We all love to dream for the best things to happen in our lives. As kids, we dream about ,what we want to become in life. As we turn teenagers, we dream for more material things, for our comforts. Then, as adults we want the best of cars and our own home to live in. I think, it is human to dream and all of us ,love to do it.

There is nothing wrong to dream. Even the visionaries in life or in corporates ,dream of where they want ,to take their organisations. Then they work on ,how to convert those dreams into reality. The problem with most of us is that ,we dream and we allow it ,to remain a dream. Even before realising a dream, we start dreaming about the next and they become like the gas balloons we played ,during our childhood.

I recall my childhood when I was playing with a gas baloon, my parents had bought me, to play with. As the baloon went higher in the sky, I was over joyed at the bouyancy of the baloon. But very soon, the thread tied to the baloon, got cut and it flew away. I ran after it for a few kilometers, till it disappeared into the cloudy sky.

Dreaming for most of us , is like the gas baloon. We keep buying more gas baloons and let them off in the air and it disappears. We need to realise that dreaming could be the first step for success in life but it is by no stretch of imagination, the last step.

The difference between “Dream”& “Reality” is “Action”. If we have to put it in the form of a formula , it would be – Dream + Action = Reality. If we do not act on our dream, they would remain dreams forever. It is almost like the new year resolutions for many of us. We resolve to lose 10 kgs in six months. We plan to jog or walk for 5 kms every day. But, as winter sets in, we dream more ,by sleeping more rather than walking or jogging , as we had planned. So, our goal of reducing weight remains a dream.

Even in corporates, many employees make grandiose plans and set goals to achieve them. But, if there is no systematic planning, action steps and tracking mechanism to measure progress, the plans remain on paper and have to be reviewed every quarter and may be become the plan again ,for the next year.

Life is no different. Every dream has to be followed up with systematic planning, evolving actions ,measuring them to track progress and take corrective actions, in case our actions are not sufficient ,to achieve our desired goals.

A dream will remain a dream ,if there is no consequent action.

S Ramesh Shankar

18th March 2025