You got a dream... You gotta protect it !

The title of this post is quoted from my favorite movie "The Pursuit of Happyness". Chris Gardener - the hero of the movie, gallantly acted by Will Smith gives this bit of advise to his little son. The full advise is "Don’t ever let somebody tell you you can’t do something…You got a dream, you gotta protect it…if you want something, go get it". This is something which I always fight hard to live by in my life.

In the fast pace of today's practical life, we always limit our dreams. For today's executive generation, the maximum limit of dreams is a good job, marriage and children. In the middle of the war for survival, no one wants to be someone different in the crowd. No one dare to dream differently. I agree that, for some of us the targets may be a bit higher. Like - "Being a senior VP of my company", "Getting a big hike next year" etc. But let me ask a subtle question to these people. When you think about this goal, do you feel light, do you feel inspired, do you feel energy roaring through your veins? I believe, the honest answer will be "No". These goals make them more stressful. They get more worried about planning how to impresses their bosses, or how to perform their action items within the deadline so as to achieve the goal. So I do not name these goals as dreams. They are just goals. A dream is something, which you really want to do or become from deep inside your heart and soul. You will never become stressed out thinking about your dream. Instead, it will make you feel in unlimited bliss, and you will feel that every cell of your body is vibrating in the rhythm of the dream. And you will know that your heart was always ready to chase your dream. Only thing was that you did never allow it to show up. You suppressed it with your brain.

We all had dreams in our childhood. We all had high opinions about ourselves,and somehow we knew and felt that we have a our role in this world. We had a feeling that, "The whole world is for me". Nothing in this beautiful world is denied to them. This precisely is the reason why children identify themselves with heroes like Batman or Spiderman. But while we grow up, we are "convinced" that being like Spiderman is impossible. So you kill your fantasy. I agree that it is a good realization, but along with that realization, you lost a mysterious thrill. But I'm telling you - All of you are heroes. True heroes in one way or another way. A hero need not perform actions or fights. In my definition - A hero is someone who has the courage to follow his dream irrespective of what the world comments about him/her.

I re-state my definition of dream - A dream is something which you really want to execute from deep inside. So, there might be a musician asleep inside a Mathematics Professor, there may be a Novelist asleep inside a Harvard MBA mind. I'm not going to specifics, as each ones dream is unique. But whatever it is, have the courage to pursue it. I am not saying that you have to give up your job as a software professional and become a Jazz musician, but find time without losing your means of survival. I promise you, once you identify your dream and take a brave decision to follow your dream - Your mind will work wonderfully. It will find excellent ways to proceed, because it now knows what it really wants!

So I would conclude the action plan :
Step 1: Identify your dream - No one can help you in this. But I can leave you some clues. It is what you truly want. It is what makes you feel inspired. It is what fills you with immense energy and makes you lethargy-proof.

Step 2: Take a brave decision to follow that dream. Create time bound action plans and act upon them.

Step 3: Wear a bullet proof jacket. I assure you that others will fire bullets towards you, by means of telling you you cannot do this and you are being stupid. But remember, no none who really follows his or her dream will tell you that. That comes from cowards.

Let me conclude, quoting from the famous book Alchemist by Paulo Coelho - "When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it...".

Now, all the best !!!