I’m a big believer that everyone should spend at least a portion of their life chasing their own dreams. Whether dream chasing is your life focus, or something you do a few hours a month, it has enormous value.
The act of pursuing dreams brings a sense of vitality and aliveness to your life.
It’s fun. It’s exciting. It’s invigorating.
You shift from merely existing, to truly living.
I get a lot of push back from my readers on this topic. People say…
- Chasing dreams isn’t practical.
- Dream chasing is for kids, not for adults.
- If I chase my dreams, who is going to pay the bills?
- It’s irresponsible.
The people who make these comments often perceive themselves as being wise and practical in deliberately not pursuing their dreams.
Rather than argue the point, let me frame things differently with the following statement:
If you are NOT fulfilling YOUR dreams, then you are probably fulfilling SOMEONE ELSE’S dream (without even realizing it).
If you’re at McKinsey and it’s not your dream to be there, then staying at McKinsey means fulfilling your manager’s dream of becoming a McKinsey partner off of your efforts.
If you didn’t want to become a surgeon but you became one anyway, you didn’t fulfill your own dreams. However, you may have fulfilled your parents’ dream of being parents to a surgeon.
If it isn’t your dream to get a loan to buy two cars, a big house, and have 1.7 children, but you do so anyways, you’re not fulfilling your dreams but might be fulfilling the dreams of your bank’s shareholders who profit from your decision.
My point isn’t to argue that you should or should not be fulfilling dreams.
My point is that you ALREADY are chasing dreams.
The only question that’s up for debate is WHOSE dreams are you fulfilling?
YOURS or SOMEONE ELSE’S?
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58 thoughts on “Chasing Dreams”
Hi Victor,
Thats wonderfully put! I treat that as another way of saying focus on what excites you. I guess the most difficult part in this to really know what excites you.
Another point worth noting could be that “your dream” and “someone else’s dream” may not be mutually exclusive. There may be certain overlapping areas between the two.
Himanshu,
I agree with you on both points.
It is hard to figure out what excites you, but the only chance one has of discovering is to attempt to figure it out.
You are right pursuing your dream versus someone else’s is not always an either / or proposition. Sometimes it is an “and” proposition. The key this is to choose ones dream consciously and deliberately first, and then notice if it is in alignment with someone else’s.
For me my goal was never to make partner at McKinsey. My dream was to run my own business and I saw a way to learn valuable skills via working at McKinsey for a few years. My favorite engagement manager had a dream to make partner. We both got what we wanted and we both helped each other get what the other wanted too.
Victor
Great written, thanks for the inspiration!
Have a great summer full of dreams everyone!
Boss comes out of a BMW 7 series and a junior employee remarked, “Wow Boss, this is great!”
The boss puts his arm around the man & says,
“If you also work hard, be punctual, put in more hours of work on weekends, take fewer holidays, achieve your targets….
I will be able to buy an even better car next year!!!”
I am chasing my employer’s dream. after reading your mail i have realized, all through my life i only fulfilled some one’s dream either at personal level or in public. it is most thought provocative mail from You.
Balaji
I tend to get a little sentimental when it comes to the topic of “dream”. Really touched by that “shift from merely living to truly existing”.
Studying and working in the environment where no people seem to be interested in talking about dreams, I feel like I always acted a heretic. The topics around me are always like “how to earn big money some day”, “how to get married with a beautiful lady”, or “where to raise kids in the future”. Nothing bad about being down-to-earth. But it just feels lonely, sometimes desperate, to be surrounded by these down-to-earth mentalities.
SO I chose not to be a software engineer after graduation
, so I decided to have an MBA before 30, so I came a long way from home to a country where I have no friends or relatives at all just for obtaining enough international exposure. Who knows where this zig-zagiing way will lead me. The only thing I know is every step I took is pushing me a little closer to my dream.
Victor, so many thanks for your post and all the material you provided.
Ting,
As the late Steve Jobs said (I’m paraphrasing), life is a zig zag that at the time doesn’t always make sense. But later in your life as you look back and connect the dots, it all does make sense.
Best wishes,
-Victor
Wow! Pretty Awesome way of looking at it!!!
Absolutely the right perspective, Victor and thanks for sharing. However, chasing one’s dreams require uncommon will and riveted focus, both of which is very tasking to the intellect and emotion. It could be likened to a situation described by Thomas Flama as a puppy chasing its own tail. After a few furious gyrations, the puppy wonders whether it is chasing the tail or the tail is chasing it. Without uncommon will and riveted focus, one could be led to think that chasing dreams is merely an exercise in futility.
Chasing one’s dreams is for those who desire self mastery.
Thank you for the insightful topic.
It’s nice to chase our dreams. When we, however, are doing st to achieve dreams, we also fulfill other dreams as well. I mean we help each other to get our dreams.
For example, my dream is getting a good job with high salary, I decide to study MBA, which is fulfilling MBA organisers’ dreams of getting a lot of students :).
Sofia,
Helping others achieve their dreams isn’t a bad thing at all. 🙂
-Victor
I totally agree one of my biggest dreams is to work as a consultant slthought my b school ted Rogers school of management isn’t a target school I’m still working hard to achieve what I consider a dream.