If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up.

The line plays on the double meaning of “dreams”: literal sleep-dreams and aspirational goals. Its point is that wishing and imagining are not enough; realization begins with consciousness, discipline, and deliberate action in the waking world. “Wake up” also implies a shift from passive fantasy to alertness about reality—constraints, opportunities, and the work required. As a motivational aphorism, it compresses a practical ethic: ambition must be paired with initiative, and self-deception (staying “asleep” to what must be done) is the enemy of achievement. The wit of the phrasing helps the admonition stick, making it a memorable prompt toward agency.