"Know your limits, but don't let your limits hold you back."

That was the response of our son, Matt, to my question about what the theme of his work would be, if he were a novelist or screenwriter.

We were driving the many miles back from college visits in Southern California last week (6 college visits in 3 days – whew!).

"Don't you like the 'sky's the limit' theme?" I asked, a bit surprised, but also amused.

"No, I hate that one!" he said, emphatically.

I laughed, and thought his sister might agree.

They've each spent years, relatively speaking, under the tutelage of coaches in a total of five or six sports, collectively. All coaches, everywhere – sports and business, too – promote the no-limits theme.

The more I thought about Matt's self-motivation and his "know the limits but move the limits" theme, I liked it.

As I let the idea play a bit, it seems to me he's not saying one should be restrained by expectations.

Rather, one should start from the base of reality – the facts of one's initial performance – then test and stretch the limits through hard work, driven by a dream.

The baseline thought? We are not all blessed with Michael Phelps' native swimming talents, Ernest Hemingway's literary ability, or Marie Curie's curiosity and scientific skills. We cannot all win the championship ring in our chosen field.

But given that, we can each do the hard work to move the limits we initially perceive.

And sometimes those limits can move very, VERY far from what we originally believed, with enough hard work, and a big enough dream.