others have, just be careful with the scale. This is necessary in order not to be upset because of an unrealizable desire and wasted effort and effort. In any case, most people shouldn’t expect much right away; this is only possible with a miracle, which also takes place in our lives. Hurry towards your dream in equal and slow steps. Divide the segment to the desire into parts and go through each of them in turn. It's like doing abdominal exercises. Fitness club trainers know that long classes and heavy workload only lead to breakdowns. Cubes appear if a person exercises for 20-30 minutes a day for a long time. Remember the Chinese proverb: “A millennium begins with the first steps.”

What stops people from dreaming

All people, without exception, initially have the ability to dream. However, under the influence of certain factors, a person may lose this ability. Some people lose this skill in childhood. A person can be deprived of the ability to dream:

Authoritarian parenting style. If parents are too strict and demanding of their child, then by their behavior they themselves wean him from dreaming. “Stop dreaming in the clouds!”, “Dreams won’t feed you!” Statements of this kind can completely deprive a child of the ability to dream and turn him into a closed person, aimed at satisfying primitive needs and stuck in his comfort zone.
Overprotection. Excessive guardianship will also not lead to good things. If a child is prevented from expressing independence from early childhood, he will eventually grow up to be an infantile and irresponsible person. And such people do not know how to transform a dream into a goal; their dreams are in the nature of fantasies and nothing more.
Increased practicality. A person fixated on achieving only financial well-being does not leave himself the opportunity to spend the evening in idle dreams. He perceives the dream as something useless and unable to bring real benefit.
Personality characteristics. People prone to anxiety or depression do not tend to dream at all. Their entire thought process is directed towards self-pity or criticism of others. Frankly speaking, their thinking is generally destructive. Be that as it may, a dream is a manifestation of individuality, and what kind of individuality can one talk about if a person is mired in suffering, most often completely far-fetched.
Narrow outlook. A low level of education also does not contribute to the ability to dream. Real true dreams are available only to those who strive for self-development. Erudite people understand and, importantly, accept the importance of the fact that the dream must be correct and serve as the basis for a real goal.
Inferiority complexes. If a person is not confident in himself and his capabilities, then he simply does not think about dreams. He has many more mundane thoughts that do not let him go day or night. There is simply no free time left for dreams.
Emotional burnout. Tired people only think about how to abandon their boring responsibilities and have a good rest. And the main dream in such a state would be perhaps exile to Siberia, somewhere far away from people and routine worries.

If you have experienced traumatic events that have led to the formation of internal barriers, then be prepared to overcome them. Allow yourself to develop and move on the path of self-improvement.

Important

Don't set unattainable goals. If you have a big dream, then break the path to achieving it into many small tasks and take a step towards it every day. Thus, you will be able to see the result of your labors every day and will no longer be able to stop.

Dreams as visualization

Visualization is a detailed representation of something highly desired. In essence, this is what dreams are. We imagine pictures, feel tastes and touches, pass ideas through ourselves and for a long time store the emotions generated by dreams. Dreams as visualization are a powerful tool in psychotherapy.

The benefits of visualization and self-hypnosis in psychology have been known for a long time. This method allows you to change a person’s thinking and improve the quality of life. It turns out that dreaming is useful, but it is important to do it correctly:

Set your priorities. Just like in real life, in dreams you shouldn’t take on many things at once. Visualization takes almost as much energy as actually doing the task. Therefore, it is not recommended to dream about many things at the same time - the risk of exhaustion is high. Maximum – 5 wishes. These should be the most cherished and realistic desires. You must have the ability to execute them or be able to obtain and develop all the necessary tools and resources.
Specificity and accuracy of formulations. Present your desire in detail, use numbers, names of places, etc. For example, you want to lose weight. The goal of “losing weight” is too abstract. Add to this the weight you want to lose and the period during which you want to get rid of it. Better yet, replace the word “lose weight” with “become slim.” And to add that I want to achieve this in a healthy way. After all, you can become thin in different ways, for example, due to stress. Only in this case you risk becoming thin and exhausted, and not slim and healthy.
Affirmations and dreams in real time. Affirmation is a setting for self-hypnosis. For example, “I am slim and healthy.” This is an example of a good affirmation: short, clear, in the present tense. It is important to think about something as if it has already happened.
Confidence and positivity. People are very skeptical about self-hypnosis, and affirmations do not always work. But they do not work only if the person himself does not believe in them, does not believe in what he is doing and what he wants.
Search and collection of resources. Assess what you already have to achieve your goal. Write it down. Now determine what you need to get, think about how to do it. Think about your qualities, knowledge, skills, abilities, connections, etc.
Turn your dream into a goal. Yes, just dreams really have little chance of coming true. You need to put effort into this. If you repeat affirmations about losing weight, but at the same time lie on the couch and eat buns, then you are unlikely to achieve a slim and toned body. But if you make a nutrition and training plan and stick to it, you will see results. And affirmations in this case will give confidence and have an additional positive and motivating effect.

Dreams, like words, are endowed with enormous power. They influence our subconscious, and through it our consciousness. Have you heard the phrase “fear what you wish for”? Probably no. But it works. With dreams, we lay down a subconscious development program, and therefore we need to be attentive to the wording and hidden meanings of what we dream about.

Reasoning

For some, dreams become a guide for action. For whom do they serve as a secluded place where you can escape from reality? Perhaps these are not dreams at all, but only a cool plan of action and fantasy? Is it necessary to dream at all? Dreams are the first stage of the chain where they turn into desires. Desire turns into goals, goals turn into actions, actions into achievement! It's simple: those who don't dream don't achieve. A dream is something that every person should have, and it doesn’t even matter what he dreams about. When a person does not do this, his life is not so bright and exciting at all. Dreams are simply necessary and useful for us. All dreaming people make various masterpieces.

The gray everyday life around us deprives us of the opportunity to imagine a different, beautiful picture of life for ourselves. And our ideas about the ideal future give us strength and impetus. Yes, people need to dream in order to realize their thoughts in life, find their way to success, and move forward. It is from a dream that a person’s goals emerge, and this is even more serious. A dream is a person’s thoughts and wishes, and a goal is precisely actions. Making your dreams come true is a story of attempts, mistakes and victories. The combination of these factors helps to realize the dream. You need to be motivated to be happy and confidently go your own way. It is very important to talk, write or draw about your dreams. So you can clearly see it. This is why various visualization maps are made. But this is not enough. We also need real steps towards fulfillment of desires. The surrounding reality, unfortunately, can ruin your dream. But this does not mean that dreaming is bad or unimportant.

The ability to think is not only intended as a catalyst for individual growth, but also becomes our main tool in the face of failure and sadness. An individual who gives freedom to the imagination, tries to come to something, constantly acquires many beliefs in himself, in order to rise after the fall and begin to exist again, since there is a standard around him to which it is necessary to strive.

If everything in our life is good and smooth, our desires do not become less significant. As we understand it, life without desires cannot be happy. If you have no idea of the goal towards which you are confidently moving, you will not be able to go far.

A dream gives us the meaning of life, paints it in different colors, fills it with good content. You need to love and take care of your desires, no matter what!