Have you met the 'dream catcher'?

I had a chance meeting with the ‘dream catcher’ the other day, infact right in the college corridor where I was supposed to deliver a lecture on “Start up feasibility”. I grimaced when our eyes met & asked “what are you doing here? I thought you normally hang around people’s study tables or classrooms or coffee shops?”. He sheepishly grinned and ran away shouting “I gotta go, think I lost my way”.

For those of you who haven’t met him, he is a mastermind thief, peddler and mercenary who has the innate ability to steal dreams, make the dreamer feel inadequate about their ability to fulfil their dreams and sells it to someone else who has the ability or money. I’ve confronted him twice when I saw him slithering around a few potential mentees of mine waiting to leave them high & dry but each time he gave me the slip. Whenever I meet people who’ve had incredible dreams of a career, business idea or even something bordering on an impressive patent or even someone who tells me “I’d thought of that idea a long time back” and they blew it, I know for sure they’ve been hoodwinked by the dream catcher.

Now over the years he’s built a successful franchise and with a network of proteges he’s diversified into peddling it to multiple bidders and if there’s one person who’s never been technologically challenged, its him, I mean look at the controversy he’s created over facebook, uber, snapchat and even the iPhone, while the dreamers scraped a few millions (courtesy law suits) the doers have become legendary billionaires.

Let me tell you how he works- if your idea had the potential to be, not just successful but a game changer, and you keep incessantly dreaming about it putting your best foot ahead several times but holding back yourself, it means he’s taken your dreams sold it to someone (& most likely he would have made ‘you’ spill it to someone) and left you with the “fear tip” as a token of his gratitude. Now how do you counter him? Three simple ways:

1. Share your dreams with people who can only add value to it.

2. Don’t short sell it & don’t just talk about it, do something about it.

3. Even if it’s out there do it regardless as the original conviction started with you. (and if you decide to not do it, don’t regret it!)

I walked out of the class later that day and saw him again, he came over and whispered “who am I fooling, there’s a kid in there who believes he can use artificial intelligence to predict & respond to crop water requirements based on humidity & temperature variations and I need that dream”. I smirked this time “he’s crossed over buddy, he’s showing the prototype demo to an investor this week and I’ve ensured everyones signed non disclosures so no ones stealing his idea”. He smiled mischeviously, shrugged & walked away saying “ok, never stopped me before, never will stop me ever”.