Remember, it isn't the dreamers who have good lives - it's the

“Remember, it isn't the dreamers who have good lives – it's the doers. Remember also what I call the three Ps of success: passion, planning, and perseverance.” Thus spoke Homer Hickam, the coal miner’s son who became a builder of rockets and an inspirer of generations. His words carry the weight of one who dreamed greatly, but who also labored greatly, proving that dreams alone are but shadows unless given flesh by action. For to dream is noble, but to act is divine.

The ancients themselves echoed this wisdom. They taught that vision without action is like a bow without a string: it may appear noble, yet it can send forth no arrow. The dreamer may paint castles in the air, but only the doer lays stone upon stone to bring them into the world. Hickam, having once gazed at the stars from the black dust of the mines, knew that dreams are the sparks—but only action, guided by will, makes them into flame.

Thus he teaches the three Ps of success. The first is passion, the fire in the heart that fuels the journey. Without it, labor becomes drudgery, and no man endures the trials of life. The second is planning, the wisdom of foresight, for passion without direction burns wildly and consumes itself. And the third is perseverance, the strength to continue when the way is hard and all others abandon hope. These three together form the triad of triumph, as sturdy as the three legs of a tripod, without which no endeavor stands.

Hickam’s own life bears witness. In the small town of Coalwood, West Virginia, he was destined, like his father, for the mines. Yet he lifted his eyes to the heavens when the first Sputnik crossed the night sky. With his friends, he built rockets from scraps, failing often, laughed at by neighbors, opposed even by family. Yet with passion he dreamed, with planning he improved his craft, and with perseverance he endured ridicule and failure. In time, his rockets flew true, and his path carried him not to the depths of mines but to the stars.

History is filled with kindred tales. Consider Thomas Edison, whose countless failures in search of the electric light could have crushed any ordinary man. Yet with passion he believed, with planning he tested, and with perseverance he rose after each defeat. Or consider the explorers who crossed unknown seas—not with mere dreams of distant shores, but with maps drawn, provisions gathered, and unyielding courage when storms threatened. Each lived the truth of Hickam’s words: it is not the dreamer who prospers, but the doer who acts.

The lesson is plain: honor your dreams, but do not worship them. Let them be the stars that guide you, but know that it is the journey, the work of your hands and the steadfastness of your spirit, that will carry you forward. To cling to dreams without action is to live in illusion. But to act with passion, planning, and perseverance is to bring those dreams into the light of day.

O seekers of wisdom, take this teaching into your lives. Ask not only, “What do I dream?” but also, “What do I do today to bring it forth?” Let your passion be your fire, your planning your compass, your perseverance your armor. In this way, you will rise from dreamer to doer, from seeker to achiever, from one who looks at the stars to one who reaches them.

Thus Homer Hickam’s words endure: success is not in dreaming alone, but in doing, guided by the three Ps. Embrace them, and you will build not only good lives but great ones, lives that shine like rockets across the night sky, lighting the way for those who come after you.