Time to start pretending...

Every day I sit at my desk and pretend.

I pretend, what would my life look like if I accomplished my goals? What would happen to me and those around me if I actually followed through with the plans I have in my brain? The grandiose vision I have for what I want to accomplish with my designated time here.

For the record, it looks incredible. The people I could connect with and raise up to new and EPIC levels. In my ‘pretending’, I am able to work with hundreds of thousands of humans. Showing them what they are capable of. What they could do if only they could see the potential they have within them.

Then, I get distracted and shake off the ‘pretending’ and land squarely back on my feet, back in reality. Once, we all pretended, just not so much now, only when we were very young. That’s because all children pretend. They think up incredible ideas, worlds, and opportunities that they obsess over. They build elaborate castles and kingdoms out of LEGO and draw entire universes and create grand inventions with a box of Crayons. Nothing seems impossible to a child. That is, until, we as adults tell them to, “Be realistic”.?

Worse, we hand them dream stealers: a Nintendo Switch, iPad or phone. This gives them a limited universe, as set out by the app. They must play within the characters or story that has been written by a corporation, designing them to be addictive. It’s sad. It is thought there is a direct correlation between what we see as children, become teens, become young adults, and eventually full blown adults. The ability to set massive Fearless Life Altering Goals (FLAGs) becomes overwhelming. Instead, we seek to follow what others have done, or stay within the parameters set out by our circumstances.?

I sit at my desk and look at a framed picture (see above). Not of my family or a group of friends. But of a table, set for dinner at sunset, looking out over the ocean. This is a picture I took from the Internet. It’s from Necker Island. The island that Virgin founder Richard Branson owns. I pretend that I am sitting at that table eating dinner, drinking incredible wine and having deep conversations. My present circumstances don’t allow me to go to the island the few weeks a year that Branson opens it for public use yet. But it doesn’t stop me from dreaming of being there.?

That dream then makes me think of all the things that I would need to do to get there. There are a lot. It will require me to work incredibly hard. Not to find ‘hacks’ or simple tricks to accomplish this. But the real hard work it will take to get there. It’s not going to be easy. I have had this picture on my desk for more than a decade. I believe I am closer now than I was in 2012 when I first framed it.

When I close my eyes, I can see me there. With the people I love. If you know me, you know I love BIG dinners, amazing wine, and deep conversation. It’s why I created?EPIC.?It’s why I love working with young kids. It’s why summer camp, youth leadership conferences, like?OSLC,?the Global Student Leadership Summit, and events like?SPARK allow young people to see the potential they have, it opens their minds. These opportunities, although take effort to create and run, and even to attend (to which we are so grateful for your support), are so worth it.?

I challenge you to pretend. To ask yourself this simple question, “What would happen if I succeeded at my FLAG”?

In the end, remember, when a child is pretending, they are simply setting themselves beautiful goals.