2026-04-22 ~ The Consequences of Chasing a Dream
There is a romanticism to chasing your dreams, no question about it. In a world today full of hustle culture ‘influencers’ telling you to lock-in and make things happen, the desire to stick it to the 9-5 life is intoxicating.
I know it is because I was consumed by it.
It consumed every aspect of my life.
Before going any further, I must preface that I am not discouraging anyone from chasing their dreams. Go for it! It is an incredible thing to do especially if you’re able to do so responsibly and with a calculated approach. However, there are major words of caution that I wish to offer through this essay. Chasing lofty dreams is not for everyone, and quite frankly, not for the majority of people in my estimation. To be exceptional requires a level of sacrifice that I don’t think many fully grasp. Additionally, what I discuss will be through the lens of my own experiences of nearly two years as a full-time severe weather content creator. A lot of the commentary will definitely be pointed in that direction given those reading this likely also come from the weather/storm chaser avenue. Finally, while I may be sharing a lot of my experiences with a negative connotation, I have zero regrets with what I’ve done and how I went about it. I’m extremely proud of the body of work I’ve done thus far.
With those disclaimers out of the way, let me dive into it with a bombshell statement that I do not believe is talked about enough:
Dreams are not static; they change, adapt, and morph with time and new experiences.
Me in a target area before a storm chase in 2020. Shot by Aakash Patel.
This may be obvious to some, but it is easy to get hyper-fixated on a particular outcome that you desire, especially in this day and age. In a field like weather that naturally draws in folks with obsessive personalities, it can be extremely easy to have that manipulated to an unhealthy level given how the world we live in today operates. While there is nothing wrong with having a passion for something, to build an entire personality around it parallels the tendencies of an addict. It can be easy to be blinded by the desired end goal without fully absorbing the journey to get there, and by the time you reach the finish line, the goal posts shifted without you even being able to realize it.
For years, dating back to my college days through my early career as a mechanical engineer, I was steadfast in making June First my career. Everything was a move to get closer to that goal. While I still found fulfillment and joy in the day-to-day of present tasks and interactions, long term was strictly, “How do I get closer to making June First my career?” I had YEARS of this mindset. And guess what; I made it. June First became my full-time career in August of 2024. I did it on my 25th birthday, finding a level of success that allowed me to pay bills and storm chase fairly freely.
To maintain the ‘dream’ the way I wanted it to be done, though, ultimately consumed me. Grueling hours, tons of personal sacrifice, and losing the passion for the work when I had to cave to projects that would pay the bills over what I actually wanted to do. This was a recipe for burnout, of course, which I’ve been open about over on the junefirstweather.com blog. Spinning my wheels led to the realization that my years-long June First career dream was not what I actually wanted. It was a tough pill to swallow from a sunk-cost perspective as well as for my pride. Now the engineer in me needed to find the root-cause.
To get there, we have to circle back to the idea of obsession and hyper-fixation that we started with. It is safe to say I’m predisposed for obsessive tendencies with an added flavor of stubborn tenacity, which in its own right is often a double-edged sword. For anyone with a passion, it can quickly become obsessive in the 21st century thanks to Social Media’s grip on our own expectations.
It’s been talked about ad nauseum before, but I think it is critical to emphasize at every opportunity that Social Media is a feed constructed purely as an aggregation of extreme emotional moments into the most dopamine-maxxing concoction imaginable. Within that feed are extremely curated views into anyone’s particular life. It is NOT reality. Among the things showcased in these feeds are your interests, many of which should just be simple hobbies, but have been dialed up to 11 thanks to Social Media-ification. Careers in media are being made by people that started off humbly showing off their interests, but have now been consumed by the algorithmic beast, by taking their simple hobby to the extreme.
Take a look at any of those that are at the top of their niche interest on any given Social Media platform. They have gotten to the top usually involving an extreme level of dedication, quantity, and/or talent combined with an understanding of how the socials work. They are now the main influencing factors for those audience members that are particularly inspired by that interest/hobby. The algorithms pick up on their high level of engagement with interest, proceeding to force-feed them that type of content. Content that is often showcasing either extreme quantity, talent, absurdity, or dedication.
This all now sets a dangerous norm in impressionable minds. Remember, Social Media is showcasing highly curated views of these people’s lives to the point of warping reality of impressionable audiences. So now when a kid who likes LEGOs is watching multiple videos of LEGO collections that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, this may set a negative feeling about their own smaller LEGO collection. That can either demoralize them, feeling inadequate with an interest that should be bringing them joy, or even drive them to create their own massive LEGO collection. While there’s nothing wrong with the motivation to achieve lofty goals like that, the danger comes with the method of how to get there.
The most desired career path now by kids these days is to become a Social Media influencer. Not a pro-athlete, astronaut, or musician, but an influencer. What were once fun hobbies and interests that we could have for ourselves have now become weaponized by Social Media as career paths with ROIs. Look no further than the insanity that has become of Pokemon cards.
Now how does this all loop back to chasing dreams and my own experience? Social Media is rewriting what success looks like to a point of how it influences and dictates our dreams. With the quotes and tones of hustle culture spreading the algorithms of young adults far and wide, combined with an intense passion for severe weather, being my own boss in that space and calling my own shots was the dream. That’s what I was programmed to believe. The feed kept shoving posts from people that were living my ‘dream’ in my face day in and day out. I bought into that narrative. I had to escape that desk job. I wasn’t like everyone else. I can be like them.
What I didn’t realize though… to get to that point required sacrifice. The years of getting home from work and grinding on the side hustle. Saying no to social activities, not exercising as much as I should, investing free cash back into my hustle instead of my future, avoiding other unique opportunities life has to offer, and pushing those I loved most away when I should’ve been pulling them closer. That cycle perpetuated when I made it a full-time gig, perhaps even more aggressively in order to try to get ahead. The end result was building something I am proud of, yes… but at the cost of many other enjoyable aspects of my life and burning out to a detrimental level that compromised my physical and mental wellbeing.
Fortunately, I’ve recognized the harm it was causing me and have gone through a months-long personal rehabilitation process. In that time I’ve retooled my relationship with work and what true dreams look like. Plus, I rekindled the connections with those closest to me. It is still a work in progress, but trending in the right direction.
This all serves as a cautionary tale of my own for those that wish to chase their dreams. It is important to ask these questions:
Is this really what I want to dedicate my life to?
Am I willing to sacrifice the many other aspects of life required to get to the top?
How can I do this responsibly?
Who am I hurting in my life to get to the final goal?
Do I just want the final goal or want the journey along the way?
Is this for my own fulfillment or what Social Media wants me to believe?
They are not easy questions.