The dream worth testing is the one that still interests you after the easy part is removed.

Most ambitions come bundled with a fantasy attached to them, and the fantasy is usually the part that does the recruiting. Being a writer includes the finished book and the admiration; it also includes several hundred difficult mornings that nobody sees. If you subtract the visible reward and the daily work still appeals, you have found something durable. If not, that is worth knowing before you build years around it.

Imagine the version of your ambition with the recognition removed entirely and ask whether you would still want the hours. Then try a small piece of the unglamorous part this month. The answer arrives faster from doing than from thinking.