Rethinking the Ability to Dream

If Low Ambition Isn’t a Character Flaw, Could It Be a Protective Strategy?

Written by C. Diane Wallace Booker, Esq., U. S. Dream Academy Chief Executive Officer

Too often, we assume that ambition reflects character. That young people who aim high are driven, and those who do not simply lack determination. But what the research tells us, and what we have experienced in our work over 28 years, is a very different story. People calibrate their dreams to what feels realistic or in some cases survivable given their circumstances. In many cases, lower aspirations are protective, not deficient, strategies to avoid repeated disappointment, harm, or loss in environments where risk feels unsafe. When dreaming feels risky, restraint can feel like wisdom. In this light, the absence of big dreams is not something to judge or shame - it is something to be understood.

Trauma changes how the brain understands safety, control, and agency. When life has repeatedly taught a child that they have little power over what happens to them, imagining a hopeful or expansive future can feel unrealistic or even unsafe. Research also shows that aspirations are deeply shaped by one’s social circumstances. In Dreams of a Lifetime: How Who We Are Shapes How We Imagine Our Future, Rutgers sociology professor Karen A. Cerulo and her co-author document how factors like social class, race, and life disruptions influence not just what people dream, but whether they dream at all and whether they believe those dreams can become realities. Lower aspirations are not a failure of character. They are a reflection of lived experiences.

What makes this even more important is what we now know about purpose. A growing body of research-including a review supported by the John Templeton Foundation that synthesizes more than six decades of studies-shows that having a clear sense of purpose is linked to measurable health benefits, from lower levels of inflammatory markers in the body to stronger cognitive functioning and a reduced risk of age-related cognitive impairment and dementia. Purpose gives people a reason to persist, a reason to care for themselves, and a framework for making meaning out of hardship. At its core, dreaming is about developing a future-oriented sense of meaning: a belief that one’s life is going somewhere and that the future holds something worth striving for.

When young people are unable to dream, they are not just missing goals; they are missing a protective force that research tells us is deeply connected to long-term health, resilience, and well-being. By teaching children to dream, we are actively strengthening their long-term health, not just their future goals.

This understanding has fundamentally shaped how we approach our work at U.S. Dream Academy. Over the past 28 years, we have learned that if we truly want young people to thrive, we cannot assume that dreaming will simply emerge on its own. Our model is intentionally designed to help young people develop the skill of dreaming. To rebuild a sense of agency, imagine futures that are larger than their current realities, build resilience, and practice holding those visions over time. We treat dreaming not as a moment of inspiration, but as a developmental process  that requires safety, consistent relationships, and opportunities to see themselves as capable of shaping what comes next.

As leaders, educators, funders, and adults who care about young people, we must stop treating dreaming as optional or assuming it is automatic. If dreaming is shaped by experience and can be interrupted by trauma and significant inequity in one’s community - then it is also something we can intentionally restore. Cultivating the skill of dreaming is not about pushing unrealistic goals; it is about creating the conditions where young people feel safe enough, supported enough, and valued enough to imagine a future they want to move toward.

What if we stopped asking children what they want to be when they grow up

and started teaching them how to dream of a future worth desiring?

Next week we will explore the skill of dreaming.  What does it mean to build this skill in young people.