Call It A Plan, Not A Dream

We all have something we want to achieve or acquire, it can be a new market-released gadget, a new little black dress or new shiny red pumps, pass a test, learn how to swim, play an instrument, drive manual, lose weight, get rich and famous or travel the world. Oftentimes, if not all of the time, we address these as our dreams but here’s one but sufficient reason to change how we address these aspirations from “dreams” to “plans.”

THE DEFINITION

Merriam-Webster defines dream as “a series of thoughts, visions, or feelings that happen during sleep; an idea or vision that is created in your imagination and that is not real.” Whereas, plan is defined by the same dictionary as “a set of actions that have been thought of as a way to do or achieve something; something that a person intends to do.”

The definitions are as clear as crystal in stating why “plan” is a more appropriate term than “dream.” If you’re still not convinced and think the two are synonymous and can be used interchangeably, here’s the thing: how do you acquire a dream? By sleeping, right? You get dreams by dozing your ass off. Effortlessly! And when you wake up and take away the morning glory from your eyes, your dreams go with it. But plans are not accomplished overnight, they need so much effort and sleeping is never and will never be part of it.

You can dream all you want but there’s no guarantee those dreams will come to life. Dreams are the opposite of reality. We get dreams by sleeping but we accomplish our plans by waking up and exerting efforts to make those dreams a reality. Our dean once said “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” To dream is only by the mind but to plan is by both the mind and body. To dream is to merely imagine what you can do, be, or have but to call something “a plan” comes with a strong conviction and a strong desire to achieve something.

So the next time someone ask you what your dreams are, say “I don’t have dreams, I have plans!” with a wink!