BIG dream gathering in Des Moines on Sunday, May 16th!

Mark your calendars for the next BIG dream gathering! 

It will be held at Prairie Life Fitness in West Des Moines from 2 to 6 pm on May 16th. 

And... thanks to our amazing sponsors... the event is FREE!

Click here for more information.

Announcing one of our BIG dream gathering sponsors: Prairie Life Fitness!

Yes... Prairie Life Fitness is not only one of our sponsors... but they are also going to host the event at their beautiful location in West Des Moines.  (Click here for directions.)

We asked Debby Hudson, the manager of PLF, why she wanted to support the BIG dream gathering in Des Moines. 

She explained, "We believe dreams can come true and we'd love to help people to make their dreams a reality!"

She also added, "We think it's important to get people dreaming BIG because Des Moines ROCKS and we want to keep it that way!"

We couldn't have said it better ourselves!

So plan on coming on May 16th between 2 and 6 pm... and while you're there... make sure to say THANK YOU to the team at Prairie Life Fitness. 

We're grateful for their support and we bet you are too!

If you'd like to find out more about PLF... just click here to visit their website.

A BIG dream thought for the day...

After Dr. David Livingstone had begun his now famous missionary work in Africa, a certain group wrote him and asked: "Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, please advise. We'd like to send others to assist you."

Dr. Livingstone sent this reply: "If you have those who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want individuals who are strong and courageous -- those who will come if there is no road at all!"

What if... you were willing to take one small but significant step towards your BIG dream... even if the road wasn't clear?

What if... you took that step... today? 

Kalli's BIG dreams are happening!

This just goes in the "fun" BIG dream category...

BIG dreamer Kalli... from UNI... let us know that another one of her BIG dreams happened since she came to the BIG dream gathering at the University of Northern Iowa.

She's wanted to meet country western singer... Luke Bryan for a long time. 

Kalli told us, "He's always been very inspirational to me." 

She's been to six of his concerts and she's in his fan club, but she's never been able to connect with him face-to-face before.  So... she wrote this BIG dream down on one of her dream sheets and posted it on the wall!

Well... she and two friends found out they were able to get three of his coveted "meet and greet" passes for his concert in Ames, Iowa... and... this week... they were able to meet him!

How cool is that?  Not bad turn around time for posting that BIG dream just 3 weeks ago!

We can't always explain how these things work out some times... but it's just cool when they do! 

You just never know what might happen when you dream BIG!?!

So... What's one of YOUR BIG dreams?

Things are happening so fast... it's hard to keep up with some of these BIG dreams!

Kalli is a student at the University of Northern Iowa... and she was willing to share about her BIG dream of going on a mission trip to Kenya.

Check out her interview...

Well... I just received an update from Kalli... and even though she thought she'd have to wait until she was done with school before she could start to work on this BIG dream... things have already started to happen with it!

Here's her update... in her own words:

"Also, I put down a dream that I wanted to go to Kenya to do mission work. I visited Honduras in 2006 and absolutely loved the people and the work. The church that I'm from funds a program in Kenya  called "Made in the Streets" and I have always wanted to go with the mission groups but have never had the opportunity due to funding issues as well as scheduling conflicts. Another long story short- I brought it up at Christmas that I was interested in joining a group that went to Kenya and my uncle said the he would let me know when the next trip was planned. I found out last weekend when I went home that not only is a trip now planned for this September, he offered to provide half of the funding for me to go!"

Fun stuff.

You just never know when you might have a breakthrough that will help your BIG dream to happen!

Way to go Kalli... keep dreaming BIG and going after them!  (Oh, and please keep us in the loop on the trip!)

Now... how about you...

What if you told someone you trusted about your BIG dream today? 

What if you wrote it down?

What if you asked someone about their dreams?

What might get started because of it?

Keep dreaming BIG,

Mitch Matthews

The BIG announcement: We're bringing the BIG dream gathering back to Des Moines!

It's OFFICIAL!  We are going to hold a BIG dream gathering in Des Moines on Sunday, May 16th!

And thanks to Prairie Life Fitness in West Des Moines, one of our awesome sponsors, we are going to hold it there. (Click here for a map.)

It will run from 2 to 6 pm... to allow for plenty of dreaming!

And as always... it will be FREE to attend and it will offer everyone a safe, fun and encouraging place to dream and connect!

Mark your calendars and please tell your friends!

We can't wait to dream BIG with you!

Stay tuned for a more updates on the gathering and news on your fellow BIG dreamers.

Keep dreaming BIG!

Mitch Matthews

A FREE Little BIG thing!

Okay... I've been a BIG Tom Peters fan for a long time. 

He's bold.  He's brash.  He's usually mad at something.  But he pushes people toward excellence and he's funny as he does it.  Yeah... love Tom.

If you haven't read much of his work... you should check him out. 

And here's a way to do it for FREE!

He's publishing a new book called, The little BIG things.  163 ways to pursue excellence.

Tom's team made the first section of the book available.  And it's free!  It's not the whole thing but it's more than Amazon or Barnes and Noble will give you!  So click here to download the PDF. 

That way... you can apply some of Tom's little BIG things to your BIG dreams!

Enjoy!

An invitation is around the corner!

A friend recently reconnected us with the poetry of Shel Silverstein... and I'm so freakishly grateful. 

I came across a poem this weekend called simply... "Invitation"

If you are a dreamer, come in.

If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,

A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...

If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire,

For we have some flax golden tales to spin.

Come in!

Come in!

For me, that's the perfect invitation to the BIG dream gathering! 

Which are you?  I'm thinking on any given day I could be any and all of them.  How about you?

Well... no matter what... consider yourself invited to the next BIG dream gathering.

Stay tuned because we are going to announce all of the specifics tomorrow!

This is what can happen when you dream BIG!

Need some inspiration on a Friday?  Try this out.

The story...

Okay... so this is the picture of what can happen when people are willing to write down their BIG dreams AND when others are willing to lend a hand!

Here's the story...

A student came to the BIG dream gathering at the University of Northern Iowa last month and wrote down a number of BIG dreams. 

She dreamed BIG and she got specific!

One of her dream sheets explained that she wanted to travel to Zimbabwe and connect with a specific ministry there. 

She said, "To see the work that they're doing with the church they've created there."

Now, keep in mind... this was at a BIG dream gathering in little ol' Cedar Falls, Iowa. 

So, writing down a dream about going to visit a specific ministry in Africa felt like a long shot!  

But... get this... someone that saw the dream... knew the family behind that ministry!  Not only that but they reached out to the family for this BIG dreamer!  They explained that this student wanted to come to visit them and in her words "See how God was moving in Zimbabwe."

Well... the family responded! 

Not only did they say that this dreamer would be welcome to come visit... but they let her know that an anonymous donor from their ministry was willing to cover her room and board while she was there!!! 

How amazing is that? 

So think about it... a UNI student had enough guts to write down a specific BIG dream... even though it seemed a little crazy and outlandish!  Then... someone in the room in Cedar Falls, Iowa not only knew about the ministry but knew the family behind it and was willing to reach out to them.  AND someone on the other side of the world believed in the dream enough to say they would cover this students living expenses while they came to visit?!?!

What are the chances?!?  (NOTE: I'd say that prayer helped to increase the "odds" on this one.  Wouldn't you?)

So... yeah... we are celebrating today!  That's just cool. 

At this point... I can't share names yet... because the details are still getting worked out... but we'll keep you in the loop as this story plays out!

What might happen?

What might happen if you were to dream a little BIGGER today?  What if you got specific?  What if you were willing to put it out there to a few people? 

What might happen?

What might happen if you asked someone about their BIG dream today?  What if you were able to help them... with a connection... an idea... or an encouraging word? 

There's a good chance it would only take a few minutes of your time... but it could make all the difference!

Keep dreaming BIG,

Mitch Matthews

Protect your dream.

Have you ever had someone close to you tell you that you can't go after a dream?

Maybe they were trying to protect you from getting hurt. 

Maybe they were afraid you'd move away if your dream happened.

Maybe they were a little scared that your dream would change their world?

Whatever the reason... when someone tries to shut down a dream... it's usually not with horrible intentions... but it can have horrible consequences.

No matter what... you've got to protect the dream...

How can you do it?

Here's one way...

What if you surrounded yourself with at least 2 or 3 people who believe in your dream too? 

I do this.  First of all, my wife is hugely encouraging of my dreams. 

But I also meet with 3 like-minded guys from the business world every other week.  (Some call this a "Mastermind Group")

We push each other, we laugh a lot and we encourage each other.  I'll admit that it's tough for all of us to block out this time in a busy schedule but it has been so worth it... especially when life hits the rough patches!

Who are 2 to 3 people in your life who you could meet with on a regular basis... with the intent purpose of encouraging each other to be more of who you were created to be? 

The cool thing is that you don't need to be similar to these people.  In fact, it might be helpful for you to be from diverse backgrounds and different from each other. 

The key is that you are like-minded in your purpose for gathering on a regular basis.

Think about it.  Be intentional about it.  Experiment with it.  (Know that it might take some time to get the right group of people.)  But know that when you do... it can make all the difference!

Join in the conversation... what are some ways that you have found to protect the dream?  Click on comments below and let us know.

An announcement is coming!

We're getting ready to announce our next BIG dream gathering!

If you're a friend of the BDG on Facebook, you can get a sneak peek today.  (Click here to check it out!)

We can't wait to have another opportunity to dream BIG and connect with all of you... VERY SOON!

Stay tuned!