Dream Big and Work Hard

"Dream big! There are no limitations to how good you can become or how high you can rise except the limits you put on yourself." —Brian Tracy

"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work." —Gen. Colin Powell , USA (Ret)

"Every pro was once an amateur. Every expert was once a beginner. So dream big. And start now." —Robin Sharma

"Desire is the seed of every great accomplishment. Consistency is the fruit of that seed…Goals may give focus, but dreams give power...The dream is free but the journey isn’t." —Dr. John C. Maxwell

"Big Dreams create the magic that stir men's souls to greatness." —Bill McCartney

"Billions of people have passed through this planet and never realized their greatness and never achieved their dreams. Why? They didn't have the guts to risk the life they were living for the one they were capable of." —Darren Hardy

"The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams." —Oprah Winfrey

"Success equals perseverance, education, and motivation." —ADM Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr., U.S. Navy

"There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” —Nelson “Madiba” Mandela

"There's more to life than being a passenger." —Amelia Earhart

"Dare to dream, but please also do. For dreamers are many, but doers are few." —Brad Montague

"No age is too young or too old to accomplish your dreams!" —Sandy Carter

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. '” ― Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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I believe every noteworthy accomplishment starts with a dream. Nothing has ever been accomplished in the real world without first being conceived in one's imagination. However, as we all get to learn, not every dream ever becomes a reality. My challenge to everyone is to dare to dream a big dream. Dream as if you did not have any constraints on resources or time. If you had all the resources, money, knowledge, connections, and time at your disposal, what would your dream be? Where would you be? What would you do? What lifestyle would you have? Who would you help or what causes would you support? What would be the impact of your life?

It does not cost anything to dream. Dreaming a small dream or a big dream is absolutely free. One may as well choose to dream a big dream regardless of current circumstances. The human spirit has the ability to envision a better world than the current status quo.??

History has shown us time and time again about the manifestation of compelling and sometimes seemingly impossible dreams, from airplanes' manufacturing to modern automobiles to the ability to travel to the moon , outer space, or other planets. Sometimes big dreams will outlive the people who dreamed them and compel people who are not even born yet to work toward its future manifestation. For example, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream "deeply rooted in the American dream" back on August 28, 1963, that "one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." Since 1963, there has been significant progress made towards the realization of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s dream, including the election of the first African American to the highest office of the land on November 4, 2008 . However, the full realization of this dream is still in progress. All of us can do something today towards the full realization of Dr. King's dream for generations to come.

The fact is just because you dream a big dream does not mean that your dream will be realized in your lifetime, or ever at all. But it might. We know that you will never make 100% of the shots you do not take in life. However, if you do reach for the moon, although success is not guaranteed, you might end up touching the stars, which in my humble opinion, is much better than not reaching anything at all. I would rather try and fail than live with failure within while standing still. A speech that often inspires me is a speech given by President Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, on April 23, 1910: "Citizenship in a Republic." The portion of the speech I like most is known as "The Man in the Arena :"

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

If one's dream can be accomplished all by oneself, maybe it is too small. One may need to reconsider dreaming a bigger dream. Once you have a big dream, I suggest you write it down and start the hard work of bringing your dream from the realm of the mind to its physical manifestation. During this process, it will not always be easy. You may have to change friends, not allow others to ridicule you, or abort your dream in its infancy. You may have to find like-minded people who believe in you and encourage you to go for it. You may have to seek a mentor or coach. Find someone who has already accomplished what you are trying to accomplish. You may get lonely at times, feel discouraged, desperate, and fail several times. You need to understand that success and failure are two sides of the same coin. The path to success is through failure. If you allow failure to be a teacher, by failing often and quickly, you will find the path to your success.

I challenge you to dare to dream a big dream and do something every day that will bring you closer to the realization of your dream. Do not look back, keep your sight forward, and do what needs to be done, whether you feel like it or not, to make your dream a reality. My mentor once told me, "if you want something bad enough, you will find a way; if you don't, you will find an excuse." Don't immediately say: "I can't do it." Instead, ask: "how can I do it?" Don't say: "I can't afford it." Instead, ask: "how can I afford it?" I believe against all odds; if you remain committed to your dreams, the universe will conspire to help you achieve them. There is a difference between an aspirational dream and a committed dream. When an objective is aspirational, it is a "nice" to have. It is something that one should achieve, something that one could live without. I am suggesting that you should be fully committed to what really matters to you; that you may want to change your SHOULD into a MUST. I believe that if you should do something, you will probably not get around to it. However, if you must do something, you will move heaven and earth to find a way to get it done.

This week, my beloved mother passed away, reminding me that life is short. We only live once. One cannot live life small, afraid to let one's light shine, worried about what everyone else thinks. You cannot live your life for someone else, including your parents, siblings, friends, or associates. Be all you can be. No one can outdo you at being you. You must live your own life. You were born an original, do not die a copy. You must have your own dreams and diligently work towards the realization of those dreams.

When I first got married nineteen years ago, the only house we could afford was a 1,100 sq ft double wide manufactured home in the deep south. I was very grateful for it; I took good care of it, it was my home. I knew I would not live there forever. I had a much bigger dream for my family. I would take my wife out nearly every Sunday to tour the most beautiful neighborhoods and homes around the city. I would tell her: "one day, I will give you a home just like that." I could not afford it right then, but I knew it was possible. I would tell my beautiful wife that: "our dream home is waiting for us in our future." I did not know how or when, but I knew that somehow, someway, the dream would become a reality. I was willing to do whatever it took: increasing my certifiable skills and experience, earning higher education degrees, being willing to move across the country for a better opportunity. Little did I know that eighteen years later, I would give my wife the keys to our dream home in a gated community of the San Francisco Bay Area. Another recent example is realizing my dream of one day becoming a Senior Naval Officer in the most powerful Navy the world has ever seen. The dream was birthed when I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 2004 and crystalized while I was a Seaman Recruit at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, IL, in 2005. Sixteen long years later, I was officially promoted to the rank of Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve on April 1, 2021. One more example of the realization of a lifetime dream is becoming a millionaire. This dream was birthed when I was an international student at the University of Alabama without a dollar to my name. In 1997, a civil war broke out in my country of origin, which caused my parents not to be able to continue to support me financially . I remember not being able to pay for my student tuition, dormitory fees, or living expenses. I remember having to eat bread and drink water to survive. Amid the most challenging time of my young adult life back then, I dreamed of becoming a millionaire and providing for my future family so that my children, who were yet to be born, would never have to experience what I was going through. Little did I know that twenty-four years later, through a series of strategic investments, I would finally earn my first million-dollar. Dreams are powerful, and dreams can become a reality. It might take sixteen years, eighteen years, or even twenty four years. However long it takes, any goal that is worth achieving is worth every sacrifice. Dream big and work hard every day to accomplish your dreams. Do not procrastinate; start now. It’s go time!

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