Little Acorns Become Mighty Oaks...

Since we aren't allowed to plant anything but pecan trees in my family I guess my version of this would be "little pecans become mighty trees" or something along those lines.

I have heard this many times for a variety of purposes but most recently it was referring to dreams.  When we let ourselves begin to dream we are planting the seeds for what can become our future but we can't stop there.

Dreams are just wishes until we turn them into visions and goals.  With each step we must fine tune our dream, blow away the clouds and bring it into the sunlight so we can see the dream with more clarity. 

According to Dave Ramsey's Entreleadership team you start with a dream, turn it into a vision, create a mission statement, then begin to set your goals.  What I loved most of all is the Ramsey team gives very thorough guidelines for creating effective goals.  They say goals must be specific, measurable, have a time limit, be yours (no one can set a goal for you and you can't set a goal for someone else), and you must write the goal down.  Chris Hogan went on to say you have to ask yourself what are you willing to give up in order to reach your goal (that hit home). 

All businesses big or small started off as someone's dream.  The huge "oaks" of the business world like Chick-fil-a, Hobby Lobby, Southwest Airlines, and others were once an acorn years ago but thanks to a strong root system were able to grow mighty and strong.  The Pecan Shed was just a dream my parents had and in fact they never dreamed it would become what it is today (though not an "oak" of Chick-fil-a magnitude it is definitely bigger than my family ever imagined it would become one day). 

Never underestimate the power of  your own "little acorn" dreams.  Given enough love, time, and room to grow, one day you might look up and see you are standing in the shade of the "mighty oak" you grew!