I have won a national gold medal in karate, I have recorded an album, I built a failed film company, I built a successful film company, I've been told no by Netflix and I've been told yes by Netflix... and all of it before I turned 30. Quite a wild ride.
It is amazing to have a dream and chase after it. I have been doing it for my entire life.
Unfortunately, I see people every single day who have this false belief that chasing dreams is a lost cause. It can't happen, it won't happen, and it is stupid to even try.
On the other hand, I also meet people who chase after their dreams with a wide eyed naivety that I know is going to lead them to inevitable heartbreak.
The reality is that these wonderful, but misguided, people think that chasing a dream is about either a romantic belief towards something they deserve or about a binary focus towards a singular, unchangeable goal. They fall in love with a dream, or someone leads them to believe that they should chase a dream, and they run towards it with black and white success goggles on.
If they fail to meet their goal (which they almost definitely will), they will believe for the rest of their lives that dreams are not worth pursuing. Conversely, if for some reason they actually achieve their goal (which they almost definitely won't), they will spend the rest of their lives preaching the false gospel of binary success and failure.
But all of this is bullsh*t... and you and I both know it.
We don't chase dreams, we build them.
Slowly, carefully, and thoughtfully we find strategic ways to move our probability of success in our favor and increase the odds of good things happening to us.
You must accept that if you want your dreams to come true, then you will need to build them brick by brick.
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"I have won a national gold medal in karate, I have recorded an album, I built a failed film company, I built a successful film company, I've been told no by Netflix and I've been told yes by Netflix... and all of it before I turned 30. Quite a wild ride. " - Jacob, If this was a script, I'd produce it. The rest is, well, unnecessary...(?)
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Hi Jacob - I appreciate the express that being driven is different than having dreams. It’s the strategy that gets you to achieve a goal. Lessons learned helps too. What did you do differently in your Netflix experience to go from failing to flying?
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Hey Shellie! Honestly, we just accepted their feedback and returned with a better project. It can be disheartening when a studio tells you no, but the reality is that if the project becomes better... why wouldn't they still consider it?
No just means, "Not now," or "Not in its current form." But if you can take feedback and use it to strengthen the weaknesses of a project, sometimes that can work to your advantage. It did in our case.
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Very well said and written Jacob Matthew. I hope a lot of people will take to heart your words. Wind at your back.
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Thank you for sharing frankly about your personal journey!
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Jacob thank you for sharing this today. We get better when we don't let our ego get the best of us and when we are open to adapting, learning, and asking questions. A growth mindset! Congratulations and here's to onward and upward!
Thank you for this! I needed to hear that today.
Dreams cannot be achieved without hard work. Work and your attitude are the only things that are going to make them happen.
And I love what you said about the flexibility of achievement. Once upon a time, my dreams and goals were one thing, but over time they morphed, changed, adjusted to my strengths and weaknesses. I know myself better now, therefore my dreams and goals are more aligned with who I really am on the inside rather than some external gratification.