When I was a kid, I always wanted to be an astronaut.

     Have I been in space? No, but that is not what I meant. You see, being an astronaut means something as simple as chasing your dreams. Traveling to the moon and back is an accomplishment; I give astronauts that. But in its own way, we are all astronauts, as long as we all remember that each and every one of us has an opportunity for greatness.

Never Stop

     Dreams love to be chased; that’s a fact. And the thing is, dreams are often slower than you are but unless you choose to stride alongside it, you won’t get anywhere. It’s like a dog chasing its tail: the moment it catches it, it stops. Dream accomplished. Done. But that is not what the martyrs of history have shown us.

Sigmund Freud formed the Psychodynamic theory that grounded psychology as a scientific and empirical discipline. What many do not know, however, is that no one thought of it as anything other than just that: a theory. And it was not until roughly fifty years after his death that psychology was born, yet we forget that it was an archetype that allocated him as a household name, into textbooks, and a figment of societal concepts used daily by thousands of therapists.

     The point is this: never stop, never give up, and never quit. We all have a single duty here on this planet: to dream of touching the stars. There is a second duty many forget to follow: chase that dream to the end, see it through, and if you cannot accomplish it, leave in your wake a trail for others to follow and expand upon it. It’s that damned simple.

Quitting Is For Quitters

     In my opinion, quitting on your dreams is convalescent to death, and should be a sin among men and gods, for dreams are meant to be experienced, not just fantasized about. I know that many do not have time to accomplish their dreams, and are far too busy chasing the rat race we call “life” in order to survive. With that said, I declare bullshit.

     Think about your average day. How many hours do you spend commuting to work? Do you have an iPhone? A smartphone? A recorder you buy for $10 on eBay? Use it! What is your dream, my friend? And what is preventing you from recording notes while on your daily commute? What is preventing you from spending your 30-minute lunch break on a laptop or hell, with a sheet of paper and a pen to the pad, documenting everything you need to do in order to escape that trap and make good on your dreams?

     With all feats of greatness there will inevitably be doubt that it can be accomplished. When I wanted to become a Life Coach, I went and I did it. When I wanted to start a company, I went on LinkedIn, found a random group of collectively-capable minds, and posted a simple inquiry: “Does anybody want to jump aboard this cool project?” That simple post led to the formation of the self-help website: iLookin.com, of which I co-founded with two practicing Psychologists literally thousands of miles away.

     You have no excuse for not living your dreams and touching the stars.

Wasting Time

     With every second you waste, you breed failure. Failure is not what many think it is. It is not the act of failing. Rather, it is the act of not trying. There is a difference between failing and not trying to begin with. Thomas A. Edison once said: “I have not failed. I have successfully found 10,000 ways that do not work.” This is alive and well today, where people consistently forget that failure is a stepping stone toward success. What do you learn from your failures?

And if you learn something from it, can it really be concluded as a failure to begin with? I have failed millions of times, but with every failure came a solution, and with every solution came one step closer to the very stars above us. Never forget to act on failure. Rather than pushing it aside, embrace it. I will end with this: if you have a dream, protect it, embrace it, and reach for the stars, and I mean that literally. If you wanted to be an astronaut as a child, forget thinking why you cannot or will not become one.

Instead, find a way to feel the stars at your fingertips in another way. Whether it is something as simple as raising a well-rounded child, or something as complex as building a company, there is no excuse for that not happening. Never stop. Never quit.

It’s that damned simple.