While passing through the hilly roads in Himachal, I would often pass through little hamlets. By the surprised look on the villagers’ faces, I guessed they wouldn’t be seeing many bicyclist on this steep terrain.
They would often ask,
‘Hey where have you come from?’
Not knowing how to answer that for myself, I would just say,
‘I’ve been bicycling from Delhi.’
‘Really? Where are you going?’
And that’s where I had three answers in my mind to choose from.
1) I could say the name of the very next village, (A commonplace goal)
2) Or the name of the next city. (A difficult but achievable goal)
3) Or, I could share my ultimate aim,
Of until which point up north I really wish to bicycle to.
(A Big Hairy Audacious Goal)
I always made it a point to share the third option.
And when I did, the villagers would take a good look at my modest physique and deep in their mind assume that I was crazy.
But I was always bid goodbye with good energy.
They would always wish me good luck and wave at me as I moved onward beyond their vantage.
In life, we are also asked similar questions by people. Mostly, concerning what we are doing and where we are headed.
And we are all guilty of sharing the most commonplace of activities we are engaged in, the most mundane of goals we have.
We feel we might be ridiculed if we share our grander goals, and be laughed at if we fail to achieve them.
So the conversation always goes like this.
‘Hey man, long time no see. What’s happening?’
And you say, ‘Same old, same old.’
Now, aren’t we guilty of limiting ourself?’
The common defense is,
‘My goals are none of their business. I like to keep my dreams to myself.
I might get jinxed.’
But deep inside we know, we are just afraid. We aren’t even afraid of our failures. We are really afraid of our own achievable greatness.
Plain and simple.
But the moment you choose to share your grander goals, ambitions that bring a beaming smile on your face as you say it out loud,
You reinforce the dream within you.
Our mind needs a constant reminder of what we are capable of and what we should be aiming for. Repeating our grander goals in front of people does just that.
Your dreams might seem outright crazy and unachievable to an someone who doesn’t know you so well. And mind you, just because someone is family or has been a friend for long doesn’t mean they know you well enough.
But share your dreams nevertheless. The crazy ones.
Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
Sharing your grander dreams will over time, only inspire confidence in people to do the same.
On that note,
I should share where I wish to bicycle to.
Laddakh, India.
Wish me luck 🙂