How can I tell if my dreams are unrealistic?

A guidance counselor once told me that wanting to become a Rocket Scientist was as silly as saying you want to be the Easter bunny. Well, as one of the youngest Heads of Space Segment for Boeing and someone who launched rockets into space, that would have been impossible if I listened to her. The people who called it impossible were measuring my dreams with their own capabilities and internalized biases.

"Someone else's ceiling is not your sky."

Who is actually doing the judging?

Do not tell big dreams to small-minded people. When you share a large goal with someone who has already decided what is possible for themselves, your dream makes them uncomfortable. It is not cruelty. It is fear, reflected back at you dressed up as concern. The people shrinking your vision are usually measuring it with the only ruler they have: their own.

Ask yourself who you are surrounding yourself with. Are they supportive of you? Do they believe in your potential, not just your current position? If the people closest to you constantly bring you down or cannot picture your success, that will show up in how you see yourself. It always does.

What the room you are in actually tells you

The better question is not whether the dream is realistic. It is whether you are in a room where the dream can breathe. Ambition needs air. The right people do not shrink what you are reaching for. They add to it, push it further, and hold the picture steady when you cannot.

If someone in your life consistently makes your goals feel embarrassing or naive, that is information about them, not about what is possible for you.