When Steve Jobs dreamt big, he imagined a computer in every home.  Little did he know that his life’s work would lead him to a combination of phone/iPod/camera in every pocket.

When Walt Disney dreamt big, he imagined a theme park filled with his characters, come to life.  Little did he know that his life’s work would lead him to movies, franchises, and networks.

When I dreamt big, I imagined a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Europe, never to be repeated again.

September 20, 2023: It was the first time I took a train to a speaking event.  JD, Luna, and I left London at 7:49 AM en route to Brighton to speak at the Entrepreneurs Marketing Conference.  We grabbed coffee, ran in the rain to Blackfriars station, and nestled ourselves amongst Londoners on their morning commute.

We’d been there before, Brighton.  JD and I walked the rainy streets together in 2014, asking how we might dream bigger.  Over tea and Indian food, we said we couldn’t.  We couldn’t dream bigger than THIS, waiving our arms over the plastic-covered table with plates of tikka masala and naan.

We were two brown kids from immigrant parents visiting England with a stash of British pounds in our bank account…could it get any better?  Dubious.

Back then, we hosted a photography workshop in London (much to my surprise selling 32 tickets), so we decided to holiday in Brighton after.

I was shocked we sold out the WORKSHOP. I couldn’t believe we were getting paid to travel the world, photograph, and teach incredible people.

Similarly—and entirely differently—I wondered the same thing sitting on the train nine years later with JD and Luna.

When we walked from Brighton train station to the event, gusts of wind pushed against us, Luna clinging to our hands, focused on her tiny, determined stride.

Minutes before walking on stage to teach 1,000+ entrepreneurs, I took deep breaths to calm my nerves and asked myself if it could get better than that moment.

The answer?  I hope so…and, if not, I’m thankful that it became bigger than what I first imagined.

In 2014, I couldn’t, no—I wouldn’t—allow myself to dream bigger because I was afraid of disappointment, not wanting to disturb the tenuous balance of just enough/too much.

In 2023, I’ve learned to dream without attachment.  To dream big, but not cling to a specific way the dream should unfold.

Maybe Steve and Walt realized the same…

I hope you and I can follow their trajectory to make our big dreams even BIGGER.

Here’s to us, the Dreamers…

j*