The purpose of the telescope is for us to see farther than our eyes can reach. It allows us to see what’s beyond our own human limitations. When it comes to our own personal telescopes, these limitations are usual self imposed. We don’t allow our telescope to see as far as it can. So what do we do? We adjust the settings, and instead of trying to see the stars we settle for the clouds.

There’s this weird mechanism inside most of us. Whenever we dream big we immediately think of the cons before the pros. We give ourselves statistics on how many people have failed trying to do the same thing, or we fill our heads with reasons why it’s impossible. Around this point we throw our telescopes away indefinitely. We use words like “unrealistic” and “impossible”. We allow other voices to make us wonder why we even attempted to look at the stars in the first place.

Every day I concentrate on three things. Where I was, where I am, and where I’m going. My past (where I was) is there to help me learn from mistakes, my present (where I am) helps me focus on being the best I can be at that moment, and my future (where I’m going) is where I allow the dreamer in me to take over. My mind allows me to recall the past, and my eyes allow me to see the present. The future on the other hand requires my own personal telescope. I can’t use someone else’s because my goals and dreams should be my own.

When I look into my telescope I am amazed at how far I can see. I can see years down the road, from my first book signing, to being a division one head coach. Sometimes when I’m driving I forget the radios off because I’m so deep in thought. (Be careful doing this one) I can visualize my dreams coming true. In my mind it’s not a matter of wont it’s a matter of when. I know every goal I’ve written down so far, and continue to write down will be accomplished. If I let you look through my telescope you’d be amazed at what you’d see.

Another thing I don’t do is allow people to adjust the settings. No one can tamper with my telescope. I don’t want to hear statistics or improbabilities. Don’t tell me the cons of my dreams, and don’t tell me I can’t do something. Most people are influenced by these numbers. I used to hear the statistics for basketball players that end up playing professionally all the time. I think it was something like 1 percent of all basketball players make it to the NBA. I would guess that if you added in professional leagues in Europe that number would rise to around 5 percent. I never looked at myself as someone outside of that 5 percent. When I got my first pro contract I wondered how many of the 95% didn’t make it because they let other people tell them they couldn’t.

You hear the phrase “seeing the bigger picture” a lot in sports. That’s because we want our teams to see the finish line before they start. We want them to know what they’re working so hard for. I think the telescope can also help us do the same thing.

If you have a dream that you want to accomplish you can’t do it without putting action towards it. A dream without action is just a dream. You have to do what I like to call “active dreaming”, that’s when you dream with your eyes open. You have a clear vision of where you’re going and how to get there.

Every day I look through my telescope and it energizes me to work harder today than I did yesterday. Don’t allow doubt, fear, or others people’s opinions limit what you see.