What Does it Feel Like to See a Dream Come True?

Now, that’s not a question for everyone because not everyone has a dream. That’s not intended to be a slight or a negative statement; but it is a reality that I learned the hard way. You see, about 10 years ago I wrote a book called, Put Your Dream to the Test, and after it was released, I encountered person after person saying the same thing.

“But I don’t have a dream.”

Not exactly what you want to hear when you’ve just published a book about dreams. Still, it was a valuable lesson for my leadership journey, and one I’ve not forgotten. Which brings me back to my initial question:

What does it feel like to see a dream come true?

It’s no secret that one of my dreams is seeing a country transformed. Over the last few years, the vision of transformation has motivated everything I do, and it’s at the heart of everything my companies do. We want to see the world transformed—to see men and women, boys and girls, value other people and then demonstrate that value in the choices they make.

I dream of seeing a world full of leaders who make adding value to others a priority.

Now, that’s a big dream. It’s the kind of thing that’s too big for me to achieve on my own—I’ll not only need other people (obviously), but I’ll also need help from a much larger source. Something—some One—greater than me.

And I’m totally fine with that.

When we first started casting the vision of transformation, I didn’t think it was something I’d see in my lifetime. I believed it so much I told people that on the front end so they would understand that I had big dreams, but I wasn’t completely crazy.

Over time, as more and more people have joined me in my dream, I’ve come to realize that not only is transformation possible, but I believe I’ll see it before I die. I’ve gone from having a dream to having a belief, and that belief grows stronger every day.

It grows when I see thousands of people gather at an outdoor venue in Guatemala to learn about the values of leadership.

It grows when a fifth-grade girl stands in front of her entire classroom to recite a speech she wrote on becoming a transformational leader herself.

It grows when I think about the 500,000 school children going through our Values Roundtables right now during their school day in Guatemala.

It grows because I can see the impact that we are having by simply and consistently living and leading by adding value to people in everything we do.

What I wrote in Put Your Dream to the Test is still true today: every person who sees a dream come true must first own that dream. They must see it clearly, and chase after it passionately with every strategy, skill, and talent they possess. Dreamers must call others to their dream and pay the price to move forward together with tenacity.

But most of all, a dreamer must see and desire all the ways their dream will benefit others more than it benefits themselves.

I’ve seen a lot of dreams come true in my life, but what I’m experiencing now is something different, something deeper, and it’s something I want so many others to experience too. I want everyone to know what it feels like to see a God-sized dream come true, because it is amazing in a way I can’t even describe.

To quote my friend, Kevin Myers, I want more for you than I want from you. And I want bigger things for you now more than ever.

Let’s make it happen.

To hear more about transformation, you can download a special episode of The John Maxwell Leadership Podcast on Friday, April 5^th. The episode features a candid conversation between myself and my CEO, Mark Cole, that will give you greater insight into what our team is seeing in our work around the world.