The Beautiful Lie That Keeps You Small
How protecting your perfect dream prevents you from living it
What if your most cherished vision has become your most comfortable cage?
I met someone long ago with a beautiful dream. She is a dear friend to this day, but her story isn't the most powerful one. Reflecting on her, I could see moments in my life when I was trapped by my beautiful dream too, and because of that, I decided to write this essay. When we are aware of unhelpful patterns, we have the chance to change them.
This friend is extremely talented, well-articulated, super intelligent and smart! She is the kind of person who loves life, speaks freely, and doesn't like rules. She has strong opinions and a gift for seeing injustice in how our society was built. She has a desire to help many, especially to empower women to find their voice and break free from the box of what is considered right or wrong so they can live the life they want on their own terms.
If you talk to her, you can feel how much she believes in what she talks about. She feels pretty confident. Money is not an issue - discipline is.
The lack of discipline comes disguised as "I want to live freely and do whatever I want to do."
She has this strong feeling that something is coming to fruition soon. She puts some effort into the things she wants, but just the effort that feels good to her. The certainty inside her head is so strong that it feeds the feeling that something big is going to happen in the near future.
It has been at least five years that I am aware of her desire.
Nothing transformative has really happened. She still lives inside her head, holding that precious dream barely untouched and unmanifested.
I could see myself in some situations like her. I could create an awesome scenario inside my head and live in that space, allowing the dreaming state to be enough. That dreaming state was so good that she and I would never declare out loud, "This is what I want."
Why? Because what if we fail? We would rather live in the possibility inside our heads than declare that we would manifest that and risk not succeeding.
We prefer to live in the possibility, feeding the dream inside our heads, rather than facing the challenges that will make them come through or not.
What are you protecting by keeping your dreams in your head?
I decided for myself long ago: I want a life of experiences, not a life of living inside my head. And if you want that too, the time to change is now. But maybe you don't actually want to live that, and being in your head is fine for you - and that's okay too.
Just be honest about what you're choosing.
Out of the hundreds of Harmony Map assessments we receive, discipline is a frequent breakthrough frequency. For me, discipline is what makes you sit down when you don't feel inspired, what forces you to find solutions to the situations you created in the physical world.
Think of it like a pool game - discipline is what keeps you practicing shot after shot, even when you keep missing. Confidence is what eventually allows you to say out loud, "I will get the eight ball in the right corner pocket."
But here's what most people miss: confidence doesn't come from thinking about being good at pool. It comes from the discipline of trying, practicing, failing and getting back up.
You build it by missing shot after shot until you finally start making them.
The discipline to keep showing up, even when it's hard, creates the confidence to call your shot. One feeds the other.
You need guts to set a clear goal.
It's interesting to watch how the mind creates all the excuses to protect this dream status quo inside our head. Taking action toward it can mean death to your ego. Your body and mind will do everything they can to protect you.
Joseph Campbell couldn't have been more right: the cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.
If you have been operating from your protective personality, all your actions are being guided by the idea that you can't fail. And if you can't fail, most likely you are being protected from succeeding as well.
Do you feel you have a powerful message to share? Do you have a deep sense of joy when you think about your idea or your dream? Has it been years that you hold this desire in your heart but never really experienced it in your physical reality? You know there is more for you.
What would you attempt if your soul's approval mattered more than the world's?
Before you take the next unaligned action, before you go back inside your head to feed your thoughts of how much you believe this is for you, think about this: maybe the reason your dream feels stuck isn't about strategy or timing. Maybe it's about energy.
Picture the person who has already built what you're dreaming about. Do they wake up whenever they feel like it? Do they skip exercise when it's inconvenient? Do they eat whatever, whenever? Or do they have routines that actually fuel their creativity and focus?
Getting organized with the basics - sleep, movement, focused work sessions - can unlock the creative energy that's been trapped in your endless planning. The discipline to show up for your body and mind creates the foundation for your dreams to finally have somewhere solid to land.
The scattered energy that keeps you in your head? It needs a container. And that container is built through small, consistent actions that have nothing to do with your business but everything to do with your capacity to create it.
Your future self - the one who finally took the leap - wants you to know something: "I am so proud of the courage it took to step out of that beautiful prison. Yes, it was terrifying to risk my perfect dream for messy reality, but every challenge I faced became a doorway to who I was meant to become. The person I am now could never have been born from staying safe in possibility. Thank you for finally choosing growth over comfort, action over perfection, and your soul's calling over your ego's protection."
If you have a desire occupying your mind for years and have never really realized it, maybe it's time to be serious about its realization. Maybe it is time to create space in your life to go on the transformation that this desire is inviting you to.
If not now, when? Set clear goals, set timelines, see the skills you have and seek help for the ones you need to build.
It is very sad, but based on research done with patients in palliative care, the number one regret is:
"I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me."
When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled.
Most people had not honored even half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.
So when we say if not now when, this is serious.
You don't need to jump off the cliff now and try to take all the actions you haven't taken in ten years in one week - this won't take you there. But you can start putting your intentions there. You can create a plan and start executing it, allowing life to co-create with you and guide you.
I hope this message touches your heart as seeing my dear friend stuck in the same place she was five years ago touched mine.
With love,
Carolina
P.S. You can read all previous editions of the newsletter here, and you can upgrade your subscription here.
What’s next?
Carolina and I are ready to support you in creating a business that aligns with your heart's calling. Here's how we can help:
Click to Find Your Hidden Business Pattern (Free): The Harmony Map Assessment reveals which version of you is running your business - the one stuck in old patterns or the one ready to emerge. Discover which frequencies are keeping you authentic to your past instead of your potential, and why no amount of strategy can fix what's actually a frequency problem. For entrepreneurs ready to transform both their energetic signature AND their business results.
Read the Sacred Business Manifesto (Free): Learn the core principles of building a Sacred Business through our founding story and framework. See how we transformed our approach to business by understanding that everything is connected.
Powerful, Carolina. Thank you for your help in getting my dream out into the world!