I dream; you dream; everybody dreams—without dreams there would be no reason to get out of bed in the morning, let alone do anything else.

Robert Kennedy summed up the human attitude towards dreams when he said, “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why… I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?”

Why not, indeed?

Walt Disney tells us, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

And Jesse Owens elaborated on that when he said, “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.”

But if you find yourself dreaming more than doing Baltasar Gracian’s advice should help, “Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way.”

Entrepreneurs are dreamers big-time and entrepreneurism is truly a global force; Jack Kerouac understood not only the universal appeal of dreams, but also its universal effect, “All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together.”

Entrepreneurs looking to hire would do well to remember the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and make them their mantra, Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.”

When times are darkest and your dream seems unlikely to reach fruition you will find the words of Christopher Reeve inspiring, “So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.”

Are you ever too old to dream? John Barrymore has a great answer to that, “A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.”

Finally, you can do a lot worse than let the words of Malcolm Forbes be the driving force in your world, “When you cease to dream you cease to live.”

Image credit: Melody Campbell

Image credit: sscharlo

More than 200 years ago Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said, “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”

A hundred years later Napoleon Hill said, “Think, act, walk and talk like the person you want to become and you will become that person.”

What these two great thinkers have in common is the positive use of assumption, but not assumption in a vacuum.

Assumptive management a la Goethe requires that you provide all the information necessary to attain the vision, coach as needed and be an active cheering section for accomplishments.

Personal growth a la Hill requires a clear vision of who/what you’re emulating. Yes, it’s easier with active support from those around you, but don’t let the lack of support hold you back—it’s achievable without it.

(Thanks to Phil Gerbyshak over at Slacker Manager for the Goethe quote.)

Do you use positive assumptive techniques at work or personally?