All human happiness or misery takes the form of action; the end for which we live is a certain kind of action.” — Aristotle

We must dream, surely, for better things. But it follows that we must then do the things that realize dreams over time. The two must be combined for a full life. To be forever plotting what we might do one day if only for the things that hold us back is fantasy. To grind away at work each day without dreams is to be a slave to the dreams of others.

It would be a lot easier if the world weren’t such a mess right now. It would be a lot easier if we didn’t have so much going on today. And it would be a lot easier if we weren’t so clever with our distractions and excuses and just got to work realizing dreams. For the hour is getting late and there’s so much yet to do. We know that we ought to get to work.

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is now.” — Chinese proverb

So what is our end game? What dreams stir the soul? Identify the steps that would bridge the gap and immediately get to work on step one, remembering that Sahil Bloom observation that “Anything above zero compounds.”

Do something each day towards the dream and the dream may be realized. Do nothing but dream about doing and nothing ever happens. Simple, yet somehow so hard to figure out. And there’s the trap: we must stop playing games working to figure out the perfect ending and simply start doing whatever we can with where we are.