So the conversation in the car this morning on the way to school was an interesting one!

 

Willy pipes up, ‘Dreams don’t come true.’  A profound statement by the little boy who also says ‘There’s no such thing as trying.  Just do it!’.

 

I asked why he thought that.  ‘Well Mummy, I have been dreaming about having 5000 pokemon cards and in all my life, I haven’t got them.

 

Tom then says, ‘Pokemon aren’t dreams.  You just buy them’.

 

Similar topics came up in my book today.  I am back in my Tony Robbins phase.  I am awakening my giant!

 

Today he talked about the Niagara Effect.  Never heard of it before, but I love the analogy.  Everyone has a dream of what they want their life to be like, how they want to live and how they want to be.

 

You can’t wish your dreams to happen.  You actually have to add the magic ingredient – action; and sometimes some blood, sweat and tears to it.

 

And this is where the Niagara Effect comes in.  As Tony says – people jump in.. but then they are effected (or is it affected? The only grammar or spelling I struggle with!) and influenced by currents of the river, such as current affairs, economics, life issues, and rather than taking action or making committed decisions at forks in the stream,  they end up ‘going with the flow’ until one day they end up on the edge of a precipice.

 

The Niagara effect…  what do you do?  His advice is to do one of two things;  either get out your oars and start paddling really hard and change your course direction.  Or learn from it and start planning ahead in the future by having a plan and making decisive action at each fork.  Rather than go with that flow, take control and paddle in your decided direction.

 

And I would add here, be flexible in your approach, especially if you encounter obstacles. If you lose an oar, get creative or ask for help.  If you get stuck on a rock, jump out and swim.  If someone asks you to join them on a speed boat heading in your direction, take it.  If people laugh at you for taking a different fork in the river to them, put your blinkers on… you are chasing your dream, not theirs.

 

So back to my boys.  At the beginning of the school year, last year, as part of the children introducing themselves to new classmates, they all drew selfies, described themselves and shared what they wanted to be.

 

Tom drew a picture of himself and said ‘My hair is as crazy as a lions hair and it is light yellow.  I want to be the best captain ever on the England Rugby team’.

 

That’s his dream and his idol is Owen Farrell.  So he plays rugby most evenings, throwing, kicking and catching.  His favourite holiday camp is rugby.  And today, the school posted a gorgeous photo of him, looking like a young version of a future sporting hero.