Usually, I write about travel. Places, faces, memories, remedies. But this time, I’m going to write about something different.

Technically speaking, travel is a dream, but at this point in life, that’s a given. What I’m talking are the “what do you want to do with your life/what is your true calling” dreams. The dreams you write on a piece of paper the night before high school graduation, the dreams you talk about with your closest of college friends during sleepless nights, the dreams your mind wanders to when you’re sitting at a desk at a job you hate, or the dreams you live as they unfold gloriously and seemingly endlessly before your eyes.

Every one of us has dreams for our future lives. Dreams to teach math to underprivileged kids, dreams to start our own company, dreams to become a professional photographer. Some may pursue these dreams with an endless hunger, while others may be content with pursuing them gradually. But, there is one thing that stands true: each of us has dreams, dreams that bring us together as humans.

I’ve read many stories of those who have pursued their dreams long enough to see them develop into a reality. From travel bloggers to entrepreneurs, young authors to social change activists and all the others in between. The brightest example in my mind is The Buried Life, four college friends who created an epic bucket list and made it their goal to cross things off while, at the same time, helping strangers cross off the items on their lists. These guys have turned this passion into a living, spawning off into a TV show, a New York Times Best-Selling Book, and a reach of more than 1 million followers on social media.

Think about these guys. Imagine them telling their friends, their parents, their professors about this dream 10 years ago. Imagine the absurdity. Look at them now.

Now, imagine your dream. Not the dream your parents want, the dream your major is telling you that you want, or the dream logic proposes to you. The dream you want. Only you, and no one else. Is it as absurd as theirs? It is? That means it’s doable. Is it less absurd? Good, now you really have no excuse. Is it more absurd? Work a little bit harder to make it happen, and outdo them in absurdity.

Realizing your dreams isn’t about being realistic or logical. Your dreams shouldn’t morph to fit some definition or expectation of what reality should be like. The pursuit of dreams is about one thing only: strategy. Strategy isn’t about placement or timing. Strategy deals with marketing.

Pursuing your dreams……relates to marketing…..?

Not the type of marketing you need to learn in school (although it sure does help). It’s more of a general understanding of what marketing really is and why it’s important. Marketing and strategy relate to your dreams in three main ways:

1. Look at your skills, the types of environments you thrive in, and what drives you. Then, ask yourself this: in what way(s) can you add the most value in this world?
2. Then, look at the world: its cities, its economies, where it’s growing, where it’s changing, and where there are gaps that need people like you. Where is there the greatest opportunity for you to add this value?
3. And the key to connecting these: What are the steps you need to take to prepare you for achieving this dream? And how can you take these steps?

Let’s take a look at my dream (or, rather, the current one). I want to pursue a field in tourism, with the long-term (tentative) dream of starting my own travel agency. I’ve talked to many people about this, and most have told me I’m crazy. “Tourism is a dying field”, “tourism jobs are being replaced with the internet”, and so on. But this isn’t just some blind dream–it’s entirely strategic.

I want to pursue a field of tourism in regards China. I want to spend more time in China, pursuing Mandarin coursework and becoming as fluent as possible in the language. I want to collaborate with professors, in the U.S. and in China, to perform research on Chinese tourism to understand how these tourists operate and how tourism is changing the face of China. And according to current trends, by 2034, approximately 1 in 5 airline passengers will be traveling to, from, or within China.

I sent my mom this article and told her about this little dream of mine. She responded in the best way a mom possibly could: “I think you might be onto something here…”

My value? My business background, my Mandarin, my travel experiences, my passion for tourism, and, most importantly, my passion for China. The greatest opportunity for me to add this value? The untapped Chinese tourist market. And how can I set myself up to achieve this dream? Completing China-related tourism research, taking tourism coursework at my university, perfecting my Mandarin, connecting with and learning from professors and professionals in the tourism field, and, ultimately, venturing back to the environment where I thrive most: China.

As I intern in the corporate world over the summer and begin my senior year of college in the fall, the post-graduate lifestyle is inevitably nearing. There’s plenty of whispers about graduation, finding your first job, landing a well-paying salary, and avoiding joining the ranks of the young and unemployed. Above all else, I find my class soon to be stuck at two trailheads. One trail points straight for as far as the eye can see. Along the trail you’ll meet Experience and Learning, and what many believe to be the following piece of common knowledge: “you have to start off somewhere.” This trail is sound, comfortable, and commonly defined as success. Some might find it beautiful, even.

Glancing back at the fork, there is a second trailhead. The trailhead itself is hard to make out, hidden behind overgrown bushes, but once you recognize it, you see that it immediately submerges into the vast, dark forest. You can’t see for more than a few feet past the trailhead. But, you can see that the trail is padded down ever so slightly to notion that some have traveled this way before. Not many, perhaps, but enough–enough to give you confidence and, ultimately, faith.

Blood rushing and mind spinning, take the step. Equip yourself with what you need to survive, and plunge into the forest. Don’t settle for anything less than your passions, and don’t waste your one chance at a post-graduate beginning. Don’t settle for mediocrity. You’re grander than that.