Trapped
Don’t get trapped in your mind before you even set foot out the door.
We all have dreams, whether or not we’ll admit that publicly. If you don’t have any dreams or hopes for the future, then I’m not the writer for you.
If you do have dreams, it’s time to step towards them already.
One of the biggest reasons I even have to say that is because we’re often our own worst enemies when it comes to pursuing our dreams. Some people fear failure, others fear success, and most don’t even think they have a chance in the first place. Some people have absolutely no support from others in following their dreams. It may come as a surprise to you to know that even people who are well-supported struggle with their own doubts and fears. (We’ll deal with this later)
I don’t know what your specific reason for hesitating is (assuming that is in fact your challenge at the moment), or why you sit there and say “I wish I could do that,” where ‘that’ is whatever your dream may be. The thing is that you can do that. It will require you to count a cost, and to decide if it’s worth having in spite of that cost (as anything worth having invariably requires something of us). The only person holding the keys to your future is you.
Yes there are other people who can help you along the way, and I would argue that you absolutely need the help of others, but only you can shut yourself down before you even begin. Choose to move towards whatever it is you want. Figure out what steps are necessary and take the first one, trusting that it will be worth whatever it will cost you.
When I find that I’m shutting myself down before I even get started, this is what helps me. To set down (on paper even) what it is that I want, to draw out the necessary steps to get there below it, and then to start by attacking the first step on the list. It becomes a matter of simple necessity, a bite-sized step that no longer requires as much emotional strength or mental fortitude. Don’t drag yourself down, if you can help it. Do your best to turn your dreams into a series of manageable goals, then take them down one at a time.
Example time: Let’s say you want to travel, or live abroad for an extended period of time: start by figuring out what it will take to do it. At first it will seem overwhelming, finding a job, getting a visa, paying for plane tickets and every other expense, but if you break those necessary steps into their own series of lists of goals it will steadily become doable.
The money you need becomes a series of goals for savings. The visa process becomes a list of things you need to collect and papers you’ve got to fill out. The job hunt… well job hunting is job hunting no matter where you are.
No one promised it would be easy. Hell, I’d say that if there’s any promise in life it’s that it will be hard. But nothing worth having was ever easy. And all the things really worth having are guaranteed to cost us something.
Finally, if you knew all of this but you’re still looking for something that will help, here it is:
Stop wallowing like a sack of guts and get a move forward! No one is going to do the work for you, no one is going to wrap your dreams up in a nice little bow and hand them to you. This one is on you, and you’re wasting precious daylight. Get on it!
Dreams are just really big goals you haven’t gotten serious about yet. So get serious, it’s worth it.
