Don’t lose sight of the roles you, and you alone, can play when you chase a dream.

I have a board on Pinterest titled “Writing Spaces.” (You should follow it.)

It’s full of photos of amazing cabins, vistas that stretch for miles, and perfect places to write a book.

It’s fun to think that I’ll write there. Maybe you have a similar fantasy. As you work on a dream, you imagine pursuing it in some fun, creative setting.

But the reality is, I write in the space in the photo below more than just about anywhere else. That’s inside an arena somewhere. I’ve found a chair to sit in as I wait to go speak at an event.

It’s not sexy.

It’s not romantic.

It’s not how I might have dreamt it.

But it’s the space I have to work with, so work I will.

I don’t know what your dream is, but I know you have to hustle on it wherever you are.

Don’t wait for a snowy cabin in the woods to start working.

Just start.

Here’s a little Tuesday inspiration from the band Lone Bellow.

Does how you perceive things matter?

Does your view of the situations in your life make a difference?

Does your filter change things?

It does.

And I’ll let tennis legend John McEnroe sum up his career and the critical importance of perception in one quote.

Sometimes people hate my book Quitter.

Why?

Because the first chapter doesn’t tell them what they want to hear. They expect a book titled Quitter to be full of dreamy, rainbowy fluff about how you should “just go for it” or “step out in faith.” Instead, they find a first chapter titled “Don’t quit your day job.”

That’s a bit of a bummer, but it’s the best way. Ask Nicholas Sparks.

Regardless of what you think about his romance novels, there is no questioning his unbelievable success. He has sold tens of millions of books in the last ten years. But did he quit when he got his first deal?

I’ll let him tell you via a Vanity Fair interview:

Reporter:
I have never heard of an unknown author getting paid a million dollars. What was the first thing you did?

Nicholas Sparks:
I was immediately struck by disbelief. It felt like I had won the lottery, but at the same time I didn’t even know if people would buy the book, so I didn’t quit my job for another year.

Let’s recap for a quick second. Nicholas Sparks got a million dollar advance. Instead of assuming the whole planet would buy his book, he kept his day job. For a whole year.

I love it.

May we all have the patience of Nicholas Sparks and be deliberate about the cliffs we jump off on the road to chasing our dreams.

I saw the product below recently and it made me laugh.

Why?

Because how fast is our culture getting? One second? Really? Is that now a product benefit? Something has to win your attention by promising you only 1 second per usage.

But I get it. Life is full right now. Life is busy right now. That’s why people have phone conversations in the bathroom. Unless you’re a heart surgeon inexplicably performing surgery via phone, you can hang up for 60 seconds. Do you know how many people have died because I don’t talk on the phone in the bathroom? None.

Slow down.

The best things in life take time, and when we don’t give it to them, they just become OK things.

A few years ago, I read an interview with a musician whose name escapes me.

During the interview, the journalist said something surprising. He said:

“I have to confess. I’m not at all familiar with your music.”

This is a subtle insult.

Why?

Because when journalists interview musicians, they research them. They listen to their music. They listen to a lot of their music. They prepare.

This journalist didn’t, though, and instead deliberately brought up that point.

How did the musician respond? Was he insulted or angry?

Nope.

He simply said, “Well, that’s quite all right. I probably haven’t read many of your articles, but this is the beauty of our business.”

That insult didn’t even have a second to land on his shoulder. He brushed it aside before it could touch down.

Let the little insults go. They tend to cause big damage if we hold on to them too tightly.

On the left is Scrabble for the Blackberry.

On the right is Scrabble for the iPhone.

Which would you play?