So you have a dream…
And you’re still holding back.
Well, I don’t blame you.
We live in a society where the dreamers are laughed upon, scorned for their idealism and ingenuity.
We live in a world where great ideas are held at bay by a slew of buts and maybes, that never serve any purpose other then to deter our passions.
We live in a cloud of safety and reason, where chasing a goal is just not ideal. Stick to the game plan that society dictates, what if you fail and lose it all?
The Japanese have a saying,
出る釘は打たれる
The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.
Maybe you’ve already been hammered so many times, you’ve already acclimatized yourself to this climate of fear and lack of believe in dreams.
That is why I don’t blame you.
If you were here to dissuade yourself from the dream and to justify your reasons for not pursuing it, then you’ve got your justification and the empathy. Stop reading here.
But if you ignore the warning and continue to read. Then you accept the full danger and proceed with the knowledge that these words were written to inspire action.
A Gallery of Limiting Thoughts
We all have them.
Behind every great idea conceived was a gallery of opposing thoughts strong enough to bring it down. Feeding these thoughts entails giving them power over the dream.
You will need to overcome them and cast these thoughts aside if you want to manifest your greatest desires.
1. But What If I Fail?
I’m going to tell you right now off the bat.
Yes, you will fail.
The question is: Is your dream worth failing for?
Failure isn’t what you should be worried about. Only those who don’t have the mental tenacity to fight for their dreams will focus on failure. There are things far worse than failure, like weak hearts and lack of persistence.
It will only ever be a failure if you accept it as such. Defeat is only temporary, but a person who is bound and determined to succeed will never accept failure. If you’ve never tried fighting for your dream even once, then you fail by default.
2. Maybe Now’s Not the Perfect Time…
What you need to realize is that it’s NEVER the perfect time, you just have to seize the opportunity and make the most out of it. If you wait for the perfect timing with all the stars aligned, it will never come… People who “wait” for things to happen are not in control of their lives, because their fate is decided by chance and circumstance. The only perfect time is the one you make right now.
3. But I Don’t Have the Skills and Experience to Do It.
All the more reason why you need to start earlier to give yourself time to acquire the skills that you need. It is my firm believe that in this day and age of rapid communication and ready existence of information on the internet, ignorance is a choice.
Don’t have the skills? Then start now! Pick up the phone and call someone, Google something, sign up for a course; there are so many resources online that teach you anything under the sun if you only have the will to seek them out. The onus is on you to make that dream a reality.
4. There’s Already Someone Better Than Me Doing It
Someone may already be ahead of you. Maybe they’ve already established themselves in the business you want to go in, or they have better grades and experience than you. Maybe you see them as giants in their field, seemingly irreplaceable.
You know what’s the thing about giants? They get complacent, they don’t see you coming at them from a distance.
But you got to work harder then them. You’ve got to always give more than they do, day in and day out. If they stop at a hundred, you stop at a hundred and one. You need to sacrifice more than them in order to reach their level, and eventually seize the throne from their hands.
With the right mindset programmed for success and persistence, you will get to that level eventually.
No victory without sacrifice.
Determination and unwavering resolve are the stuff on which giant slayers are built upon.
5. I Don’t Have Enough Money Now
Money is an infinite resource in the world, a tool to facilitate commerce. People place too much value to money when it can easily be re-acquired with proper definitive use of our time.
Your most valuable resource isn’t money, it’s time. Don’t throw it away on meaningless procrastination and let your fears incapacitate powerful action. Time is the only resource that you will never be able to re-acquire once it’s gone.
How To Take Action Now
If you’ve ever experienced any of the above limiting thoughts, you are not alone. But guess what, those questions aren’t your biggest obstacle. If any of these ran through your head, then the biggest thing holding you back from your dream is YOU.
Resolve to build yourself up instead of fueling the limited thinking, by making powerful affirmations to yourself that will get you walking in your desired direction.
Learn to reprogram your subconscious mind with the principle of autosuggestion and force it seek out the things that will bring you closer to manifesting your dreams.
The Great Thinker – Don’t Overthink Things
I used to pride myself as a “great” thinker. When presented with a scenario I would analyze every angle, all thousand and one ways it could work or not. Critical thinking skills are important, but it’s the habit of overthinking that leads to inaction.
Overthinking is the enemy of progress.
The truth is… all your cleverly analyzed points are invalid because they may or may not come true. The only way to find out is to actually get down to doing it.
My mentor had this phrase that he used to religiously impart to me: Ready, Fire, Aim.
The most important thing for any great idea to manifest is to first take concrete action towards it. Shoot first, and even if you get it wrong you can always adjust again later. The greatest folly is to be stuck in a state of eternal “aiming” without the will to pull the trigger.
It all boils down to focus. What is it you want to achieve? When you focus on all the little minute details that may stop you along the way instead of keeping your eyes on the prize, then everything falls short.
But if you only see the desired goal and nothing else, you would not pay heed to all the other excuses and obstacles – you will find a way.
Take That The Leap of Faith
There was once a man who never took a risk on anything in his life.
So he let life happen to him.
He never had the guts to confess his love to the girl from college… so she ended up marrying another.
He loved the arts and hated accounting, but his teachers, parents and friends told him that it was the safer path… so he took a job he would grow to hate.
He had big plans for business, even conceived a grand business model that he would gladly brag about to people about at social events… But he wasn’t 100% sure it would succeed, so he never took the chance.
The man who never takes the leap of faith will leave behind a legacy of wasted dreams.
A man who takes a bet on luck is a gambler – his success and failure is dictated by chance. He has no reason to be proud when he succeeds or disappointed when the outcome is unfavorable.
But the safest bet is you can take is the one on YOURSELF. That’s what it means when you go all in for something.
You are literally taking a bet by staking your current position on your OWN ability to realize a future dream.
Not a naive wishful thought. But a believe backed by determination, of which you control the very outcome.
Courage and persistence, my friend.
We will never manifest abundance and wealth by standing in the side lines. The virtue lies in our very will to act upon our greatest thought impulses and desires; and to see it become a reality.
So if you have a dream, and you’re not sure if it will be realized…
You need to just go for it.
READY. FIRE. AIM.
