“If your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small.”

Far too often we settle. We settle for what is easy. We settle for what is possible. We settle for the practical opportunities that present themselves, relegating our dreams to the worlds of fancy that exist only within our minds.

But what if we were called to more?

What if you were meant to do something bigger? Something greater?

This is the challenge we face as leaders. The question "How do we hold onto the vision in the face of reality?" is one that haunts each of us every day. Here are three practical tips that can help each us in our quest to reach for the moon AND hit the stars:

Never lose sight of the dream: Our dreams are what motivate us. They are the passions, the inner stirrings that excite us and that keep us going. While the realities of our day-to-day can easily consume our priorities, the struggle of every leader must be to never lose sight of the dream. Less we end up doing things that undermine our ability to actually reach our dreams.

Hold the dream and reality in tension: If your dream isn't in conflict with your reality, then you must reconsider whether it's a dream at all. Our dreams should stretch us. They should force us out of our comfort zones and push us to strive toward things that we previously thought impossible. That's the point of dreaming! This will help us to continue to drive toward the possible "impossibilities" that lay ahead.

Don't be afraid to dream bigger: How can the impossible become possible if you can't even imagine or dream up the impossible? Every great invention, every great innovation started as a dream. The lightbulb, the Internet, the iPhone... Each started as an idea or whim of fancy that Edison and others imagined. Our task is to let our dreams take us to places we never before thought possible. And when we get there, to dream even bigger!