It’s called having stars in your eyes.
Some naivete. Some youthfulness. Some self-imposed pressure.
All normal.
During a recent trip to L.A. (land of movie stars and actors), as I was leaving a hip café, I came across a young man who asked me in a sheepish voice, “Excuse me, can I ask you where the nearest bus station is?” He looked young and his tone was very weak, almost to the point where I wanted to ask him if he was OK or if he had eaten in days.
Instead, this turned into one of the most incredible encounters of my life so far.
After some conversation (an hour and a half worth) my friend (who was walking with me) and I discovered that this young man was an 18-year old kid from Macedonia who had lied to his parents about backpacking through the States, and instead got duped into giving some “actor” $5,000 so he could stay with him, and get introduced to major studio execs so that he could “make it big in Hollywood.” This kid had true stars in his eyes, and told me with every ounce of conviction that he is the most talented actor, singer and dancer in his hometown and that he just knew that if he could get in front of a studio exec that he could hit it big.
Only problems were: He had no money, no contacts, and as this “actor friend” of his just kicked him out, he had no place to stay either. He said he was perfectly fine sleeping on the street. I wasn’t about to let that happen. Instead, even though it was 2:30 in the morning, I sat this kid down and the teacher and life-coach in me kicked in. I gave him some true lessons on life and how it’s perfectly wonderful (even essential) to have a dream and to go after it and take risks – the only part he was missing was the idea that he needed a strategy. He had no idea how he was going to do anything.
He continued to talk about how he was going to have millions and live in a great mansion (Hugh Hefner-style). Again, I had to remind him that true successes doesn’t actually happen overnight, but that he needs to plan and strategize how he was going to do something.
I really tried to say things in such a way as to not discourage this young man from having a dream, but I wanted to instill some reality and need for strategy into his young, impressionable mind.
At the end of our conversation, he couldn’t stop saying how much I helped him, and how he just received so much information. He also couldn’t stop talking about how he still had so much to learn, but how grateful he was that he met me.
I think I was the one who was grateful to have met him.
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What is your advice to youth about how to realize their dreams? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.
