It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan. Eleanor Roosevelt

I know some dreamers. They will wax poetic about all the things that they plan on accomplishing…

I also know some planners. They tell me about the things they’ve done after they’ve done them…

Every one of those planners had an idea that they dreamt up one day…and then they made a task list and figured out how to accomplish it…

Do you wish upon a star to make something happen?

Or

Do you just do it?

If you’ve made a dream come true without having a plan, please tell me what your winning lottery numbers were…

Dreamer or doer?

Discuss the pros and cons to both sides:

67 thoughts on “Energy Spent”

  5. Both. I feel you have to dream first. I used to dream lesson plans. I’d wake up and jot my ideas down. Then later I’d turn my ideas into lesson plans. It’s the same with stories. Often I dream wonderful stories. When I do, I Wake up and jot down my dream and later go back and Turn it into a story, poem, or novel.

    But, On some things I’m all action. If I see an injustice I’ll immediately figure out how I can help. Due to my theater training I’m very good at improvisation so Usually I can instantly come up with ideas or ways to solve problems. Years of acting preparation.

    I admit that I can get annoyed at people who constantly complain about things but do nothing at all to change what they dislike rather than gripe. (Don’t complain if you aren’t going to be part of the solution). But, Do I plan everything? No. As a classroom teacher I had to think on my feet because crazy things happen all the time. The power goes out, the building is on lockdown because a shooter is in the area, sudden lightening storms and you cannot release the children at dismissal time due to safety hazards. Therefore you have to create ways to engage children when sometimes they are sitting under their desks in a dark room on lockdown, or in the hallway during a tornado watch. No planning time, you have to think on your feet. So no, I don’t need to plan, I can come up with hundreds of instant ideas. That’s what 36 years of teaching trained me to do.

    But as far as life goals? YES! I plan ahead. I planned for my retirement. I planned ahead (before I got cancer) and set up a monthly payment plan for my forever condo. ( My burial plot, coffin etc. ) So that’s all done. I even have it spelled out for my kids to bury me in a pair of my favorite jeans, and after a rabbi says prayers which songs to play… (one is dancing in the moonlight). I want everyone up and dancing rather than crying. I want my kids and grandchildren to remember me as a vibrant woman who danced through life finding joy even during challenging times). So yes. I planned for my future and I planned for my children’s future by saving for their college. And when each grandchild was born I set up a Florida prepaid college program for them. And I pay monthly for that. My son will of course have to cover the majority but I’ll be able to at least give each of his three children the gift of a year or two of paid college tuition. So yes, I planned for their education, my passing, etc.
    Planning ahead is a good thing. But dreaming is equally valuable too.

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      1. Yes! Exactly. Dreams or goals rarely magically appear. Normally they take hard work to execute.
        It reminds me of the play, “Waiting For Godot”. Without action you’ll keep waiting.
        I guess I don’t have the patience to wait. I prefer action.

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  13. Like everyone else – both. It all depends on the circumstance. I published a book (for the family – genealogical stuff). Totally banged that right out. Started the second one and have been saying for 3 years, “if I can just get the edits done I can send it to the printer…..” Still not done.

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  15. I realized this year that I have dreams and I have plans and I have lists but I have to start putting a timeline on these things. Give myself some accountability. That’s been my sticking point. It is my goal for this month. I have a new planner just for that. LOL

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  16. Yup, no different to the majority of commenters, I’m a mix of both. In some cases I’m dreaming while working out whether I really want to make the dream a reality, in other cases it’s just a fun daydream that I’d not really want (or expect) to achieve – you know, of the lottery winning type 😉 Being a coach, I’m about the planning once there’s a dream I truly want to fulfil.

    Great quote btw, I’ll add it to my lexicon.

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  17. I am a doer, always have been – have a dream, set a goal, make steps to get there. But I know plenty of people who have wished their lives away dreaming/waiting/procrastinating waiting for the universe to hand them something with no work. A friend? has been telling me for years that he was going to start a financial blog – fifteen years ago and he’s still just talking about it. Meanwhile I’ve been blogging for five years with weekly posts. The other day he made fun of my “women’s” blog which he’s never read by the way……um…..had to bite my tongue.

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  19. I’ve got a bit of dreamer in me, along with being a doer. I try to be realistic about my dreams…some are just meant to remain that (something I long for but probably won’t receive). Other dreams are meant to be fulfilled and I have the ability to do it. Then I’m usually pretty good about making it happen. But I kind of disagree with that quote. I think it takes much more energy to fulfill a dream than to just wish it.

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  20. First things first: I love that quote, thank you for introducing me to it!

    I think we need both (in the right ratio 🙂 ). It’s like that optimist/pessimist quote, that shows we need both: “Optimists invent airplanes; pessimists invent parachutes.”

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  21. I think one needs both. Everything begins with an idea (aka: dream). But dreams and ideas don’t materialize without someone becoming a do-er. In my academic email signature, I have this quote: Creativity without strategy is called art, creativity with strategy is called advertising.
    ~Prof. Jef L. Richards    . Ideating and creativity will only take a person so far. Strategy and planning is needed to get across the finish line. 💜

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  23. A former boss of my husband’s used to say “Plan your work, work your plan.” I think the plan is the dream part. I have dreams and I try to make a little bit of progress, not accomplish it all at once. My husband says “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

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  24. Well we all know what happens when you wish on a star. LOL!
    I am a dreamer, BUT … I do realize that if my dreams are going to come true I need to have a plan. It may take me longer to get to the planning stage, but I do. I do think we need both like many others have said. For sometimes you can set out to make a plan and it can look very unrealistic on paper. You can think it is impossible. That’s where you need the dreamer side, to encourage and believe that there can be a way, in spite of how things look!

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  27. I talk about these concepts a lot at work, in regard to theory or conceptualizing and practice, or execution. You need both. Without the former, you are simply reproducing what was already done, without the latter, you are merely thinking or dreaming about doing something. The issue? Most people are not good at both. When you are good at both, watch out…

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  29. Pingback: Tuesday’s Thoughts! | Nuggets of Gold

  30. Oh no, LA! Now I have to think even more about what I desire as opposed to what I dream as opposed to what I plan. Oh well, I think I was headed towards doing that anyway. So maybe thanks?

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