We may have amazing in-person relationships with people who encourage us, inspire us and offer amazing friendship. However, many of these same relationships fail to provide one of the things the entrepreneur needs most: someone to dream with.
Author Jon Acuff writes about the “wow” and the “how.” For many dreamers and entrepreneurs this will sound very familiar. “Wow” represents the possibility the dreamer sees. At any moment inspiration will strike and it doesn’t matter what the dreamer was doing yesterday or building the day before – they are now wowed by the possibilities a new idea offers.
“How” represents the realities of what it will take to pursue and realize that dream. The questions that must be answered, the responsibilities that must be accounted for – this is all wrapped up in how will we make this happen. The non-dreamer is often the “how.”
We are often surrounded by a plethora of friends and family who ask “how” and we desperately need more “wow” people to dream with.
You May Not Remember but You Were A Dreamer
Everyone starts out as a dreamer, as a “wow” person. As children we saw the world as being full of possibilities and we could become anything we want. Those around us encouraged us by providing dress up clothes, buying the props we needed to be the fireman or sports athlete. We leaned into whatever dream we would have any given day.
As we grow the dreaming is sucked out of us. Rather than being encouraged to dream because it’s cute, we’re told to be more realistic. We’re encouraged to have a backup plan if being a professional singer doesn’t work out. Dreaming is sucked out of us.
It’s Time to Start Dreaming Again
Our in-person relationships often are filled with “how” people. I am learning more and more than my online relationships are packed full of “wow” people. Dreamers are a rare breed and the internet has allowed dreamers around the world to find one another. Where our in-person relationships say, “have a backup plan,” our online relationships say, “you got this!” That’s like fuel for the dreamer.
Just a Little Bit More
In this short Periscope video I talk a bit about the first time I became aware of this in-person/online relationship distinction and expand a little bit more on how we can use social media to build our dreams and see them come true.
