I said goodbye today to a cherished friend and colleague. He’s left my team to venture out on his own. It’s a bold move when one has a family, a mortgage, and a safety net. And yet, I understand his pull. When something calls you, to avoid filling that need leaves you with a sinking “What if?” that can really eat away at you.
Ignoring the draw to following your dreams can lead to resentment. Or It can lead to immense feelings of regret. I find those who aren’t bold enough to take the risk to follow their dream will convince themselves it wasn’t worth dreaming about in the first place. I’m too busy. It’s too unrealistic. It’s too risky. It’s too {insert your own favorite.}
We humans are masters of excuses. So many of us will brush our dreams aside, inventing a multitude of reasons why our dreams can’t be realized. There is truly only one real reason why we don’t. It’s because we don’t value them.
If we don’t prioritize our dream, no matter what it is, it becomes ultimately irrelevant. You can say, “I want to start my own business,” or “I want to find true love” or “I want to learn a new programming language”…it doesn’t matter what your dream is. What matters is that if it is important to you, you need to value it, and make it a priority in your life.
Make it known to others. Ask for support. Prioritize it into your life. The more attention, focus and development you give to it, the better your chances of achievement.
We all have dreams. It makes me sad when I speak to people who have thrown up walls around theirs, and have given up hope before they ever begin. Enough of that. Turn that frustration into positive energy to take that one step forward. That source of resentment or sadness could quickly turn to excitement and passion if you begin to see small steps of progress.
What’s the worst that can happen if you fail? Answer that, plan for it, and then get busy plotting your success. You’ve got one life…dream big. Then live it out even bigger.
