5 things to understand
1. Understand your dreams - I’m not talking the dream you have about a flying hamster that talks. I’m talk about dreams such as, “I want to create the next Google.” There’s nothing wrong with that (and believe me, there are much worse things to dream about), however why do you want to create the next Google? Is it because you want to create something that helps people learn more, find more, do more? Or is it because you want to get rich? I’ll let you decide which is the better of the two reasons.
2. Understand your capabilities - I am a director/director of photography, editor and marketing professional. I don’t know coding (although I’m trying to learn) and I don’t have the money to be a venture capitalist. So is wanting to create the next Google the best idea to have with these capabilities? No. Sorry about that, but no dice. Perhaps creating a production company that wins an Oscar is a better one for me. You have to be honest with yourself and what you are good at. I’m not saying you can’t learn something new, far from it. What I am saying is that you have been gifted with certain capabilities, perhaps you should look at what you can do with them?
3. Understand your weaknesses - I know this is starting to sound like a basic SWOT analysis, but you need to know what you are not so good at. Someone once said that you only learn from your failures not your successes. That’s very true even if it’s a bitter pill to swallow. Once you know what you don’t know, then can you go improve. And improving is necessary not only as a dreamer but as a human. Stagnation is death.
4. Understand your limitations - This is different then your capabilities in one major way. If you want to walk on the moon you know where you have to be? The moon. You have to understand your limitations, or else you’ll never overcome them. If you want to be an Academy Award winning director you don’t have to be in Hollywood, but you should be. It’s easier just to link to this article by screenwriter John August here. I know this will seem incredibly hypocritical, but that’s a blog for another day, needless to say I have come to an understanding with my limitations and perhaps you should too.
5. Understand your hope - There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having hope that you will succeed one day. Just know that the person sitting next to you has hopes as well, and so does the person sitting next to them. Let me put this in the form of a college test prep practice question:
Hope is to action as ignition is to engine.
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As a person who’s personally been metaphysically beat down over the past few months I look at this list and think to myself, “Wow, did you really have to write a post about that? You should have just talked to yourself in the mirror.” I guess my thinking is that occasionally we all need to trip and fall down because it’s how we get up that matters.
And I’m still laying on the ground and I’ve realized something.
It’s time to get up.
Jake