Dream Big, Start Small: The Magic of Building Empires from Pebbles

Have you ever stood at the bottom of a giant skyscraper? You crane your neck back, looking up, up, up until the building seems to touch the clouds. It feels impossible that human hands built something so massive. It feels like magic.

But if you travelled back in time, before the glass and the steel, you would see something very ordinary. You would see a muddy hole in the ground. You would see a single brick being laid on top of another brick.

That is the secret magic of the universe: Everything big starts small.

When I started Orb21, I didn't have a giant company. I didn't have a fancy office with beanbag chairs and free snacks. I had a laptop that got too hot, a kitchen table that was slightly wobbly, and a head full of ideas.

It felt small. Sometimes, it felt too small.

The Trap of the "Big Break"

We see movies where the hero has a sudden "Big Break." They get discovered. They win the lottery. They invent something overnight and become a billionaire.

But real life isn't a movie. Real life is built in minutes, not montages.

When we wait for the Big Break, we freeze. We look at the mountain we want to climb and we think, "I can't jump to the top." So we don't move at all.

But you don't have to jump. You just have to walk.

The Power of the Pebble

Imagine you are standing by a lake. If you throw a huge boulder, you make a big splash, but it's hard to lift. But if you throw a handful of pebbles, one by one, you can fill the lake.

Your daily actions are pebbles.

• Writing one page of a story is a pebble.
• Learning one new coding command is a pebble.
• Drawing one sketch is a pebble.

They seem small. You might think, "What difference does five minutes make?" But if you stack those five minutes up, day after day, year after year, you build a mountain.

The "Yet" Mindset

There is a tiny little word that has the power to change your brain. It is the word "Yet."

When you are starting small, you will bump into things you can't do.

• "I can't build this app."
• "I can't play this song."
• "I can't solve this math problem."

Stop. Take a breath. Add the word "Yet."

• "I can't build this app... yet."
• "I can't play this song... yet."

This is called a Growth Mindset. It means you understand that your brain is like a muscle. It gets stronger when you use it. Every time you try and fail, you are doing a push-up for your brain.

Your Ideas Are Magic Seeds

Let's talk about your ideas. Maybe you have an idea for a video game about flying cats. Maybe you have an idea for a machine that cleans up trash. Maybe you have an idea for a new kind of cookie.

Sometimes, people might say, "That's silly." Or you might tell yourself, "I'm just a kid, I can't do that."

Don't listen to that voice.

Imagine if J.K. Rowling had thought, "A story about a boy wizard? That sounds silly." We would never have Harry Potter. Imagine if the Wright Brothers thought, "People can't fly, that's impossible." We would never have airplanes.

Your idea is a seed. It might look dry and small right now. But inside that seed is an entire forest, waiting to grow.

How to Be a Gardener of Dreams

So how do you grow your seed?

1. Plant it. Write it down! An idea in your head is like a seed in your pocket. It won't grow there. Put it on paper. Draw it. Tell a friend.
2. Water it. Give it attention. Spend 15 minutes a day working on it. Learn about it. Read books about it.
3. Give it Sunshine. Be positive! Believe that it can grow. Surround yourself with friends who say "Wow, cool!" instead of "That's dumb."
4. Pull the Weeds. Sometimes, you will get discouraged. You will get bored. Those are weeds. Pull them out! Remind yourself why you started.

The World is Waiting

The world is not finished. It is still being built. And do you know who is building it?

You are.

Every time you create something, you are adding a brick to the castle of the future. You are painting a new color on the canvas of the world.

So don't be afraid to be small. Be proud of your small start. Because every giant oak tree, every towering skyscraper, and every world-changing invention started exactly where you are right now: with a tiny, magical seed of a dream.

Go plant yours today.