Keep Your Eyes on the Stars, But Your Feet on the Ground

Leaders often have quotes that serve as inspiration.  These quotes can serve as a reminder of how they approach leadership, or maybe it is something motivational that keeps them excited, despite challenges that they may face. 

One such quote for me is from Theodore Roosevelt.  The original version was given when he was the governor of New York, and its most famous iteration was then given at the National Cathedral School of Washington , D.C. 

“Keep your eyes on the stars, but your feet on the ground.”  As I have spent time thinking about this quote, it has so many meanings that have touched my life.  Starting at the top, it highlights the importance of having goals.  Having a vision, setting it high, and shooting for the stars is the origin of the path to success.  It’s hard to progress toward a goal of any kind, if you don’t have a vision or desired destination to keep you moving forward. 

And at the same time, without your feet on the ground to move you, you might find yourself standing still, lost in what could be, with no momentum to make it a reality.  In the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, actor Gene Wilder quotes the first two lines of a poem by Arthur O’Shaughnessy.  “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”  When viewed through the same lens, these two lines speak to both the need for dreaming and the action of doing.

By changing the perspective on Roosevelt’s quote, it also can serve as a lesson in humility.  As mentioned in a previous post, great wisdom can come from children’s cinema.  In the words of Judy Hopps in Disney’s Zootopia, as leaders we seek to “make the world a better place.”  But the best way to keep from losing your head in the clouds, is to have a reminder that it is the hard work put in daily, combined with having your feet firmly grounded in reality that can give perspective and direction on how to reach your goals.  Ultimately, I hope you are able to use this grounding and approach to reach your own stars.   

Today’s prescription:  I will maintain high goals, and I will strive to reach those goals by combining humility and hard work.