Romanticizing your future is risky business.
Whether it's a parent, social media influencer, or even a well meaning friend, most people want us to chase our big dreams. Unfortunately… that chase almost never works out. Why?
Because we need to learn how to build a good dream, before we run after it.
Good dreams are built by becoming self aware about what you can truly be great at… and even deeper, what you will never be great at.
It’s a tough journey, one most people won’t take. However, it is a worthwhile one that will save you years of heartbeat and debt down the road. Hell, it might even lead you to a big dream you never knew you could accomplish.
How do you define a good dream?
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a good dream is sharing it with fam & friends, ppl who believed in you regardless. whether it is making movies, writing a book, fixing sports cars, running a restaurant. Whatever. Put in work and good ppl will come to you like gravity.
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RE: -- what you will never be great at.
Jacob Matthew you make a great point. I, along with countless others, grapple with this everyday. Writing a great story requires a miracles. At least for folks lurking around on this or any other countless "film making" sites. Mostly because most people, including myself, continue to remain abstracted on what the reality demands in this "content exploding" world.
Definition of a great dream (I speak for myself) is being able to tell a visual story compelling enough that your audience begs for more.... even after the curtains come down. Something along the lines where you get every reader to say what Annie Wilkes once said, " I'm your number one fan. There's nothing to worry about. You're going to be just fine. I will take good care of you. I'm your number one fan.
-- pritesh
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Jacob Matthew thank you for this insightful prompt!
A good dream for me is an evolving one,
that I connect with a positive and functional mindset, that involves my applying and growing my best unique ability,
energizing service to a community and to arts and culture in the world at large;
and something of quality that I love, that I choose to pursue with passion, dedication and joy.
That's my literary art so far over the past ten years, parallel to and based on a foundation of my work as a painter, journalist and visual artist;
I continue to grow and evolve and yet also remain focused, and I have justified confidence in knowing that I am truly great at the creative process I do every day.
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Ooo, such a great question, Jacob Matthew! Also, I really enjoy your recent webinar - such a great breakdown in order to build ourselves up!
If you haven't seen it, check it out: https://www.stage32.com/webinars/How-You-Can-Actually-Make-Money-and-Be-...
A good dream is one that inspires you!
A good dream is one that makes you feel motivated to achieve it everyday.
Indeed, Jacob Matthew. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for a lot of creatives and entrepreneurs to take the Indiana Jones approach, which is to "just make it up as we go along." Clearly, that only works in the movies. It also conjures up thoughts of "People don't plan to fail, they fail to plan." And, of course, we all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
This is where it's key to have a trusted mentor and -- as is so important in the entertainment industry -- be open to constructive criticism. I often tell parents, "Let an uninterested third party (who is qualified) provide feedback on your son or daughter's talent." Likewise, in forming a dream that you're going to pursue, it's best first to have a go-to individual that can walk you through a SWOT evaluation so you DON'T end up having to concede that maybe your dream was a little unrealistic.
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Your words sound very true in my ears. Some years ago, I completely reshaped my life and started doing as a side job, what I wanted to do since I was four years old. Making Comics. I didn't "break into" the business, but rather sneaked in. Today I'm still not a rich world famous creator. But I've earned my share of recognition in my home country and stuff is read in 16 others countries as well. I worked with some of the finest in the industry and even had TV coverage for my creator owned comic books. This all totals to something I never would have considered possible, before. But it wasn't talent or luck. It was hard work and "going the extra mile" more often than not. In our comic/graphic novel community, fans often discuss about talent and people who have "an eye" or "a hand" for something as if it comes as God's blessing. We creators mostly see this differently: If someone is better at drawing Hands than me, he most likely worked harder or smarter to learn it. Full Stop. Talent is overrated. However I often see one thing that distinguishes wannabes from people who create recognizible things: And that's my bottom line about your dream question: If you enjoy the process (not the result) enough to work harder than you ever thought you might be able to, then thus is your path. This is, what they call talent. This fun at doing something is what God gave to you. You'll be happy in the end, if you follow that path. If you are just interested in the "result" (as in "I want to be a successful ...") I personally doubt you will get lucky on this path. In Germany we call it ERFOLG (Success) what is pretty close to FOLGT (follows). I believe in: ERFOLG FOLGT (success follows), if you do something you really love and are open to redefine what success means to you, if good things happen.
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The most important word "build",