There are times when we need to be realistic, and there are times when we should allow ourselves to dream.
This is especially true when we're starting something new. Whether it's a new chapter in our lives, a business endeavor, or a creative or intellectual pursuit.
What we need at the starting line of a journey is imagination. To bridge the gap between 0 to 1 with a vision of what’s possible. Randomly stumbling on success is rare, and rational pursuit requires a target.
Without imagination, we’d have no great books or works of art, no equal rights, no cures for disease, and we’d be sending cat memes by postal mail.
Imagination is why we: strive to improve ourselves, know how far we have to go, and are excited to get there.
While we can imagine a great number of things that may really be impossible, a lack of imagination ensures they remain impossible.
But often, our imagination isn’t entirely lacking but constrained. Conforming to the expectations and examples around us puts a ceiling on our dreams. It’s hard to dream big when the world around you thinks small. Steve Jobs shared this reflection in an interview :
When you grow up, you tend to get told the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. That’s a very limited life.
Our imagination, where objective limits shouldn’t apply, conforms to the limited world around us. This explains why so many people unhappily follow the careers of parents and immediate role models, or follow the life script of their society, and why so much art and writing seems to follow a familiar template.
Defying the status quo is hard. It’s hard long before we face the fears of rejection, embarrassment, and failure for trying something new. Because we struggle even to imagine what different and better looks like. Elvis Costello once sang, “Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?”, and it’s a question we should all be asking ourselves more often.
Defying the status quo is hard. It’s hard long before we face the fears of rejection, embarrassment, and failure for trying something new. Because we struggle even to imagine what different and better looks like. Elvis Costello once sang, “Who put these fingerprints on my imagination?”, and it’s a question we should all be asking ourselves more often.
Because when we recognize this influence, we begin to reclaim our imagination. The proof is all around us in all the dreams that have become reality. As Steve Jobs explains later in the interview:
Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.
Life can be much broader once you recognize the fingerprints on your imagination.
These reflections have made me believe that it’s always better to aim higher when you imagine an outcome. To default to the more ambitious vision, even if it seems out of reach. I believe in this strategy for two reasons.
The first is that reality tends to compress the edges of the vision once you get underway. Yes, that’s an attempt to dress up the cliche of “aiming for the moon and landing amongst the stars.” But it’s a cliche for a reason: aiming higher means ending better off even if you don’t reach your more ambitious target.
Secondly, the work required to reach a bigger goal is often the same as reaching a smaller goal. So why not stretch your ideas further if you're putting in the effort anyway? Investor Sieva Kozinsky shared this lesson he received from a mentor in his 20s:
It takes just as much time to build a small business, as a big business. You may as well build a big business.
Everything I learned from growing a startup says this is right. I worked just as hard when the business was smaller than when it was bigger. Settling for a smaller business because it’s less work is an illusion.
The same goes for other things, too. If the effort is similar, you should strive for the more ambitious goal. If you plan to study, why not apply to the best schools? If you’re going to work 40 hours a week, why not aim for more success and fulfillment in a better role? If you're going to spend an hour in the gym, why not increase the pace or weight on the bar in pursuit of better results?
When you apply this strategy, those lingering questions won’t disappear: will it work? Can I do it? Is it realistic?
You’ll find out soon enough. First, allow yourself to dream.
Henk one of my problems is that it's hard for me to deal with the fact that I don't land where I want to land. My imagination is not lacking at all, but I get so down on myself when I don't land exactly where I want to land. I wonder if you have any insights on that that you can help me with. Or perhaps it might inspire a future post or a future part of a post.