"Success is never an accident. It typically starts as imagination, becomes a dream, stimulates a goal, grows into a plan of action - which then inevitably meets with opportunity. Don't get stuck along the way."
- Dan Miller, author of 48 Days to the Work You Love
When I remember being a kid, my strongest memories are of the imaginary worlds I created. I had a house underneath the park that you entered through a tree and a grocery store that was really the street sign pole but you punched into a keypad what food you wanted. One of my favorites was a game I made up to play in the pool. You had to make big waves with a boogie board and then get sucked into the new world. There were stations all around the pool where you got to do different fun things like hand stands and somersaults and I can't remember what else. I played with Little People and blocks and She-Ra and My Little Ponies. Everything had a story. It's truly amazing to think of what we were able to think up when our brain wasn't so cluttered with the daily grind.
I wonder what happened to that little girl. Where did her imagination go? Is it still in me to think of such wild tales? I think buried beneath the homework, deadlines, job search and office politics there is a little girl's imagination just waiting to make the world a better place. What can I do to recapture some of that dreaming and some of that creativity to solve problems around me today? It seems that by focusing on opening up the thought channels and discovering what gets you excited can lead to the type of imagination that leads to dreams, goals and actions. For instance, I was on the elliptical machine at the gym the other day and I was thinking about a quote I heard someone say that their best ideas come when they are sweating. So I thought I would focus on imagining and dreaming. And guess what? I was thrilled with the result! That incident happened about 3 weeks ago but I can't stop thinking about my idea and I want to see if I can put together a plan that would make my idea a reality. That's something to get out of bed excited about everyday!
I believe one of the reasons I was able to come up with this idea (and several other ideas I have had in recent time) is because of the journey I've been on since starting grad school. Suddenly released from a situation I felt stuck in, I started exploring the different options that were in front of me. Everytime we would talk about something that would excite me in class I would think that maybe THIS is what I want to do with my life. I would look around, see what the people doing that particular job were like and match my skills and interests with what the job requires. Eventually the list started to narrow down and the same type of things keep coming to the top of the list. A conversation with a favorite professor helped nail it down even more. I know I want to be a part of something big and good. I want to make a difference. I want to create an environment where people do their best work. I want to help our country be great and encourage kids to pursue math and science and to really know what their options are. I want to bring something new to market or bring something old to a new market. There have been other discoveries along the way and I look forward to seeing how they turn out. In the meantime, I'm working in time to imagine and see what I can come with.
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