For years, we've been told to dream big.
Astronaut.
Billionaire.
Founder.
Celebrity.
World changer.
Apparently, having realistic expectations is now a personality flaw.
From childhood, people ask ridiculous questions.
"What do you want to become when you grow up?"
Nobody ever says:
"Reasonably happy."
"Moderately employed."
"A guy who gets enough sleep."
No.
You're expected to announce your plans to conquer the planet before you've learned long division.
The internet made it worse.
Every day someone claims they're building seven businesses while waking up at 4 AM and surviving on motivation, caffeine, and unresolved childhood trauma.
Meanwhile, your biggest achievement this week was finding the TV remote.
And honestly?
That's fine.
Not everyone needs a private jet.
Commercial flights already arrive at the same airport.
Not everyone needs a mansion.
You can only sit in one room at a time anyway.
Not everyone needs to become a legend.
Most legends are dead.
Dream smaller.
Dream about finding a parking spot immediately.
Dream about your food arriving hot.
Dream about a meeting that could have been an email actually being an email.
Dream about a charger that works from every angle.
Dream about eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.
These are achievable goals.
These are noble goals.
These are goals that improve quality of life.
The modern world treats ordinary life like a software bug.
We're constantly encouraged to upgrade ourselves.
Upgrade your income.
Upgrade your body.
Upgrade your network.
Upgrade your mindset.
At some point, you're basically expected to become Version 12.7 of yourself.
Maybe you're already enough.
Maybe your life doesn't need a major update.
Maybe it just needs snacks.
Dream smaller.
The success gurus won't like it.
But they're too busy recording a podcast at 5 AM to stop you.