How do we teach you to hang on to your dreams?

I talk to a lot of people these days and we talk about many things. When I am given a chance I always ask the same two questions:

1) Do you like your job?
2) What would you be doing if money didn't matter?

I am often surprised and always inspired by the answers.

One day I was talking to an accountant who wanted to open a whisky distillery in Scotland. After that I spoke with an IT Project Leader who wanted to design and hand make jewellery. The other day I heard from an admin assistant who wanted to run a flower shop in the South of France.

What makes me smile is how these people share their dreams with me, their voices change the rhythm of their words is slower and their laughter becomes quick and easy, their words are deliberate yet unrehearsed. When I hear someone speaking like this I often refer to this as someone speaking from their own script. It is so unique and could not possibly written by anyone else but the person who is speaking it.

While I am inspired by these conversations I am often left disillusioned and frustrated because I know that very few of these people will actually make the change they secretly desire. Their dreams have long been buried and live like sleeping butterflies who never leave the cacoon. Hiding from the world and afraid to fly.

There are a lot of resources around these days to help adults change the course of their lives. There are support groups, life coaches, meditation classes, energy healing to clarify my confusion, psychotherapists, touchstone sessions, psychologists, prayer groups, New Age religions, self help seminars, speakers and motivational therapists. The list really is endless.

Instead of helping people remember their dreams why aren't we teaching people to hold on them in the first place?

The question on my mind is "How do keep todays young people from losing their dreams?" How do we inspire a 17 year old to hang on?

I am more concerned that future generations have the ability to rely on their own dreams to create their futures than whether or not they have a full pension for 30 years after they retire. I want to see what the world will look like in 30 years if todays youth spends their time realising their own dreams and not the dreams of CEO's, or parents, or huge conglomerates.

I suggest we change the world one night (because after all isn't that when we dream?) at a time. But how? How do we teach you, the young people, to hold on to your dreams so you can avoid our mistakes and avoid the jobs you hate and live the dreams you love?

What is the world doing wrong?