My father was a dreamer.  He and mother were also overachievers.  Dad was the Director of Marketing for what was at that time the largest pleasure boat manufacturer in the world. My mother was years ahead of her time.  At age 16 she began her study of Veterinary Medicine and became the first woman to become a licensed veterinarian in the state of New York.

While Dad had big dreams for himself, he also had big dreams and high expectations for his two sons.  Dad’s plan was that my older brother would become a famous lawyer like Clarence Darrow.  For me, because I was studying journalism and broadcasting, his intent was that I would be the next Tom Brokow. He wasn’t kidding!  Growing up in a household with such high expectations certainly had an impact on me. But something happened. As I grew older I dreamed less and less.

Why do we stop dreaming?  Comedian George Carlin speculated one reason when he said, “Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that.”  I believe Carlin had it right.  It is the obligations and pressures of life that crowd out our dreams.

Commit to Reflect and Reward:
Once the task is completed, stop and observe what has been accomplished.  Take some time to enjoy the “fruits of your labor.”  Allow yourself to feel a sense of triumph and pride.  Next, evaluate what you have learned and decide what you will do differently next time.  Conducting a postmortem will improve your future performance.  Finally, what was the nice thing you had planned to do to reward yourself, your family or your team?  This “reward time” is where you celebrate the great work done by all.  Having a reward planned before you at the start is also useful throughout the process to provide motivation and encouragement when things are not going well.

Commit to Set “Time Frame” Goals:
A strategy requires deadlines as well as interim dates for progress checks.  Determine a completion date for every component of the project.  Remember that some dates established at the beginning of the project will be unattainable and will need to be adjusted because of unexpected delays.