As a child, I remember sharing what I wanted to be with any adult who asked.
Everyone did.
Children wanted to be firefighters, doctors, police officers, even the president. And the adults would smile and say, “You can be whatever you want to be.”
And that is true…for the most part.
But somewhere along the way, many of those dreams never become realities because they were never turned into goals.
And there is a difference.
When I think back to my own dream of becoming a journalist, I can see now that it was built more on imagination than understanding.
I could picture it clearly. Walking into a building in New York with a fabric bag across my chest or maybe a backpack. Khaki pants. A white button-up shirt. Hair pulled back in a ponytail. I imagined pulling out a voice recorder and a yellow legal pad, chasing stories that mattered.
I could see it.
But I didn’t know how to get there.
Dreams have their place. You can’t go somewhere your mind hasn’t been. But for your life to follow, there has to be a plan.
That’s the difference.
Plans are what turn dreams into goals.
A goal has direction. Steps. A cost.
I had the dream.
But I didn’t know how to build it.
And without that, I was working hard, but not necessarily in the right direction.
I think a lot of people are walking around with dreams but no map to get there. Not because they’re lazy. Not because they don’t care. But because they don’t actually know what the goal requires.
I know that personally.
There was a time when I wish I could have been satisfied staying where I was. Working at Detroit Edison. Living in the same town I grew up in. I probably would have taken better vacations. Saved more money. Maybe even been close to paying off a house by now.
But there was something in me that wouldn’t let me settle.
A desire to do something else. To move. To become.
The problem was, I still didn’t have a map.
So I worked. I moved. I tried. But if you’re not moving in the right direction, you can spend years building something that doesn’t actually take you where you thought it would.
That realization came with a kind of grief.
Because I hadn’t been working toward my dream in a real way.
And that matters.
Because goals lay foundations.
Now, I make plans.
Not perfect or always clear ones. But plans that move me forward with intention instead of guesswork.
And even in that, I’m reminded of something deeper.
We make our plans, but God establishes them.
Scripture doesn’t say many are the dreams of a man.
It says many are the plans.
And unless the Lord builds it, the laborers build in vain.
That doesn’t make planning pointless. It makes it purposeful.
Because I truly believe the Lord is with us in our efforts. In our attempts. In the slow, sometimes uncertain work of building something that matters.
Not just dreaming it.
But learning how to walk toward it.
If this post spoke to you…
Share it with someone who might need it, too. Whether it’s a quiet encouragement or a new way of seeing things, these reflections are meant to be passed along.
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Martina Griffin is a Catholic convert, writer, wife, and mother of four. She writes about faith, motherhood, beauty, books, and the quiet ache of transformation. A lover of popcorn, deep questions, and old classics, she shares her heart at Big Bowl of Popcorn—one post at a time. Instagram | Facebook | Email Me |
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