Imagine the scene. A little boy tells you he is going to be a pro player one day. What would you do? Gently tell him that it’s not a realistic dream? Play along?
This is what Derek Jeter told his parents when he was eight years old.
How did they react?
On the GameChange Mindset podcast, GameChange company co-founder Jack Baric told the story of Derek Jeter walking into his parents’ room when he was 8 years old and telling them that he wanted to be a pro baseball player and play for the Yankees one day. What they told him was a blueprint for how to live your life.
It would have been easy for them to gently discourage the dream because such a small number of people actually rise to the level of professional athlete. They also could have been falsely encouraging by saying something like, “You got this!” without really believing it. Just being nice.
So, what did they do? They told him he could achieve his dreams, but they didn’t sugarcoat it. They said for that to happen, he would have to fully dedicate himself and work hard – and when you do that, anything is possible.
What is your mindset? Do you dream big, or do you tell yourself that great things are not for you? Or, do you dream big, but you know it’s just a fantasy with absolutely no plan or willingness to achieve the dream?
So, let’s say you want to achieve great things, but aren’t sure if dreaming big is realistic. Well, if you don’t dream it, how can it happen? Dreaming big is an important ingredient to success. Why? There are several reasons.
- It expands your vision from your current circumstances, where you can see something much bigger and better out there.
- It creates the required motivation to keep going when things get very challenging. Having strong inner motivation is the foundation of grit. You grind through the hard when your motivation is strong.
- It makes you more innovative, creative, and ready to pivot when your plan is not working. When the dream is strong, you find ways to achieve success, even if they are not in ways that others have achieved it.
- It gives you a sense of control over your life. Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, you focus on all the skills, talent, and resources at your disposal to achieve the dream.
Ok, so we’ve given you permission to dream big. But just like Jeter’s parents told him, the dream is nothing without a plan to work hard to achieve it. If it is a really big dream, you can easily start feeling overwhelmed and start to doubt whether it is possible. How do you avoid that?
- Take small steps. Rome was not built in a day, and Jeter didn’t go from being an 8-year-old to stepping onto the Yankees diamond. Focus on what you can do today, this week, this month, and slowly progress to the big goal.
- On the subject of goals. Set small goals along the way that each create a stepping stone to the bigger goal that is your dream.
- Stay flexible. Be open to adapting the plan as you go because more often than not, your path to the dream will be more zig-zag than a straight line.
The world needs dreamers. It also needs doers. If you can do both, great things can happen!
