Aim high and the target starts pulling you.

Years before I made the switch from the Navy to tech, I had this stupid poster on my wall. The gist of it: “some years from now you will look back and say I did it, and all the hard part will be forgotten.”

I looked at it every day. And slowly it did its job. The goal stopped being a fantasy and started feeling doable. Possible. Within my reach.

That is what a big target actually does. It recruits you. Every cell in your brain and body starts acting like the goal is already real. When you can smell the thing you are chasing, you are getting there faster than you can anticipate.

Eventually I made the switch. No real network, no proper guidance. What I had was the will and the poster. Turns out that was enough to start, and starting was the hard part.

Same physics earlier in life. At 30 I decided I would command a warship. Not hope for it. Decided. At 32 I had the bridge and a crew of 20.

Two things I would tell anyone chasing something big.

Don’t let anyone tell you what you cannot do. They are describing their ceiling, not yours.

And stay close to people who think high. The ones who talk about targets, not obstacles. These are the ones pushing you further while everyone else pulls you toward the average.

The poster was right, by the way. I did it. And the hard part is mostly forgotten.

Then a few days ago I saw the same thing in my daughter’s room. Her own version. “One day you will be...” I won’t say what. That vision is hers to protect, not mine to post.

I didn’t say a word. Just smiled.

Some posters work.

#engineering #CTO #leadership #career #goals