On any given day, my three year old will say a dozen silly things.  (If you don’t believe me check his Twitter stream).

This one?  Not so silly:

“Mommy, when I grow up, I want to be an astronaut, but you have to be big and strong to fit in those suits!”

Aw!  Adorable, right?  Look at the cute little boy in the giant space suit. But listen:

How do you have to be to fit in your suit?

I know Sam will change his mind about what he wants to be when he grows up. Probably a thousand times.  But assume for a moment that he really does want to be an astronaut.

Well then, he knows exactly what he needs to achieve (big and strong), and thanks to his dad and me and a bunch of other responsible adults in his life, he knows just how to get there (veggies and monkey bars).

Sam has a clear picture of his goal, and that suggests a plan.  Keep the goal in mind, keep doing the plan, and eventually you’ll get there.

It’s not…well, rocket science.  Figure out where you want to be, take stock of where you are now, notice the difference, do what you have to do to close the gap.

To me, the first step is the hardest.

  • Where do you want to be?
  • How will you know when you get there?
  • What sort of person will you have to be to pull on the clothes you’ll need to wear?
  • Are you that sort of person now or, more likely, do you have a bit of work to do?

Happy dreaming.