Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: Earn the Right to Live Your Dreams with Dr. Coyte Cooper

Episode 01: You Have Been Robbed of Your Ability to Dream
Date: October 1, 2015
Host: Dr. Coyte Cooper

Episode Overview

In this inaugural episode, Dr. Coyte Cooper sets the stage for the “Earn the Right to Live Your Dreams” podcast, sharing his passion for helping others achieve peak performance and reclaim the fundamental human skill of dreaming big. The central theme is how societal forces rob us of our natural ability to dream, and how listeners can reclaim it to live more energized, fulfilling, and regret-free lives.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The State of Dreaming in Society

Startling Statistic: Only 13% of people have something they're passionate about that guides their life (01:08). The vast majority are just “moving through their days without any real energy.”
Dr. Cooper posits that this lack of passion is due to people losing the ability to dream—a trait we all possess as children but gradually lose as we grow up due to societal influences.

Societal Pressures: The “Robbery” of Dreams

Early Conditioning:
- As children, we all “have an ability to dream.” (03:16)
- “If you've ever watched a little kid… their imaginations run wild… they can envision the craziest things” (03:23).
- Personal anecdote: Dr. Cooper’s childhood dreams of winning Olympic titles and pretending to be Michael Jordan (03:50).
The Programming:
- Society, especially schools, tends to “encourage you to settle for the status quo” (05:00).
- Originality and uniqueness are discouraged; fitting in becomes expected, and those who strive for more often face ridicule or isolation.

The Three Ways Your Ability to Dream is Robbed

Silence from Others (07:19)
- Sharing an exciting aspiration often meets with silence—not outright discouragement, but a lack of support.
- “They didn't tell you you couldn't, but they don't say anything.” (07:35)
- Over time, this breeds self-doubt.
Discouragement in the Name of ‘Safety’ (08:16)
- Friends and family may warn against big dreams: “That's really hard. You need to be careful. You need to be safe.”
- “They're not trying to hurt you… but they're not dreamers.” (08:45)
- Playing it safe is contrasted against stories of Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, and Oprah Winfrey—all of whom achieved greatness by refusing to be safe.
Direct Criticism (09:40)
- The harshest method: “They'll criticize you… they’ll tell you you’re stupid. They’ll tell you you don’t have the ability. It’s going to happen.” (09:41)
- Criticism is often an attempt to “pull you back into the herd.”

Reclaiming Your Ability to Dream: Four Powerful Steps

Recognize You Don’t Need Permission (11:05)
- “You just need permission from yourself to pursue them.” (07:57)
- Acknowledging when the three robbing behaviors appear is the first line of defense.
Dreaming is a Skill Set—Cultivate It (12:03)
- “Pay attention to the things that energize you… go out and experience new things.”
- Exploring passions helps recognize what truly inspires you.
Write Down Your Aspirations and Goals (13:06)
- Just 3% of people write down and regularly revisit their goals, yet they “outperform the remaining 97%.”
- “Put them to paper. Don’t be afraid to do that. Share them with other people.” (13:18)
Take Immediate Action (14:15)
- Elite performers “don’t sit around doubting” — they move forward, breaking down aspirations into daily action steps.
- “Be masterful at taking action every single day and pursue your passions.” (14:37)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the loss of dreaming:

“You've been robbed of your ability to dream. And I would add to that that you didn't even know when that happened.” (02:34)
On the herd mentality:

“It's this mentality, this herd mentality, where people want to pull you back in.” (05:36)
On taking permission:

“You just need permission from yourself to pursue them.” (07:57)
On not playing it safe:

“Steve Jobs did not play it safe with Apple. Walt Disney did not play it safe with Disneyland and Disney World… Oprah Winfrey does not play it safe. And so you have to be the same.” (08:50)
On writing goals:

“The 3% of people that actually write down their goals and revisit them on a regular basis out-earn and outperform the remaining 97% of all people.” (13:06)

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:10 – 03:00 | Introduction and podcast purpose
03:00 – 05:00 | The innate ability of children to dream and how it fades
05:00 – 06:00 | Societal forces that promote conformity and mediocrity
07:19 – 09:41 | The three main ways our dreams are suppressed by others
11:05 – 14:37 | Four actionable steps to reclaim your dreams
14:37 – End | Motivational wrap-up and encouragement for listeners

Conclusion

Dr. Coyte Cooper’s first episode delivers a clear call to action: recognize how societal habits and well-meaning people can suppress your dreams, and take bold, practical steps to reclaim your ability to aspire. By cultivating self-permission, exploring energizing activities, committing goals to paper, and taking daily action, listeners can “earn the right to live their dreams.”

Final Message:
“If you do [these things], eventually you are going to earn the right to live all your dreams.” (15:17)

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Transcript1 lines

[00:10]
A
Welcome to the Earn the right to live your dreams podcast. This is Coit Cooper. Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Earn the right to live your dreams podcast. My name is Coit Cooper and I'm going to be your host. Since this is the very first kind of episode that we've ever done, I just wanted to take a moment to tell you a little bit about this podcast. What it's designed to do is to help people to perform at their peak level so they can live their dreams, you know, to help people just have energy on it on a daily basis. And not only to provide that energy, but to provide the structure to where they can go out and make decisions to really be able to achieve success, achieve happiness, just achieve all the things that people really want. Here's the truth, though. Only 13% of people actually have something they are passionate about that guides their life. And what this means is when we're talking about adults, and not just adults, high school, middle school students, most people just kind of move through their days without any real energy because they don't have anything they're passionate about. Here's what I believe. I believe that that's tied to an ability to dream, an ability to pursue aspirations that really matter to you. And what this podcast is about is about flipping the script, you know, with our society. You know, we are not being taught to dream. In fact, we're being taught to settle in, to settle for the status quo. And that's not what this is about. And so every single episode that we bring you is going to be designed to help you go out and to live a remarkable life, one where you shun that status quo, you go out and pursue your highest aspirations, and you just live at such a high level that you inspire people around you and you make the world a better place. That's what this is going to be all about. And hopefully you'll enjoy it enough that you're going to come back. You know, every time this thing is released, you're going to listen to it, going to impact you in a significant way, and then you're going to want to go out and share it with others. And that's what the goal of this is, is to impact people's lives. And so, with that being the case, let's jump right in and let's talk about the very first lesson. We're going to kick things off with a lesson called you've been robbed of your ability to dream. And I would add to that that you didn't even know when that happened. The reality is this we are all born with an ability to dream. If you've ever watched a little kid, as they get older, you know, when they're 3, 4, 5 years old, their imaginations run wild. I mean, they can just think things up. They can envision the craziest things. And within that is an ability to, at some point go, man, I would love to do this. And they just dream. And I still remember when I was a kid, I remember being out in my garage where I had wrestling mats, and I'm probably 7 years old, and I'm dreaming about winning Olympic titles. You know, I'm out in my backyard, I'm taking shots, and I'm pretending that I'm Michael Jordan. Now, that did not come true. And there's something to be said about having the skill sets to do that. But the point is that I had an ability to dream, and I don't think I'm the only one. When you watch little kids, I think that you just have that. And so what ends up happening is this. Our society is designed to encourage you to settle for the status quo. Average is the expectation. And if you do anything but that, a lot of times what happens is you're encouraged to fit in. This is something we're going to talk about in this lesson, but it starts at an early age. When you think about what school is, there's a lot of amazing teachers and things that are done extremely well. But when you go to school, you're being taught to follow rules to fit in. And if you're different, a lot of times other kids are going to make fun of you and even bully you, and that's the way that things are. It's this mentality, this herd mentality, where people want to pull you back in. There's also this in our environment. You know, when you go out and you try to really achieve something really unique, you're immediately going to feel a pull where people want to pull you back in, ultimately, because it makes them uncomfortable. And so when you have an entire society where over 90% of people are not really dreaming or pursuing really cool things, it's easier to just fit in. The problem is, is that will never lead you to a life that you're really excited about. And so what I want to do is two things in this podcast. Number one, talk about the three ways that you're robbed of your ability to dream. You need to recognize this, and you need to know when they're happening so you can redirect and make sure that you're fending these off. And you're staying focused on your vision and what you want to achieve. The second part is going to be how do you get back to dreaming? And so since this has been taken, and I got to be honest, it's even me in my life, I consider myself an optimist, somebody who pursues my aspirations. But I've had those things taken from me from time to time. And so we want to talk about how do you get back to dreaming so you can go out and just live to full potential, live with energy to achieve all your aspirations and live a life where you're going to have no regrets at the end of it. So let's start with the three ways you're robbed. You know, I've paid attention to this, I've studied this, and this happens on a very regular basis. But let's start with this. Let's say that you wanted to go out and you had thought about something that you're really excited about pursuing. And you to the point where you even have energy. And inevitably what's going to happen is you're going to go out and you're going to tell somebody. And a lot of times what you're looking for is support. You're looking for reinforcement. And we're going to talk about in this podcast where you don't need that, but a lot of times you're going to do that. And what's going to happen is you're going to tell it to somebody even close to you, and you're so excited about it and you're waiting for feedback. And the first way that you're robbed is they don't say anything. They didn't tell you you couldn't, but they don't say anything. And what this means a lot of times to you is that they're not really supporting you at all. And what ends up happening if this happens enough, your brain, if you allow it to, registers this as doubt. And eventually you get to the point where you can give up on that. So you've got to learn to get beyond that to be okay with that. If somebody doesn't say anything, that's fine. You don't need that. You are the only permission. You just need permission from yourself to pursue them. The number two is this. When you go out and you tell somebody, and it might even be a family member, maybe your mom, your dad, a friend, your brother, your sister. And when it's a really lofty aspiration, here's a. Here's what's going to happen. You're going to have People that are going to tell you it's hard, you're already going to know that it's hard. You've already thought that through. But then they're going to say, hey, you know what? That's really hard. You need to be careful. You need to be safe. And this is a big one, right? Because again, they're not trying to hurt you. They probably even mean well. But they're not dreamers. And so what they're telling you is to play it safe. You can't play it safe. You think about the greatest achievements that this world's ever seen. Steve Jobs did not play it safe with Apple. Walt Disney did not play it safe with Disneyland and Disney World. He got rejected 200 times for a loan, and he just came coming for it. Oprah Winfrey does not play it safe. And so you have to be the same when people say this to you. It's fine. They're entitled to their opinion, but you cannot let that impact you. And then the number three thing is, they'll criticize you. And this is the one where people will straight up just tell you that, no, you can't do that. In fact, you're crazy for doing that. And they'll be meaner than that. They'll tell you you're stupid. They'll tell you you don't have the ability. It's going to happen. And sometimes it's less subtle than that, where it's maybe things that aren't as mean. But the point is, you're being criticized. And these are the people that are trying to pull you back into the herd. You've got to get over all these things. You cannot allow people to rob you of your ability to dream. And. And so with that being said, we transition to, well, how do you take it back? And the first thing we're going to do. Four tips. The first thing is to recognize you don't need permission to pursue your aspirations. You flat out don't. Those three ways that you're robbed, when you develop the ability to acknowledge them, to recognize them when they come, you just need to remind yourself, no permission needed. And once you have that type of mentality, you can really get down and get to business. The number two thing that I would say is go out. And if you don't necessarily know how to dream, understand that it's a skill set. It's something that you're going to have to cultivate. So pay attention to the things that energize you. Go out and experience new things. If you're moving around and you acknowledge like, oh man, I really like singing or I really like writing. I've always wanted to write a book. Pay attention to that. And when you know that those are the things that charge you up, then you just have to be willing to take steps. And that moves us to number three is once you know what those things are and you're getting experience, put your aspirations to paper, write down your goals. The 3% of people that actually write down their goals and revisit them on a regular basis out, earn and outperform the remaining 97% of all people. So put them to paper. Don't be afraid to do that. You know, share them with other people. Research has shown the moment that you share them with somebody else, it can increase your chances of achieving them. There's accountability measure there. And then the final step, we'll cover all these things more in depth later in the podcast. But number four, take immediate action. This is a step that differentiates elite performers, that when they know their aspirations, they start to know what some of their dreams are. They don't sit around doubting because what's going to happen is you have a really lofty aspiration, it's going to scare you, it's going to intimidate you. And you have to learn to take immediate action. Don't fall into that trap. Break things down, know your goals, focus on daily action items, and then just be masterful at taking action every single day and pursue your passions. And here's what I believe. I believe that if you develop that ability to move and constantly do little things to move towards your aspirations, aspirations, I told you, I think dreaming is a skill set. And what's going to happen as you develop your skill set is your vision is going to become more clear. You're going to know exactly what you want. You're not going to need anybody's permission to pursue the things that you want. You're going to build momentum and you're going to feel great that you're living the exact life that you want to live. That's what this podcast is all about. I hope you enjoyed this very first episode that we have, and I hope you keep coming back. Because if you do, eventually you are going to earn the right to live all your dreams. Let's continue doing that. Have a great day and I'll talk to you again soon. Hey everybody, thank you so much for listening to this episode. I truly hope you enjoyed it. If so, be sure to subscribe to where you get the updates for the next episodes when they come out and tell somebody about it. We want a chance to impact more lives. And for more resources on personal development and helping you live at your highest level. Go on over to Coyecooper.com, C-O-Y-T-E C-O-O O P E R.com and check out all the free resources there. And as always, get out. Live at your absolute highest level. You know, go out with energy and earn the right to live your dreams. Have a great day, everyone.