Big dreams and a small apartment can exist at the same time. That’s what most beginnings look like.

The small place is not evidence against the dream. It is usually what the beginning of one looks like, and we mostly meet people after the two have been reconciled, so an ambitious person in a cramped room reads as a contradiction instead of a stage. Nearly every story you admire contained this part. It just got compressed into one sentence by the time it reached you.

If you are in the cramped part now, try treating it as an address rather than a verdict. Make it decent, keep your costs low, and let the size of the dream stay a separate question from the square footage.