One of the highlights of last year was the time I spent hosting a webinar on dream jobs with my brother, U.S. Marine Harrier pilot Capt Cale “Rowdy” Magnuson. The concept of “dream jobs” has always fascinated me, so much so that I dedicated an entire chapter to it in my recent book Stand Out!

For the record, I believe the magic formula for a winning dream job mindset is high aspirations + realistic expectations. Pepper in some hard work, creativity and patience, and anyone can make it happen!

One assumption I used to make about dream jobs is they were mostly relevant for young adults or young professionals. Those established in their careers either don’t (need to?) dream big any longer or just keep working their plan, right? It’s been a surprise to learn how much this isn’t the case. In my role as a leadership & organizational development consultant, I’ve had more career-related coaching discussions with executives the past two years than I ever have before. I’m talking about C-suite individuals who were looking to make a change, but weren’t quite sure what to do or what they wanted or needed a major confidence boost. (Ironically barrier #6 was one of the top challenges for these individuals.)

I’ve come to realize that one of the hardest questions any of us will ever have to answer is “what do you want?” It’s easy to know what we don’t like (and to complain about it, unfortunately), but that’s just a distraction from knowing what we really want, especially in our careers.

That’s what was so fun about the conversation I had with my brother Cale. I had the dream to work in corporate leadership development as a college senior and he wanted to be a fighter pilot as a kid. By now, we’ve both been at it for years!

I don’t have time to share everything from that conversation with you today, but I do want to include six barriers most people encounter that keep them from achieving their dreams. Whether you are a college student or an executive looking to make a change, I encourage you to consider how these barriers have affected you in the past – and possibly still affect you today.

1. Not knowing what you want
2. Not believing it’s possible (for you)
3. Settling for reasonable, safe or stable
4. Not having a “dream team”
5. Fear of failure
6. Fear of disappointing or letting others down

Ouch, right? Despite the positive thinking and hard work I’ve done over the years, I recognize each one of these barriers has held me up a time or two in the past. Even now, I think #1 and #3 are my biggest challenges. What about you?

As philosopher Jack Johnson once said (sang): Don’t let your dreams be dreams. Make this year the one you take a big step toward your next opportunity.

Recently, I took the plunge to pursuing my next dream job. (Yes, I believe we can have many dreams jobs in a career.) After spending about 12 years in leadership development roles at Fortune 500 companies, I’ve launched out on my own as an executive consultant, facilitator and coach based in Dallas, TX. On one hand, it’s sad to no longer be part of anyone’s team officially, but exciting that now I’m finally free to help everyone! So far, there has been very positive reception as clients have come forward asking for help. (And I’ve been surprised how quickly clients are requesting my Leadership-in-a-Box training programs!)

If your team is having challenges with leadership, engagement, retention or culture, I hope you’ll reach out. (All you have to do is reply to this email.) I’d be happy to chat with you!