Dreaming, Not Drifting

Sometimes I feel like I’m drifting when I think about all the things I have yet to accomplish. I’m no different than you; I have a long list of things I want to do, become, places I want to visit, and things I want to learn. The list goes on.

Dreaming is natural, and it’s how we inspire ourselves to become better and achieve our goals, both large and small. Dreaming about getting a job, learning a new language, traveling to a new place, starting and growing a business, achieving financial stability, acquiring new skills, etc., are all common. I dream about these things all the time, and each day, I move a little closer to these goals. In life, it’s common to take a few steps back. It’s our responsibility to lick our wounds and get back to it again and again.

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Drifting happens when you dream without acting. You want a specific job but aren’t doing anything different to get it. You want to start a business but can’t move past the idea stage. You dream of traveling to a place you’ve never been but can’t save because it’s too easy to spend the money elsewhere. You dream, then drift, resulting in just a handful of dreams.

“Don’t let dreams be dreams” is a quote often attributed to Shia LaBeouf, and it’s so simple and meaningful that it perfectly encapsulates what I’m trying to communicate. “Do not let your dreams stay dreams.” It calls for action, telling you to stop dreaming and start acting. Dream, but don’t drift.

I spend a good amount of time reflecting on what I want to do and how and when to do it. This is not only hard, but it’s also a recipe for becoming disappointed and dissatisfied with yourself and your progress. What has helped me is to think about the big dreams I’ve already accomplished, reminding myself that I have achieved a lot, and trust me, we all have. Then I give myself kudos and start planning the next goal with a positive mind.

Humans are very accomplished creatures. The problem is we often don’t see it that way, mainly because of the habit of comparing ourselves with others. In this era of instant gratification and social media abundance, it’s easy to feel lesser because you don’t have the yacht, the moves, the travel experiences, the beauty, or the money that so many people seem to flaunt. But we’ve all accomplished a lot, from learning to walk and speak to playing and reading. None of this is easy, but we often overlook its importance because it’s common.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

Theodore Roosevelt

When I was young and, yes, beautiful – I remember having many dreams. At the time, I was living with my parents and siblings in Mexico City when we found out that my dad was sick and couldn’t work anymore. He was in his 40s. I was attending a technical school learning programming, and in the evenings, I worked at a small “papeleria” (a stationery store). The job didn’t pay much, even by Mexican standards – about $80 pesos a week. The job was easy but dull. I often wondered what people did with the floppy disks they bought. A nice perk was getting a few disks for free occasionally, useful for school. My biggest dream then was to find a job that paid enough to help my family with rent and other expenses. I also wanted a technical job related to computers. In 1991, learning Basic and Pascal and witnessing the release of Windows 3, getting a job using this cutting-edge software was a dream.

Many years and disappointments later, I finally landed a programming job in 2005, helping not just my family but my wife and kids. Fourteen years had passed. I never stopped dreaming, but circumstances forced me to seek other short-term goals. Looking back, my 1991 dream wasn’t feasible at the time due to my lack of experience and the limited job market in that field in Mexico.

When my dad lost his job, we moved back to Guadalajara, where I realized my goal was even more challenging. The job market wasn’t great, and our financial situation worsened. In Guadalajara, I did various jobs – helping a delivery guy, working for a travel agency, and eventually in a restaurant. I learned valuable skills like driving and customer service but earned very little. Out of desperation, I decided to try my luck in the United States. This wasn’t a dream, but a necessary step towards achieving my dream, one step at a time. Remember, dream but don’t drift.

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Thomas Edison

“Opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”

Richard Branson

Be more like Edison and less like Branson. Yes, opportunities can come again, but not everyone lives in a place where “buses” are frequent. Some people live where there are no buses at all. We all have potential, but not the same opportunities.

Skipping the details of how I arrived in the United States, moving to another country and leaving my family and friends was not easy. But it was what I thought necessary, a step towards finding better opportunities. My dream was very much alive, and moving to find a better-paying job was just another step closer to it.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Lao Tzu

We often drift, thinking and dreaming without acting. We aspire to become a singer or an entrepreneur but don’t put in the work and time necessary to achieve it. Instead, we lament our luck and blame others for our failures. You already have one half of the formula – your dreams. Now you need the other half – the work.

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

Walt Disney

After arriving in a cold Midwest town, I started applying for jobs. Without knowing the language or having a high school diploma, my options were limited to factory or farming jobs. I got a factory job assembling exercise machines, tough and repetitive but better paying than anything in Mexico. By then, I had achieved two significant goals and one big dream – moving to the United States and finding a job to support my family back in Mexico.

Think of your dreams as a marathon’s finish line. It will be hard, painful, and you might not get there. But you still try because you know the hard work and sacrifice will pay off. If you avoid the necessary work and sacrifice, your dreams will remain just that – dreams.

Thanks for reading! If you like the post, please let me know in the comments. I am considering writing a longer post, perhaps a short book, about this topic and with more examples. Cheers.