3: The art of making dreams a reality: 6 ways to achieve the impossible

Embark on an inspirational odyssey not just with me, but with yourself!

We are all driven by a tenacious pursuit to transform dreams into realities. Have you ever beheld a feat so daunting, you deemed it 'impossible'? 

Today, I'll share some stories, as your athletic creative guide, from the cobblestone alleys of Paris to the colourful expanse of Barcelona, and the bustling energy of London, you will recognise yourself and I invite you to challenge your definition of what's achievable.

The seeds of success are often sown in the lessons of past victories. 

In this heart-to-heart exchange, you're not just a listener—you're a participant in a journey of self-discovery and empowerment. 

The stories shared here coax you to listen to the whispers of your inner drive. I encourage you to craft your personal mantra of capability and to relish the small successes that contribute to YOUR larger story. 

Lets celebrate the victories, both monumental and tiny in appearance, that culminate in the art of making the 'impossible' undeniably possible.

Transcript

Cindy Claes: 0:00

Welcome to the Loud Whisper Takeover podcast. My name is Cindy Claes. I'm an athletic creative and the host of this podcast. This is a talk I gave about how to make your impossible possible. Make sure you grab a notebook, subscribe and follow Making your impossible possible.

Cindy Claes: 0:18

The first thing I want to say is that you have already made your impossibles possible at some point in your life. At some point in your life, there was something that you didn't even know you could do. You didn't even know you could achieve. And then you walked up the mountain and you looked back at your journey and you were like wow, did I really do that? Thing is, sometimes we don't really take the time to analyze how we were able to walk up that mountain. We put it on luck oh, I was so lucky. My guardian angels looked after me, or you thought it was a special moment. It must have been destiny. Maybe you even think that because in that moment in time you had so much faith and belief that there was no other way that it could happen. But maybe there was something else behind the magic. Maybe there was something else behind the magic and I want us to go deeper into how comes that? In that moment we made the magic happen. How comes that today we sometimes forget of how we can tap into that power again? Because somehow we were able to tap into that really, because somehow we were able to tap into that really strong divine power a few weeks ago, a few years ago, a few months ago, and today we're facing an impossible and we are like I don't even know where to start. Today is about tapping into that knowledge that we have already, as well as giving you new tools of how to make your impossible possible.

Cindy Claes: 2:04

For those that don't know me yet, some might know me as a fitness and nutrition coach. Others might know me as an artist, for my creative callings in the world of dance, acting, theater and film. Yet I am there, but I am so much more because I cannot be put in a box. We have tendency to tense up when we are being put in a box because it's restrictive and frustrating, and I believe that if you are here with me in this conversation, we have something in common we cannot be boxed in. You know why? Because our boxes are getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger, while your box is getting bigger and bigger and bigger, mine is too, and, yes, I am a fitness coach, I am an artist, I also have an entrepreneurial spirit, I have an international life and I'm just a human being on a spiritual and emotional quest, because I always try to make a little bit more sense each day of what it actually means to walk through this adventure called life.

Cindy Claes: 3:13

So how can we make your impossible possible? And I want you to take a moment and think well what is your impossible that you would like to make possible in this moment in time, today? Do you have financial goals? Do you want to raise money for your artistic project? Do you want to lose weight and it seems too complicated to get there, too difficult. Do you want to get stronger at the gym? Do you want to do some moves you've never been able to perform? Do you want to implement a new habit? You tried already a thousand times and it feels like you're going to be failing at it forever. Do you want to create your next show? Do you want to take the first step towards a bigger vision? Or maybe you want to take a small step towards a small but really important dream? What is the impossible that you want to make possible? Keep that in mind while we are having this conversation.

Cindy Claes: 4:19

You and me, we've already made impossibles possible in our lives, though we fail to see what really made it happen. Often we are just too busy to go to the next goal. You know, when we achieve something, it's just like okay, next project, next thing, next vision, and here we go, we take it as luck and we forget to pat ourselves on the back. We also forget to see what the real life lesson was. So I'm going to tell you four short stories of something that happened to me personally. And I'm going to tell you these four short stories so that you can recognize yourself in it, because in stories there is something universal, there is something that we can share in common. So I'm going to share these four short stories with you so that you can remember what you once did. And I'm also going to share these stories so that we can unfold what the life lessons are and that we, as a collective, can make new impossibles possible. So I'm going to tell you my first story.

Cindy Claes: 5:29

I was a student in Paris. I was studying as an adult at a really big, famous physical theater school in Paris. My budget and my money was quite limited. I had taken a lot of financial risks to move to Paris to pay for a private school which I had been able to pay through some crowdfunding. A lot of people supported me on that journey and I had found an apartment. I was very lucky. I had a room in an apartment. I had an agreement with the landlord that the third room in the flat was going to be an Airbnb, and every time I would give the keys to the Airbnb guest I would have a little chunk of my rent that would be cut off. So my rent was getting cheaper and cheaper the more I gave out some keys and the more I changed some bedsheets in that room. So I was very happy.

Cindy Claes: 6:23

I just had a simple arrangement with the landlord, except that one night I welcomed a couple who were about 65 years old and they seemed a bit odd. They seemed a bit tense. But you know, some people complain, some people carry a darker energy. Maybe they had a bad flight, maybe they had a bad day. Yet that night, when I went to bed and my other flatmate went to bed as well, there was some noise coming from that third room and in that third room the man started to scream. In that third room the man started to scream. In that third room we heard some noises of a woman being battered, of a woman being slapped hard by her husband. I fell frozen and I was terrified, first of all because I have seen this scenario many times when I grew up as a young person and I just didn't know what to do other than locking my room and praying and texting my other flatmate, who was also terrified. She locked herself up in the room, who was also terrified. She locked herself up in the room and us, as two women living in that flat, that night we didn't sleep. Yes, after half an hour the noise stopped, the argument and the physical abuse of the husband against his wife stopped. But I felt disgusted, scared. I didn't feel home anymore.

Cindy Claes: 8:05

The next morning, the first thing I do is I text my landlord and I say I need you to call Airbnb and kick these people out. We don't feel safe, we feel disgusted, they have no integrity and we don't want them in our apartment Because that couple was going to stay for 10 days. My landlord texted back and said Cindy, I'm on holiday, figure it out, I'm on holiday, so you are actually disturbing my holiday. I felt paralyzed All of a sudden. Not only was I disgusted by the actions of that man, I was also disgusted by the reaction of my landlord. Two women were living in her apartment, were not safe, and she refused to make a complaint to Airbnb to kick those people out. I felt used by her. I didn't feel home anymore. So I sat down and I breathed in and I thought I want out. I have three months left in Paris as a student. My money and my budget is extremely restricted, but I want out. I don't want to live in a flat where I'm being used.

Cindy Claes: 9:24

The next day I stood up against that man. That will be the story for another time. I had to take in all my courage to confront a man, a 65-year-old man that had never been confronted about these kind of actions, and I told him that if he didn't obey by the rules of this house, he should pick a hotel where he can do whatever he wanted. But I heard him and I will not accept that kind of behavior. Once I dealt with that man, I sat down again, I breathed in and I was like I want out. I need a new flat. I text a few people and everybody told me the same thing Cindy, you have three more months in Paris. Nobody. Nobody finds a flat like that in Paris.

Cindy Claes: 10:14

Paris is known for being a very difficult market to find a room, especially when you don't even have the money for a deposit. Especially when you don't even have the money for a deposit. Nobody finds a room quickly, for cheap and with no deposit. And on top of it, I needed to be close to the school. I couldn't be living two hours away from the center. Everybody told me this was impossible. I sat down again, I took a deep breath and I was like I'm going to find this room. What is in my control right now to find a room I can pack my bags. So I packed my bags and my suitcases were ready Within two hours. Everything was there packed up and I sat down and I told the universe I'm ready. I need accommodation for three months, my last three months in Paris. I needed to be cheap. I needed to be close to the school. I needed to be without a landlord asking me for a deposit.

Cindy Claes: 11:13

All of a sudden, the friend of a friend text me and say I know somebody, a woman that was a part of one of my meditation groups that I attended had actually bought a flat in Paris recently. She wanted to rent it out, but the works had taken too much time and eventually she was behind on schedule. The apartment was ready but not yet fully furnished, and it would still take a bit of time before she could properly rent it out. Bit of time before she could properly rent it out. When I exposed my problem and my needs to have a room for a few months for her it was the perfect deal. Somebody that was okay to live in a flat that was not yet fully furnished, at a reduced rate, without a deposit, was perfect because within three months time her flat would be fully furnished and ready to be rented at the highest prices that they ask in Paris. This impossible I made it possible within 24 hours.

Cindy Claes: 12:15

Now I want to ask you do you think I was manifesting it? Is that what we call manifestation? Was I packing my bag like a vision board? Was I praying and did I have faith in the universe? Was it luck? Maybe I did manifest it. Maybe it was faith, maybe there was a part of luck. Yet there was something more, and here was the life lesson. I didn't buy into a narrative. I didn't buy into the narrative of I can't. I didn't buy into the narrative of this is impossible. I bought into a narrative that I created, which was I can, and there is always a how, there is always a way. You just have to find it. So me packing my bags was just physicalizing a thought, the thought of it is possible to find a flat for three months without a deposit, at a cheap rate, close to my school. This thought I made it tangible in some way, shape or form, because from thought we need to make it a reality in the 3D world, and my tool to make it a reality was to pack my bags. I physicalized a thought, and when you have a thought that you put into motion, motion is an action and every action brings a reaction and what came back brings a reaction and what came back was a flat. So I want to encourage you to write this down when you have a thought, how can you put it into motion, into a tangible reality in this 3D world, so that this motion creates an action, that will create a reaction and that will come back to you in some way, shape or form, and that will come back to you in some way, shape or form?

Cindy Claes: 14:06

Then there is my second story, again related to my experience in Paris. I am studying at the Jacques Lecoq International Theatre School in Paris. Now, I remind you, I paid for my studies by doing a crowdfunding campaign. It was insane to live this dream, supported by a worldwide community, and really, when I threw myself in that challenge, I just thought of doing one year of studies. But while I was going through the course, the desire to do the second year started to emerge, started to emerge. However. Paris again, a second year. It was an expensive adventure, a financial risk, but also this particular school wasn't fully in line with my values as an artist. And then somebody introduced me to a similar school based in Barcelona who offered the same program and Barcelona was half of the price. The school fee was half of the price, the living expenses of the city were lower and, in all honesty, I always wanted to live in a place with palm trees and ride by the sea. However, it's a theater school.

Cindy Claes: 15:27

I needed to learn Spanish. I had four months to learn Spanish. I didn't speak a word of Spanish and these next four months were going to be crazy, crazy busy. My last few months in Paris were nuts. We had our end of year school sort of presentation. I had to work as a student to be able to live in Paris and then put some money aside to move to Barcelona to pay for the next year of schooling. But then I thought, okay, four months, four months is doable, we have technology nowadays. So I woke up every morning at 6am and I thought, oh, if I wake up and my brain is sort of foggy, I will probably remember Spanish words a little bit better. My unconsciousness and my subconscious will sort of, you know, absorb these words. So I did a bit of Duolingo every morning at 6 am. Then I took the train to school and I did some more Duolingo. When I had lunch, I did some more Duolingo. I did some more Duolingo. When I had lunch, I did some more Duolingo. And on a Saturday night, when I was falling asleep because I was so exhausted, in the sofa I put Netflix on and the only Netflix series I was allowed to watch were Spanish-speaking movies and series. So I did that for four months, and four months later I moved to Barcelona. And four months later I moved to Barcelona speaking gibberish Spanish, but definitely understanding my teachers. I was able to do all the classes.

Cindy Claes: 16:57

I did not get lost, mission accomplished, what was going through my mind when I saw this vision of going to Barcelona? What was going through my mind when I saw this vision of going to Barcelona? What was going through my mind when I thought I'm going to go and do a theater course in a language that I don't even speak and I got to have some sort of fluency to follow the course within four months? Well, this is the thought that crossed my mind. That's it. That's it. Learning Spanish, that's what's gonna stop you learning spanish. That's. That's the mountain, the, the thing you don't want to. You know the challenge you don't want to overcome. That's it. That's what you want to be remembered as. That's the person you want to be remembered for. The girl that thought that learning Spanish was a little bit too much Of a difficulty, that that's it. That was the thought that gave me the drive to make my impossible possible, and I am sure that you already went through that journey. Or maybe this is the thought that you want to apply now to your impossible to make it possible. That's it. That's what's going to stop you. You're so much bigger than that, and I know that you know, because we know that we are bigger than that.

Cindy Claes: 18:32

So I'm moving to my story number three. This is a story of me working as an artist in London. I curated the very first dance hall theater night at a theater called Sadler's Wells. It's one of the biggest venues when it comes to dance in London and so they gave me the opportunity to curate a dance hall theater night. I am working really hard to get the fundings to make it happen. I am inviting dancehall theatre companies to make it happen. I found the fundings to bring over Jamaican choreographers. I sat down for hours falling asleep on my computer trying to get the money to get those Jamaican artists over to London. I'm organizing like a whole international week where Belgian artists are coming to London and UK artists are working together with the Jamaicans to create a whole educational program that will be showcased on that night. And the theater Sadler's Wells told me if the first night sells out, well then we're going to have a second night. So my vision is I'm not doing all of this work just to be presented once. I'm doing all of this work because I want to have two sold out nights. That's the vision, that's the goal. That's the vision. That's the goal. A month before I sit down with the producers and they were like Cindy, tickets are not selling that well, it's okay, but they don't really sell out that well. So you know we're going to keep it to one night. Yeah, it's going to be good.

Cindy Claes: 20:27

And I went away from that meeting so distraught, disappointed and heartbroken. Did I really spend six months of my life falling asleep behind a computer, raising money for all this massive project to be shown once on stage? Did I really pour all of my sweat and tears into making these shows and contacting artists for it to be shown once one night on stage? No, so I went back home, I sat down, I took a deep breath and I just asked myself what can I do? What is in my power right now to have my second night? I was like you know what F it? I'm going to message every single person I know on Facebook and I'm going to ask them to share my flyer or my trailer for 24 hours. So literally, there is not one person I did not message. I'll message every person saying hey. You might be aware of the fact that I've been working hard to try to get the dance hall community to be more represented in the UK and I would really appreciate if you could, just for 24 hours, the next 24 hours. That's it. Either share my flyer, change your profile picture to my flyer or share my video trailer of the show. Just 24 hours. It's a little action I'm trying to do, you know, to raise awareness and so people know that the show is on Now. So many people said, yo, cindy, no problem. So many people changed their profile picture to my flyer that the show got sold out in 24 hours. It created such a buzz that it was sold out in 24 hours.

Cindy Claes: 22:24

The theater called me the next day saying Cindy, we need to put on a second night. I'm like I know we do Now. The first night was sold out in such a short amount of time that the second night created another buzz, just and only because the first night was sold out in 24 hours, just and only because the first night was sold out in 24 hours. So the second night I kept screenshotting, you know, the seats whenever they got sold. I kept screenshotting. I was like, oh, only that amount of seats left for the second night. Oh, only that amount of seats left for the second night. Only that amount of seats left for the second night. The second night got sold out in 48 hours. There was no ticket left One month before our performance.

Cindy Claes: 23:14

So what crossed my mind? To make this impossible possible? They, the producers, were buying into a thought, a mindset, a narrative of oh well, we did well. I refused to buy into this mindset of oh well, I did well. I bought into the mindset of hold on a second. Let's rewind, change gear and fast forward, please. Stepping back, going to silence, changing gear and moving fast forward is what is making our impossible possible. I am sure you have already lived that moment in your life and if not, go to your impossible, you want to make it possible now. What is the step back that you can take now? One step back. And it's in the moments of silence, when you take that step back, that you will find how you can change gear and move fast forward.

Cindy Claes: 24:23

So let's go to story number four. Story number four is related to my body transformation. About three years ago ago, I had lost control over my body. I am a dancer and an actress, and not only did I have the social pressure of becoming and being an overweight person, I also had the professional pressure of my industry of not fitting the standard or the employable version of a dancer. So I became more and more desperate. It was all. My weight was going in the wrong direction and I didn't even know why. That was the most disempowering thing. It's not that I was going to McDonald's or that I was drinking Coca-Cola. I drink water every day. That's the only thing I drink. I ate healthily. I was a vegetarian. I didn't know what was happening. The doctors couldn't answer. I applied everything under the sun, so I knew I was going towards 100 kilos, and 100 kilos for my height and my stature is huge, and it was not a matter of if anymore. It was a matter of when. When am I going to be 100 kilos? Because it's coming, and the worst is that it's coming you don't even know.

Cindy Claes: 25:49

So eventually, during the pandemic, the only thing that was open were the gyms. I was living in Barcelona at the time and I thought I would start CrossFit. It's like a very military style of training and I thought that's it. That's the only thing you haven't tried yet. It's like these crazy, crazy training systems that just kill you straight away, and that's what we do in moments of desperation. Crossfit is a little bit expensive, and so I decided to sign up for a membership that allowed me to go twice a week. I'm sharing that with one of my best friends who's a CrossFit addict, and he was like Cindy. No, the results you're describing, the results you want to achieve you're never going to achieve that by going twice a week. You're going to waste your money and you're going to your time. I was, like me, wasting my time. I'm not a woman that wastes her time. Okay, what are you telling me to do? I need to have an unlimited membership. Okay, that's it. I'm going to sign up for an unlimited membership. Let's see what's happening.

Cindy Claes: 27:12

So I go to CrossFit about five times a week. I'm sweating, I'm working hard, I'm tired. As a matter of fact, I'm so tired that I need to take a nap after every workout. When I come home from CrossFit, the only thing I want to do is eat, but I don't even have the energy to go to the kitchen. I go straight to bed for two hours. To go to the kitchen, I go straight to bed for two hours. Eventually, after six weeks, I go on the scale and nothing changed. I had not lost a kilo, nothing, nada. Everything had remained the same, except that I was tired and more tired. The next day I go to CrossFit and I have literally a breakdown at the gym. The workout is not even that difficult, but I just crashed down on the floor. There was no fuel left in the tank.

Cindy Claes: 28:05

After a big talk with my trainer, I start to really look at my diet and I discovered real scientific principles of weight loss, and not just weight loss, but also a strategy of maintaining my weight by counting macros, thanks to my trainer. So I start to apply that. I start counting my macros, I start to become aware of the quantities of protein I need and, bit by bit, I start losing weight. It's happening. Quantities of protein I need, and, bit by bit, I start losing weight. It's happening. For 10 years I was looking for a system. For 10 years I was looking for a diet that would work. At CrossFit I was still last. I didn't need a nap anymore. That was better. I could go home and live a normal life, but I was still last.

Cindy Claes: 28:52

When people were running, I was behind everyone, and when I would arrive, like five minutes later, when we had, you know, any sort of workout that we needed to finish in 10 minutes, I would finish it in 18 minutes. I had to sort of take my ego in. I was ashamed to say that I was a dancer, but I still went. And it didn't matter if I got there last, because you know what I got there at least Most people give up during the race. It doesn't matter that I got there last I got there at least Most people give up along the race. But I lost 13 kilos in five months, only five months. Yes, I needed two years to lose 22, but it doesn't matter that I got there last because I got there. At least One thing that is important to remember when I lost these 13 kilos in five months five months is nothing and I didn't want to lose 20 more, which is where I'm at now.

Cindy Claes: 29:59

But sometimes we don't even realize that our impossible has already been deactivated and it's already leaving space for the possible. Once I lost those 13 kilos yes, I was not at my end goal yet, but my impossible had been deactivated. I had stepped into the room and the space and the energetic field of this is becoming a possibility. Me losing weight is a possibility. Me getting strong is a possibility. Me feeling healthy is a possibility.

Cindy Claes: 30:33

But if you can't see the small wins along the way, you're missing out on that feeling of achievement. If I had not celebrated my small win of 13 kilos lost in five months, I would not have even seen how much I had already achieved, because this achievement is giving you the fuel for what's coming next and once you tap into that power, you become unstoppable. So here are the lessons for your impossible made possible. First of all, you've already walked that path. I want you to go and sit down and try and dive deeper into how you made your impossibles possible, because you have probably put it on oh, that was luck. You've probably not even taken the time to analyze it because you already went to the next goal.

Cindy Claes: 31:28

Sometimes we hear the life lesson, the. It's the drive, the thing that gives us that oomph to make the impossible possible. We hear it as a whisper and sometimes we hear it as a loud calling. Either way, we're going to learn to stop, breathe in and listen. Number two I want you to think about which narrative you're buying into. Are you buying into the nah man, I can't. Or do you decide to buy into a narrative that you are setting up, into a mantra that you are writing for your own life? Three that's it. That's what's gonna stop you. You're so much bigger than that. Number four never live by the oh well, we're doing well. Live by the hold on a second. Take one step back, breathe in, remain in silence, change gear and move forward. Please fast forward. Number five did your impossible already deactivate itself? Did something already happen in the world of possible? Did you forget to celebrate the small win? Number six it doesn't matter if you get there last, because I know you're gonna get there at least.