The Power of Dreams
Dreams are like dogs.
To people who have them, they’re great.
To people who don’t, they’re a grotesque menace.
People who don’t like dogs or dreams are scared. They’re afraid of wanting too much. They’re afraid to care about something. They’re afraid that dreams, like dogs, will die and need to be buried in the backyard under some ugly gravestone your kids painted that will get in the way every time you’re trying to mow the lawn.
But dreams won’t die. When you take care of your dreams properly, they’ll only get stronger. When you take care of your dogs properly, they’ll still die. This is why dreams are better than dogs.
Dreams are nothing to be afraid of. You should grab hold of your dreams and never let go. You shouldn’t do this with dogs. It will only end badly.
There are two kinds of dreams. Creative and money. Creative dreams are things like writing a book, painting a mural, and leading a marching band through a subway tunnel. Money dreams are about having a lot of money. These are the only kinds of dreams worth having.
Any other kinds of dreams are stupid and you should get rid of them. Dreams about working a normal job and enjoying your time off are terrible dreams. Dreams about having a fulfilling life that extends beyond the workplace or an identity that is not totally dominated by your job title are childish.
Those dreams are like dachshunds: only for losers.
When you dream, you should dream about success. What does success mean? Success means something different for everyone. For some, it’s building a business that brings them material wealth. For others, it’s following a passion that brings them material wealth.
The best kind of dream is the one where you really love doing something. I like writing, for instance. I want to write 18 hours a day and wake up in the morning and start right over again. I love just type, type, typing, clacking away at the keys all day long. I love the way my eyes feel after staring into the toxic glare of my laptop for hours at a time. I don’t ever want to go outside or eat or talk to my children. That’s how much I love writing. If you want to be a successful writer, then you should spend all your time, every day, every second, tapping away, putting words on the screen, until someone gives you money.
If you’re not prepared to do this, then you don’t deserve success. If you ever feel the need to get up and stretch your legs or have dinner, then this is not the dream for you. Passion is all-consuming. You have to be a literal crazy person about whatever it is you’re into. The kind of person who other people look at and think, “I would not care to know that person.” That’s what people think when they look at me. And that’s why I’m so successful.
Another type of dream is starting a business. In that case, it doesn’t have to be anything you care about. It could be about making an app. Who needs an app? No one needs an app. No one cares about an app. We could all throw our smartphones and iPads in a river right now and no one’s lives would be one iota worse for it. Studies suggest most peoples’ lives would actually significantly improve. This isn’t your problem. Stop thinking about it.
If you have an idea for an app, and you work really hard at making that app, or you hire people really hard to make that app for you, and then a bunch of people download that app and you get rich, then guess what? That was a successful dream.
Some very successful people have had terrible dreams. Jeff Bezos dreamed of making a store that sold books in the mail. He must’ve really liked putting books in packages and dropping them in the mailbox. What a stupid dream Jeff Bezos had. Mark Zuckerberg dreamed of a place inside of computers where we could all go to feel jealous of our friends. What an awful dream! Just insultingly terrible! And now they’re both quite wealthy.
So this teaches us a valuable lesson about dreams:
Your dreams don’t have to be good to be great. They just need to make money.
In conclusion, dreams are like dogs. If they ever shit on your carpet, get a new one.