Cultivating Your Dreams: A Life Coaching Guide to Inner and Outer Practice

We all have dreams – whispers of what could be, visions of a future we long to inhabit. But how do we bridge the gap between a fleeting vision and a tangible reality? 

For years, I chased the dream of establishing an off-grid life connected to land, community and organic gardening. I had a love of landcare and tending to the natural world, but I often worked in a corporate environments, and really felt disconnected from the natural world—the perfect 'outer practice.' But every time I got pulled back into life with the perpetual city grind and rat race my heart just felt like it was not in it and my 'inner practice' hit a roadblock, I felt a deep, debilitating doubt that made me want to quit and despair at the state of the world. It wasn't until I started mindfully cultivating the feeling of unshakeable confidence and visualising (my 'inner practice') that i was able to start connecting to the outer steps. Actually working with what I already had and cultivating a regular gardening practice right where I was, using my hands also nourished my heart - that practice, overtime has helped me move closer to my dream. I am now studying market gardening via books, podcasts and online courses. Now I am about to embark on the next phase, expanding and setting up a big land based project, something that has been patiently waiting to be expressed for over ten years. Over those ten years I have nurtured several gardens including indigenous gardens, organic vegetable and herb gardens, a Japanese garden and a cottage garden. I volunteered in the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program at my children's primary school. Beyond the gardening I have also been connecting with others who have been involved in similar projects, exploring the themes of rewilding and soul in my creative arts practice for six months and I've started project planning how I could make a living to cover the running costs of this project. Multiple factors, some outside of my control have also aligned to help shape the unique expression of this vision I had many moons ago. I will talk more about those factors next time but there is the sense that the vision was working on me and moving me in that direction. I just listened and followed the cues.

Just like a gardener nurtures a seed into a flourishing plant, bringing our dreams to fruition requires both diligent outer work and mindful inner cultivation. Let's explore how to become the gardener of your own aspirations, using the wisdom of nature and the power of mindfulness.

The Outer Practice: Tending Your Dream Garden (The Physical & Tangible Life Coaching Guide)

Imagine your dream as a magnificent, sprawling garden. To make it a reality, you need to get your hands dirty, understand the soil, and actively plant and prune. This is your outer practice – the tangible steps you take towards your desired outcome.

1. Identify Your Dream's Blueprint: The Vision Seed

Before you can plant, you need to know what you're growing. What is the physical, outward expression of your dream? Is it a thriving business, a published novel, a renovated home, a health and wellbeing service, an exhibition, a new skill? Get specific. Just as a gardener chooses a particular seed, you need a clear vision of what you're called to create.

• Action Step: Write down your dream in vivid detail. What does it look, sound, and feel like when it's achieved? What concrete evidence will tell you it's real? You may even like to create a vision board.

2. Prepare the Soil: Building Skills and Capabilities

A garden needs fertile ground. Your skills and capabilities are the soil that will nourish your dream. What knowledge, talents, or resources do you need to acquire or hone? Be honest about where your current "soil" might be lacking so you can build the right kind of combination to nourish your dream.

• Action Step: Make a list of the skills, knowledge, or connections required. Then, identify one small, actionable step you can take today to start building one of these. This could be reading an article, watching a tutorial, reaching out to someone, or practicing for 15 minutes.

3. Plant and Nurture: Consistent Daily Steps

No garden blossoms overnight. It requires consistent watering, weeding, and sunlight. Your dream, too, needs daily attention. These are the "simple steps toward the outcome today." Don't wait for grand gestures; focus on small, consistent actions.

• Action Step: Break down your dream into the smallest possible daily tasks. What is one tiny thing you can do every single day that moves you closer? This isn't about perfection, but about consistent presence. Think of it as daily watering.

The Inner Practice: Cultivating Your Dream's Essence (The Feeling & Intention)

While the outer practice is about doing, the inner practice is about being. It's about cultivating the fertile inner landscape – the feeling, intention, and connecting with the energetic blueprint of your dream. This is where mindfulness becomes your most powerful tool.

1. Feel the Future Now: The Sunshine of Intention

A plant grows towards the sun, driven by an innate intention to thrive. Your dream also needs the "sunshine" of your intention and emotion. How does it feel to live your dream? What emotions does it evoke? Cultivating this feeling daily is like infusing your inner garden with vital energy.

• Mindful Practice: Close your eyes. Imagine your dream fully realised. Don't just see it; feel it. What is the dominant emotion? Joy? Peace? Fulfilment? Compassion? Abundance? Linger in that feeling for a few minutes each day, allowing it to permeate your being. This is mindfulness in action – a deliberate tuning into the present moment and conditioning the heart mind.

2. Weeding Out Doubt: The Mindful Observer

Just as weeds can choke a garden, doubt, fear, and limiting beliefs can stifle your dream. Inner practice involves mindfully observing these "weeds" without judgment and gently removing their power. When a negative thought arises, acknowledge it, but don't dwell on it.

• Mindful Practice: When you notice a thought that says, "I can't do this," or "It's too hard," simply observe it. Acknowledge its presence, then consciously redirect your attention back to the feeling of your dream realised. Don't fight the thought; just don't feed it. This is like gently pulling a weed from the soil, clearing space for your dream to grow.

3. Visualising Growth: The Seed's Inner Vision

A seed holds the complete blueprint of the magnificent tree it will become. Similarly, your inner practice involves holding the complete vision of your dream within, trusting its unfolding and letting it be. Visualisation isn't just seeing; it's feeling and knowing.

• Mindful Practice: Dedicate time each day to vivid visualisation. See your dream unfolding, feel yourself living it, hear the sounds, taste the experiences. Engage all your senses. The more you immerse yourself in this inner vision, the stronger its energetic pull becomes. Think of it as providing the optimal light and nutrients for your seed's inner blueprint to expand.

By weaving together these inner and outer practices, you become a powerful container for the light of awareness to flow through you and be expressed in reality. You are both the diligent gardener of the soul, tending to the tangible actions required to express your dream, and the mindful observer, cultivating the fertile inner ground from which all creation springs.

Life Coaching Prompts to Reflect on:

So, what seeds are you planting today? And what inner sunshine are you providing to help them grow? What elements are in your inner would and what can you add to help nourish and cultivate the growth? What is one step you can take this week to use your hands and outwardly express your dream in the world?