Why Dream, Design, Do?
I have recently began using what seems like a funny tagline; Dream, Design, Do. But really there is purpose besides alliteration (and the alliteration was important). I have been in software development for a long time and the idea of getting requirements, determining what needs to be done to accomplish the goal, and then executing on that plan is something I deal with on a daily basis, realizing software isn’t the only industry to do that. However, this theme was bouncing around in my head and design fit in well with do and I eventually arrived at Dream. As I mark my journey into making/creating it feels like these continue to pop up to describe the basic categories of how I do the work. I put them here as a reminder to myself and hopefully these help you as well.
Dream
Dream. What to you want? This was especially hard (and continues to be) for me, but my wife helped me learn to take a moment and think about what might be. My issue was that I was concentrating about what obstacles were there instead of just thinking about what might be possible. “It costs too much”, “We don’t have time”, and “I don’t know how to do that”, were many of the reasons I didn’t allow my mind wander about what could be. Or even what might I want to do. My wife showed me that thinking about where you want to be or places you want to go in the future without worrying about obstacles allows your mind to wander. That gives you the opportunity to discover things you hadn’t given a chance. You may later determine it isn’t really something you want to pursue, or that indeed the obstacles are too much. But if you dismiss it too soon you don’t allow yourself to even figure out how it might work. My wife and would put crazy things on our Christmas lists each year, like a house or a car. Things that were out of reach for us at the time, sometimes by a lot. But I think the fact we dreamed about it, within a few years we actually were starting to achieve those things. I think because we brought those wants into focus, it helped set a direction and we figured out how to get there. But without dreaming, you don’t end up aiming for anything.
Design
Design. Is and how is this possible?. This can be as simple as a sketch or as complex as a blueprint, but to accomplish what you want the next step is to actually start figuring out how to make it happen. This is the part I want to immediately jump to. In software you are always trying to get ahead of problems with defensive coding. Likewise this becomes the part of the process where you try to get the steps that necessary and look ahead to see what problems might arise. Sometimes you are trying to avoid problems, other times you are just trying mitigate unavoidable obstacles. This is where you start to take on reality. Break down the nebulous to actionable steps, research cost or skills, and see if what you want to do is possible. I still have problems with this process because it is easy to become overwhelmed if you see every task that is ahead of you. But I have to remember that I still have to do all those tasks even if I don’t want to face them and it will help to have a clear idea of what it will mean and ideally how much it will cost.
Do
Do. Am I putting in the work? You knew there was a catch. Obviously the next step is to then do the work. Execute on the current plan. Work through the issues. Whether that is a simple shelf install or moving two states away. The time has come to put effort and capital toward making that dream something you accomplish. Whether you are researching on YouTube, taking classes to gain a skill, sweating in the heat, or slogging through the mud, you need to make the effort to turn dream into reality. Out of the three, I feel this is my strongest category, but it can still be tough to pick up a hammer or put pen to paper after working all day. I go through days where it is easy and I go through days where it feels impossible. For me taking some type of step each day no matter how small, pushes that forward until you realize you are holding onto the thing you could only dream about before.
Iteration. Repeat the steps for something new. I am sneaking in an invisible step (I also couldn’t think of a clever word staring with “D”), but as you start to accomplish those dreams big and small, you need to continue assessing where you are at and if you still want to be reaching for that dream. Continue to reach back out to dreaming to see if what you are expending your time to what you want. If you find yourself changing focus, allow that to change what you are designing and in fact doing.
So yeah, Dream, Design, Do.