Robyn Johnson, an independent consultant for nonprofits in Washington state, has sought practical and tangible direction throughout her professional life from the least tangible of sources: her own unconscious mind, as revealed by her dreams. “Recently I was preparing for a meeting with a wealthy potential donor,” she recalls. “I was nervous about it, but a few nights beforehand, I dreamed there was an elegant woman sitting in a room. The lady was very warm and simply said, “I’ve been waiting for you.’ The dream helped me to calm down, and I went into the meeting with confidence.”

The donor – who just happened to look like the woman in Johnson’s dream and gave the same greeting - wound up writing a check on the spot for $250,000.

A ghostly coincidence? Perhaps. But Johnson’s calm and confidence after the dream were very real. Leading researchers now believe there may be a connection between dreams and career success – especially when work-related stress is involved. And until the day that hard scientific evidence affirms researcher speculation, if it ever does, many professional women will continue to notice the effect dreams have on their work.

“Dreams are an important way for us to learn, and it’s a rich area of study,” explains Sheldon Roth, M.D., clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “Researchers continue to try to figure out how dreams work and how they impact all areas of our lives.”

The Basics of Dreaming

During a typical life span, a person spends about six years dreaming (or about two hours each night). It’s unknown where in the brain dreams originate or why dreams ever occur at all. According to Sigmund Freud, dreams are a form of wish fulfillment, and the imagery contained in them isn’t random. “Dreams are thought of as a way of making the unconscious conscious,” says Larina Kase, Psy.D., a business psychologist and founder of Women Entrepreneurs’ Habitat. “They are often seen as keys to your inner feelings and unfilled needs.”

Dreams can also serve as a way of dealing with unfinished business, and what we dream can illuminate both a problem and its solution. “Dreams are constantly coaching us for challenges and opportunities that lie ahead,” explains Robert Moss, author of The Three “Only” Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence and Imagination (New World Library, 2007).

A study at the university of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine used PET scans to view brain activity during sleep and found that the brain’s same emotion centers that are active during the day become active when we dream. This has led some researchers to suspect that while we’re dreaming our brains are still working through the emotional conflicts of the day. In fact, Roth Notes that when we’re going through times of stress, “there will be an increase in the frequency of our dreams in order to help us work through these issues.”

Kase points to a recurring dream one of her clients had in which she was running freely through meadows. “She would wake up in the morning and immediately feel depressed because she disliked her job and didn’t want to go to work that day,” Kase says. “It helped her to realize that she needed flexibility and a sense of freedom in her career. She eventually decided to start her own business.”

Monique Dearth was in such a position in 2001. After a successful stint in General Electric’s human resources management program, Dearth decided to form her own HR consulting company. She had it all planned out except for one crucial detail: the company’s name. Dearth already had used her dreams to help in other areas of her life, so before going to bed one Friday night, she asked aloud, “What should I name my company?”

“That night, I had a very vivid dream where I was walking through an urban neighborhood in the midst of a riot,” she recalls. ‘There were people running all over, but I wasn’t frightened. I walked up to as police officer and asked him what was going on, and he replied that someone had ‘incited a riot.” I woke up the next morning and said to my husband that the name of the company is Incite Strategies. The rest is history.”

Maybe because we’re more intuitive, women are more open to listening to their dreams than men are, says Veronica Tonay, Ph.D., a psychotherapist and dream researcher. A University of Alberta study found the solutions that surfaced in dreams were especially significant for women. In addition, women recall dreams more often than men and are more likely to describe their dreams as vivid and meaningful. “The more positive attitude you have about dreams and the impact they can have,” Tonay says, “the more likely you are to remember them and therefore be able to use them to your advantage.”

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Decoding your dreams

Want to put your dreams to work? To increase the chances ofg remembering dreams, experts recommend reviewing the events of the day before falling asleep. Then, instead of springing out of bed as soon as you wake up, remain in bed with eyes closed and try to recall your dreams. Interpreting images from dreams can be more challenging, but dream experts like Drs. Veronica Tonay and Larina Kase share these recurring work themes and their likely meanings:

DREAM: You show up to a meeting in the buff.
IT MEANS: This dream often occurs after you’ve started a new job or received a promotion because you don’t yet feel comfortable in your new position.

DREAM: You’re screaming at your boss a co-worker.
IT MEANS: You could be expressing anger toward an individual that you didn’t even realize you felt, or that you feel uncomfortable expressing for real.

DREAM: You’re at your old job.
IT MEANS: This suggests that there’s an old lesson you need to learn and apply to your current situation.

DREAM: You’re being chased or you’re falling.
IT MEANS: You may feel out of control and anxious about your career or job.

DREAM: You’re flying through the office.
IT MEANS: If you’re flying with ease, then your dream suggests that you’re in control of the situation. If you’re having difficulty when flying, it indicates a lack of power over your own circumstances. And if you’re frightened when flying, it could mean you’re afraid of challenges and of success.