A dream becomes more honest when you include the chores that will come with it.

Dreams get imagined at their best moment. The stage, the finished house, the arrival, never the paperwork, the early mornings or the repetitive middle that makes up most of the actual life. Adding those in does not spoil the dream. It turns a picture into a choice, and a choice you can make honestly is far more likely to survive contact with the first dull month.

Write out a plain week inside the thing you want, chores included. Ask whether you would take that week if the celebrated moments were rare. If the answer is yes, you have a real ambition rather than a scene.