From motivational speakers to rappers, we have all been inundated with the call to dream big! The other day, I also came across an insightful business magazine with a similar title encouraging aspiring and emerging business owners to dream big.
Just as I thought that the ‘dream big’ message has probably being restricted to the enlightened sect, I read a story on Mrs Betty Irabor’s Instagram page. In that story, she recounted her experience in a spa when she asked the attendant what she wanted to do with her life. Her purpose for the question was to see if she could help the lady in any way, maybe with her education or vocation. She was taken aback when the young lady responded; ‘I just want to blow!’
Apparently, the gospel of dreaming big has spread across various strata, which leads me to my question, do big dreams lead to big success in life and business?
THE MYTH OF DREAMING BIG WITHOUT WORKING HARD
As I read through the business magazine I spoke about, I realized that the lady who was being interviewed encouraged people to dream big, however; she went on to show how hard she had worked in her career to get where she is today.
The young lady who wants to blow also reminds me of a skit I watched of a young boy who was asked what he wanted to do when he grew up. The young boy said in Yoruba, ‘I want to do Yahoo! Yahoo!’ Would you say they were not both dreaming big? They were! They were both just looking for the easy way out to achieve success.
The other day, I had a meeting with the General Manager of a digital infrastructure company that helped artists to manage and monetize their online presence. I went there to explore the opportunity of doing some work with them, and I got an education about how much hard work it took for an artist or celebrated personality to build their following before they got sufficient views enough to monetize it.
Alas, there is no short cut to big success!
HOW CAN BIG DREAMS LEAD TO BIG SUCCESS IN BUSINESS AND LIFE?
Big dreams will stretch you.
When you dream big, you suddenly realize that your current capacity cannot make it happen and you will be forced to develop yourself and acquire new skills if you hope to achieve your dreams.
Big dreams will bring new people into your life.
I have been working on a project to help more people find their niche in 2017 (I can’t wait to share it with you) and the project has created an opportunity for me to meet several inspiring people from various fields that I will never have met if I had not embarked on it. When you have big dreams, you will need to find new partners to help you accomplish your dreams.
Big dreams will make you pray more!
Have you noticed that a lot of successful people are quick to attribute their success to God or a higher power? Believe me, you don’t know how much capacity you have to pray until you have a big dream! When you encounter the obstacles and opposition that a big dream usually brings, you will suddenly become more connected to God. So if you want to have a more active prayer life, dream big and go for it!
Big dreams will focus you.
When you have a big dream and you are willing to do what it takes to bring it to pass, you will remove distractions from your life. It takes remarkable focus to achieve major success in life and business. When you speak to remarkably successful people, you find out that they attribute their success to their ability to focus on one thing for a very long time before they achieved big success.
It took renowned businesses like Facebook and Amazon years before they broke even and started making a profit.
By all means, dream big, and go for it! Just know that success will take hard work, perseverance, and patience.