Years after Disneyland was built, after the completion of Walt Disney World, the story goes that someone went up to Mike Vance, Creative Director for Walt Disney Studios and said, "Isn’t it too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?" Without pausing, he replied, "But he did see it, that’s why it’s here."

If any outside figure influenced my life early on, it was Walt Disney. Maybe because when I was five, my favorite uncle took me to a wondrous new place called Disneyland. Maybe because I grew up in Southern California, visiting it every year or two, watching a man’s vision come to life and grow. Or maybe because I learned that "when you wish upon a star, it makes no difference who you are." Growing up on the Wonderful World of Disney, I learned how to dream.

But as I got older I realized it wasn’t just the dreaming and wishing that made the dreams possible. It was the doing.  You have to live life on purpose - and if you just keep going in day after day to that same boring old job, then that is what you are going to have day after day to look forward to. 

In my experience wishing and hoping are poor strategies for making dreams come true, yet that’s how many people approach work, often surprised at their results. They wish they could make more money. They hope they’ll get promoted or offered a more interesting job. They wish someone will notice how hard they work. They hope the work environment improves, their boss comes to her senses, the problem goes away or someone else solves it.  The frustration comes from the internal realization that everything seems to be out of their control - and they are always waiting for someone else to make their life different.

Their chance of winning at working is right up there with becoming a millionaire on Vegas slots or holding the winning lottery ticket.   Like the proverbial ostrich that hides its head in the sand, many of us spend our lives wondering why we never land our dreams. Olympic athletics don’t get that way by wishing and hoping. Nor do great musicians, actors, chefs, architects, teachers, lawyers, parents, or business people. And I know I’ll never get my first book published by wishing it so. 

Dreams can come true, but there is a secret. They’re realized through the magic of persistence, determination, commitment, passion, practice and focus. They happen one step at a time - and taking the first step is always the most important - it is where the journey begins.  While wishing and hoping makes you a dreamer, acting and doing makes you someone who can turn dreams into reality and Amazing Jobs is that first step. 

Want your work dreams to come true? Want a Dream Job that brings you alive and makes you glad to wake up each morning ?

Then take the first step and let show you the path to the coolest work on the planet.