If Anyone Ever Tells You to Aim Lower, Walk Away!

By Robin Sacks and Angie Pohlman

Image by geralt on Pixabay

Why do we (as a society) still dash the hopes of dreamers by encouraging them to “play it safe?” When a kid says, “I want to be a Major League Baseball player,” the all too often heard response is, “That’s nice. So, what do you want to really do for a living?”

The response is an interesting dichotomy because it is both heart felt and utterly stupid at the same time.

Impossible is just an opinion. (Paulo Coelho)

A person typically says this because they do not want the kid to be “disappointed” in life. They don’t want them to “get their hopes up” and end up “failing.” When someone aims high, the people who have spent a lifetime aiming low immediately believe they are being delusional. What is with this discomfort that some people have with other people being successful?

The irony is that, if that kid goes about doing what he or she is “supposed to do” (go to school, go to college, get a job, live paycheck to paycheck while spending income she hasn’t yet made in the form of mortgages and credit cards), that kid is gonna be disappointed anyway (just like the person who told her to “aim lower”)!

Why not go for your dreams and have a shot at NOT being like everyone else who gave you that well intended, but…