Your Exposure Shapes Your Dreams

Quick note before we jump in. The Optimistic Outlook book is now available on Amazon. It brings together the best posts from the last year of this newsletter.

Your Exposure Shapes Your Dreams

What you are exposed to either helps you or hurts you.

When you are young, you don’t get much choice in what you are exposed to. Your environment, influences, and circumstances are largely decided for you.

But as you get older, that changes. And this matters more than most people realize.

Your exposure often sets the ceiling for your dreams and goals. You tend to dream to the size of what you have seen up close. A mentor of mine used to say, “We only dream to the size of our exposure, because what we are exposed to is the only thing we believe is reachable.”

If all you ever see is what’s familiar, your vision stays limited. So here is what I want you to remember today: The fastest way to expand your vision is to experience something more excellent.

Sometimes that comes at a financial cost. Other times, it costs nothing more than effort and intentionality. Either way, there is a strong chance that your dreams, and mine, are too small.

The good news is you don’t have to overhaul your life to start.

If you are in the restaurant business, make a reservation at the restaurant you aspire to become more like. Bring a notebook.
If you want a better marriage, ask a couple you admire out for coffee. Bring a notebook.
If you want to grow as a leader, spend time where better leaders spend time. Bring a notebook.

The point is simple. Take whatever you hope for in the coming year and expand it through experience. Because when you expand your exposure, you expand what you believe is possible.

❝

The fastest way to expand your vision is to experience something more excellent.