I believe that you can make your dreams come true. I’ve always believed that even though at times I’ve had difficulty making it happen for myself. When I looked around me I saw other people who seemed to be doing it though. I saw people who seemed to be making the impossible possible and seemed to let nothing stop them on the way to their goals.
“But what about me?” I’d wonder. “Why isn’t it happening for me? Why am I struggling so? It isn’t fair.” These thoughts went through my mind often.
I couldn’t for the life of me figure out the problem. How did I manage to fail at everything I tried? It baffled me then, but looking back on the situation now I know exactly what was happening.
I was never all in. I was constantly holding back because I was afraid. I was afraid of failure and afraid of making a fool of myself, but I was making the very thing I was afraid of happen because I was too afraid to put myself completely into something.
I started a website, but never did any guest posts. I released a novel, but never marketed it and even worse if people asked me about it I would get embarrassed and change the subject. I painted and took pictures but never showed them to anyone. I wasn’t all in. I wasn’t able to commit to any of my projects with passion because I was too afraid to do so. That was why I wasn’t finding success.
When my husband asked me about what was going on with my side projects I never admitted what was really happening. Instead I’d blame my lack of success on bad luck when in reality I knew what the problem was. I was afraid.
That’s part of the reason why I had my hand in so many pots. I was trying every new shiny idea that came along and not following any of them to completion.
Are you all in or are you afraid to really commit?
You have a message you want to share with the world. Maybe you have a business idea or a book to write or art to share. Maybe you have a grand idea that you think will help lots of people, but for some reason you can’t seem to get it off the ground.
Is your problem similar to mine? Are you afraid to really commit? Are you afraid of failing or looking foolish? Are you afraid to tell people about your dreams? Are you afraid to push your limits and walk through that fear? Are you just plain afraid?
Often times our true potential lays just on the other side of that thing we’re most afraid of doing. Pushing through your fears can lead you to phenomenal heights. Making serious change is frightening because it involves doing things differently. You have to take new action to get new results and many times that new action pushes us so far outside of our comfort zones that we can hardly stand it at first. Comfort will not lead to your dreams. You need to be uncomfortable to grow in the way necessary to be phenomenal.
If you always lift the same amount of weight you’ll never get stronger, but if you push yourself to lift more your muscles will grow.
There is no room for halfway when you’re chasing your dreams. You have to be all in. You have to commit. You have to have the kind of passion that makes you want to yell about it from the rooftops. That passion pushes you through when times get rough. That passion keeps you from walking away when most people would’ve quit. You can’t have that passion if you are too afraid to even admit what your dreams are. That kind of passion can’t be tucked away in a box and placed on a shelf.
What do you want to do? Are you willing to be all in even when times get rough? Will you stand up for your dreams even when your friends think you should quit? Will you do whatever it takes? Will you sacrifice your free time to work on building that dream? Will you put other things aside so you can focus?
That’s what it takes to live the life of your dreams. Building your dream is difficult at first, but if you’re willing to work hard now, you can have the life that most only dream of later.