Today's post is the secret to following your dream and doing what you want to do. Several common barriers prevent people from following their dream. Let's explore what they are, and how you can overcome these obstacles. Go round jump over what might appear as a barrier.
Fear
Fear is number one. Fear is a significant roadblock: fear of failure, fear of judgment from others. Fear of stepping out of one's comfort zone. These types of fears can hold you from taking the first step towards following your dream. The fear of the unknown. Uncertainty is paralyzing. Fear makes it easy to stick to what's familiar instead of chasing what you want.
The solution is to remember this: fear is healthy. When you're on the tenth-story balcony, looking over the railing, it's helpful if fear tells you to be careful. Fear is your body's way of telling you to pause and think. Maybe you should step away from the railing. It's okay if you stop for a moment. Fear should, however, not stop you from moving ahead.
If it's the best change course take a different direction. That's one thing - step away from the railing. Fear never means quit on your dream. Maybe you’ll find that on another side of the building there’s a safety net in case you were to fall over the railing.
Self Belief and Confidence
Next is self belief and confidence. You may doubt your ability, your talent, self worth, to get what you want. Don’t. Without self belief, it's going to be challenging to overcome setbacks and criticism. The simple solution is to think, Why not you? Who are you to think you're not worthy enough or talented enough. Consider who told you this and how do they know. They don't they didn't. The only person stopping you from having faith in you is yourself.
To have faith in your ability to achieve greatness, start by taking baby steps. Choose one small thing to take action on, to take the first step towards moving towards your dream, one you're certain to achieve.
For example, if your dream is to graduate from high school or college, start by making the first step to sign up for one course. Finish that course. Break that step down further: I'm going to pick one course; I'm going to register for that course; I'm going to go to class on the first day and celebrate! I made it through the first day. Completing the first homework assignment, pass your first exam - you get the idea - before you know it you find yourself signing up for ten classes.
Social Expectations
The people you know your friends, your family, your work, people you work with - they may place emphasis on stability, practicality and conformity. Pursuing a dream outside of their traditional career path and social norms is going to be met with skepticism and discouragement. Those dishing out skepticism and criticism are afraid to follow their dream. They think they're being helpful telling you why they've figured out why you shouldn’t follow yours. It's their why. It does not concern you. It's their problem, not yours.
When someone says something negative and non supportive, make mental note as follows: It's not about me, it's about them. They're not following their dream. I’m going to help by showing them how it's done. I do this by taking steps to make my dream come true. Until I've started moving forward, I'm not going to share more with them.When they see me doing what I want to do, they will be inspired to support me and my dream, and they're going to be moved to take action to start following their own dream. Together the world is going to be a happier place. Happy people.
Remember it's the journey, not the destination, at least if we were all living following My dream, enjoying the journey, it'd be a happy place to live.
Responsibilities
Some people have responsibilities: a job, a family, or financial obligations, which make pursuing a dream seem impractical or impossible; the fear of not being able to sustain yourself financially of sacrificing other important aspects of your life. It deters people from taking the leap.
There are a few things to consider. First, we'll never have enough money. Money never made people happy. There are poor people in the world who are happy. If you have enough, you have enough. Where there's a will there's a way. The path to your dream is not blocked by lack of money, rather, lack of creative thinking. Find a way that doesn't cost as much. Consider how important is your dream.
As I was watching the movie about the life of Johnny Cash, I was surprised at how he had the gumption to pursue a singing career when he had just gotten married and had a family to support. He had a car payment and house payment. How was is going to work play guitar and sing? Consider if he and his wife had not allowed him to commit to following his dream, what he might have done with his life instead. And how many people would have never heard his music.
Ask for help - with resources that require time.
Talent
The final thing to consider when you think you don't have the talent or the skill or knowledge to follow your dream is this: You may have a dream, but think you lack of skill or expertise. You might think, “I’ll never be good enough at this. I just can't do that.”
This is an imaginary obstacle and should not be considered. It's an illusion. It’s a myth talent is required. We know that we see rock stars who are auto tuned and can't sing. The music is done by somebody else. But they're doing it - living their dream, performing and lip syncing.Talent comes after hard work. You get talent from working hard.
Maybe you lack resources or a mentor. It's important to remember - skills can be learned. Knowledge is accumulated through dedication and effort. There is no substitute for experience.
Conclusion
Following a dream is a personal journey with no timeline or formula for success. It requires determination, resilience, a willingness to learn and adapt along the way. A few important things to remember as you start living following a dream.
1. Silence doubts. Silence any fears hold you back, and instead focus on the possibilities that lie ahead to take small steps.
2. Set achievable goals, and break them down to smaller actions, and a path that makes progress manageable and enjoyable.
3. Embrace failures as learning opportunities rather than roadblocks.
4. Surround yourself with positive influences. seek out a mentor or role model and hang out with people who appreciate and admire you for following your dream or who have achieved similar dreams. Then learn from your experience, and use what you learn to guide you to make better decisions that support you in living your dream.
Ultimately, the secret to following your dream and doing anything you want to do is to believe in yourself. Let go of fear. Let go of fear of failure. Take action towards your goals every day. Dream big, set your own path. Remember, the most successful you in the world started with a dream.