Big Muse
“Are you afraid of your dreams?” So begins Peter Himmelman’s book Let Me Out. He’s not talking about your nightmares. He’s referring to all the good things you dream about; your hopes and aspirations. The dreams and ideas that bring a smile to your face when you picture yourself living them out.
What is it that causes dreams to remain only dreams? You. More specifically, the fearful critic within you who always sees danger ahead.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending three hours with Peter. He used his musical talent, creative genius, wandering style, and amazing gifts of improvisation to lead a few of us on a journey towards becoming better leaders and better managers. And more than that, he guided us to become better people, better at whatever we do.
Our time together began with a discussion about the beauty of the world around us and how our fearful critic Marv, as Peter calls him, seems to always drop in. It ended with an impromptu rollicking concert of a collection of short songs we wrote in a few minutes to describe companies we created in 5 minutes. Our creativity unleased!
We left energized and looking at the world with new eyes. We also left with Peter’s three guidelines for creating more fearlessly, communicating more effectively, and turning our dreams and ideas into reality:
- Relationships are always what’s most important
- Creativity is being awake to possibility
- No one moves forward without confronting fear
Thinking about the session with Peter and letting my unconscious ponder it overnight led to these insights.
‘Marv” is at the heart of many of the client issues and problems I hear about that are stifling creativity and keeping people from being as successful as they could be.
Successful leaders go forward understanding and following the three guidelines. They build strong relationships with everyone, they’re always looking for the possibility in everything…and most importantly, they face their fears, overcome them, and lead their people forward united in success.
You owe it to yourself and those around you to read and learn from Let Me Out.
