As many people who are familiar with my work know, dreams have been the foundation of all that I have done and currently do. In a post on my other blog “life of HIMM,” I have referenced my dreams as my “career guidance counselor.” Dreams have pointed out work that I would being doing at a later point in my career, as well as provide me tips and techniques for certain aspects of the work at the time.

A few days ago, I awoke from a short dream, that, at the time, seemed very simple in nature, but little did I know it would be the launching pad for a new coaching program. In my dream, I am standing in front of a mirror. I am shaving off my mustache.

As I lay in bed, pondering the dream, I ran through, in my mind, the steps I would use if I were working on the dream with a client. I ran through some of the symbolism in my mind. I thought about the mirror and my mustache, especially. When I work with a client, I use a process called free or personal association; the process allows the dreamer to come up with his or her own interpretation of the symbols. This is an important process, as it allows the dreamer to define the symbols and interpret the dream on his or her own terms, since the dreamer is the author (creator) of the dream, the dreamer is the expert, and really knows what the dream means.

In my case, when I think of a mirror, I think of something that reproduces an image. Since the image being reproduced is my own, I then see the mirror as a symbol of self-reflection. The scene could be a visual pun that says I need to take a look at myself, or I need to look myself in the face. And while I have touched on my face, I then started to explore the symbolism of a face in the dream. A face can represent my identity; this can mean there is something I need to face, or see, about myself. Seeing something can be about perception, insight, and understanding. So, there’s something I can “identify” with pertaining to the dream. My mustache is the symbol that provided the most insight. A mustache is connected to the face, as it is hair that has grown on the face. So, for me, the mustache symbolizes some form of growth. I was intrigued at the act of shaving off the mustache, which, to me, suggests removal. I asked myself a question that produced an a-ha moment: What was the reason for growing the mustache? The answer was that I grew it when I was working at my corporate job, and when I thought about that, the realization came to me. As I have transitioned out of that job to become a coach and entrepreneur, I have changed my perception of who I am, and the dream is acknowledging the change in identity by saying I need to be seeing myself differently.

The work with a dream does not end with interpreting a dream. There is another part of the work that is equally important, and that is the application of the dream. Basically what this means is that the dreamer then asks, What do I do with this dream in my waking life? I thought momentarily about shaving off the mustache, but I like it and didn’t feel that was what the dream was asking me to do.The question made me think of coaching, and then I saw myself as a dream coach, helping clients work with not only interpreting their dreams, but also how the dreams are to be applied in their waking lives. And a new coaching program was born. The program is Creating the Life of Your Dreams, and the emphasis is on how our dreams help us to live our best life though the messages they provide. As the dream coach, my role is to help you learn how to interpret your dreams, and then we will determine how to apply the dreams in your waking life, and the steps we need to take to make the application a reality. The program is going to be for both individuals and groups of people.

As a byproduct of this new coaching program, I am excited to present a new column to “the Planning Stage!” The column is named “the Life of Your Dreams.” It will offer a sampling of dreams, with the emphasis on coaching the dreamer to apply the dream to waking life. If you are interested with submitting a dream for the column, you can send it to me, for consideration, to james@life-plan-blog.com, with “the Life of Your Dreams” in the subject line. If you are interested in the dream coaching program, either for yourself, someone you know, or a group, you can call or e-mail me for more details through the contact information at the LifePlan site.

Sweet dreams!

Your dream coach,

James