Dream Big Like Judy

“He was right about one thing. I don’t know how to quit.” Are you familiar with that dialogue? That is Judy Hopps, the bunny, from Zootopia. In case you are not familiar, Judy is a little bunny who dreams to be a police officer despite the resistance of her parents who wanted her to be a carrot farmer. Not that there is something wrong with being a carrot farmer but Judy feels that she is destined for another profession- being a police officer. She encounters challenges along the way like trying hard to fit in in the academy full of larger animals and proving to her boss that she can make it. Her biggest challenge is arresting the cunning Nick Wilde, a streetsmart fox who later becomes her pal and partner.

1. Dream big- it doesn’t matter if the dream is impossible to achieve. When you dream big, you try to learn new things that will help you achieve it. You try to meet people who can be your mentor. You try to make things happen because you want to hit your target. Even if your big dream does not come true, you are still left with the learnings and lessons that you can use for your next dreams
2. Upgrade your skills- some jobs become obsolete so workers lose their source of livelihood. With the continuous upgrade in technology, automation and robotics will become a trend in the next years to come. If you can’t upgrade your skills, you need to have other skills to offer.
3. Do not be complacent- when you are working in a stable company, surrounded by nice people, and receiving a good salary, do not assume that this will last forever. When calamity strikes, even the richest company is prone to closure. People move around so your next teammate may not be as nice as the one who left. Save and invest a portion of your salary so that when a time like the pandemic comes, you and your family will survive. 
4. Check your connections- evaluate the people that you are hanging out with if they add value to your life. Review if you have the same principles and interests. Do they cheer you up or do they put you down? Do they support your endeavors or do they laugh at your dreams? Connect with people who can give you the right advice should you need it in the future. Connect with people who can mentor you into something that you want to become. Connect with people that mutually share your passion.
5. Learn from your experience- there will be times of plenty and times of scarcity. Remember what went right when you accomplished something and remember what went wrong for your failed endeavors. Learn to adapt to different seasons.
6. Do not get intimidated- David beat Goliath because he was confident that he could do it. Believe that you can do something because nobody will believe in you unless you trust yourself that you can make it. 
7. Always have a back-up plan- when planning, consider three possible scenarios: best case, normal case, and worst case. This will allow you some flexibility in terms of resources and time. Strategize well.
8. Practice documentation- create a list of the things that you want to accomplish in a dashboard format so that you can visualize how near or far you are to your target.
9. Be cautious of people that you deal with- some people appear to be helping you but are trying to put you down. Be kind but be a little skeptical.
10. Follow your instinct- if something is not right, it probably is not right. If the deal is too good to be true, it probably is. 

There’s a little or a lot of Judy Hopps in us; dreaming big and trying to be the best person but circumstances will not allow. How do we overcome our fears and insecurities the way Judy did it? 

After reading this, try to list down the dreams that you have accomplished vs the dreams that you have yet to accomplish. You might be surprised to know that most of your dreams have been fulfilled. If this is not the case, then consider today as the day that you decided to go after your dreams.

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Dreaming Big and Overcoming The Obstacles

Wala akong sasagasaan sa pangarap ko!

A kindergarten teacher asked her pupil.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The pupil replied, “I want to be a doctor.”

“Why a doctor?”

“I want to help the poor people.”

Years later, the kindergarten pupil did not become a doctor but an engineer, instead. It is a profession and a career that is very different from what she dreamed of as a kid. Nevertheless, she is happy with her work and continues to strive hard each day.

I am that kid.

I couldn’t recall what urged me to tell my teacher that I wanted to be a doctor when there was no role model that I could connect with in the first place. Maybe most of the kids want to be a doctor, anyway.

People have their own personal and professional dreams but only a handful turn their dreams into reality. Sometimes, it’s not the lack of resources that cut them off the race but rather how their attitude affects their way of thinking and their way of life.

Start your year by DREAMING. Start your quarter by DREAMING. Working on a DREAM is better than doing all those everyday stuffs that has no value in the long run.

I consider my 2013 as my awakening year; I have this paradigm shift on values, priorities, way of life and way of thinking. For the first time in my life, instead of making New Year’s resolutions, I planned my 2013 with specific objective, targets and timeline. I did my SWOT (strength-weakness-opportunity-threat) analysis and I was astounded to know in which areas I was lagging and advancing.

Overcome the obstacles. If it cannot be eliminated, have it reduced.

1. Use people resource- No man is an island and I now fully understand the value of people resource. What you cannot do, you must outsource. From a cost perspective, it is cheaper to hire somebody to do the job rather than learn the job and lag behind from the target or timeline. I used to be jack of all trades until I realized that mastering a major skill or two will keep me more value-adding than trying to juggle it all.

2. Monitor your net worth- Most of us would rather react than act on a situation especially if it concerns our financials. The less cash on hand and cash in bank you have, the more you need to keep an eye on your cash flow. Incoming cash must always be greater than outgoing cash. Else, you would end up hard up and financial independence plays a BIG role in attaining one’s dreams.

3. Ignore the people who treat you like shit- In the corporate (dog-eat-dog) world, it’s not unusual to run into some sort of a walking tupperware or a gossip monger. Keep your relationship with your colleagues on the professional level. My big mistake in my first job was to be very open about my personal life; it made me vulnerable to gossips and fake friends. I enjoy my privacy better in my current job and I don’t share my personal life with just any person. Avoid the credit-grabbers, too. You wouldn’t get too far in your current position if all your hard work are being credited to some suckers.

4. Lack of confidence kills- Believe in yourself. Nobody would appreciate you in the first place unless you believe first in yourself.

5. Burn out is depressing- A balanced work life with enough sleep everyday is like working with a fully charged energy.

Remember, dreaming is like looking at an objective in a fantasy world but working out to attain that dream keeps us grounded to reality.

You, what is your dream and how are you working on it?