I recently had the opportunity to watch Stone of Destiny, a 2008 film about the story of Ian Hamilton. He was a dedicated Scottish nationalist who reignited national pride in the 1950s with his daring raid on the heart of England. His goal was to return the Stone of Destiny to Scotland. Near the beginning of the movie Ian’s father tells him, “This country needs doers, not dreamers.” It made me think about the difference.
If you were to construct a sliding scale with one end being doing, and the other end being dreaming, I imagine all of us would fall somewhere in the middle.
At the extreme of 100% doer, a person would be focused on routine. Happy doing the same things every day. Never stretching or growing beyond their current level of awareness.
At the other extreme, a person that is 100% dreamer, would spend their days filled with ideas and whimsey. They would never get anything done because they would only be thinking about what could be done.
So I think, we would all be in the middle between those two extremes. The question is where. How much time do you spend doing, and how much do you spend dreaming? And are your actions linked to your dreams?
Successful people dream big. They reach for big goals. They act on those dreams. Successful people are both dreamers and doers. You must do both to pursue your purpose, with passion, and with a plan.
Stone of Destiny is a fun little film. If you have not seen it, you might enjoy seeing a dream become a reality. For each of us, success usually begins with a dream.