Everyone has dreams and aspirations, and yetmost of us in life will never see them through. Perhaps it¡¯s due to being afraid of failure,unprecedented circumstances, or even death. And the ones who do achieve their dreams? Most areoften left unfulfilled, wandering aimlessly and confused ¡ª why?
Because dreams are meant to be dreams, they¡¯re supposed to be unattainable. That¡¯s whythey¡¯re dreams, right?
Wrong.
Here are 5 terrible excuses for letting your dreams go.
1. You think you¡¯re not good enough.
Yes, everyone has that little voice in their head screaming that they¡¯re pathetic, a failure, andworthless. Sometimes, you believe you¡¯ve created the best thing that¡¯s ever been on earth, andthe next day you are wondering how in the world you managed to create such a piece of dirt.
Well, there are many things that science has told us about that little voice. For one, it was originallyused as a means of comfort and security. Yes, I know, that voice that calls you ugly and worthless wasintended to be helpful, not harmful. And it¡¯s not like you can tie it up, put some tape on its mouth,and throw it in the corner. But let¡¯s face it, that voice is one of the best things we can have. It willtell us over and over when something isn¡¯t good enough, and that¡¯s us.
We know our limits, and so do our minds. So, the next time you hear that little old brain of yourstelling you that your piece of art/literature/acting/athletics is terrible, think of it as a way of yourbrain saying this: I can do better, I know I can. I can succeed in my dreams.
2. You say you ¡°don¡¯t have enough time.¡±
I¡¯m going to say this once: dreams are meant to be taken and worked on. And if you don¡¯t haveenough time for something you¡¯re passionate about, then you truly never were that passionateabout it.
Successful people make time, and if you¡¯re one of those people who are constantly on Facebook,Instagram, or Tumblr, grab a stopwatch and start counting the minutes. When you decide thatyou¡¯re going to sit down and watch TV, start counting the minutes. A recent study from TheTelegraph shows us that the average person spends an hour and forty minutes on social media eachday ¡ª and you still say you have no time?
If you truly have no time, no time in the world to do what you love, drop what you don¡¯t like andstart doing what you love. Yes, you might make a little less money, you might not be able to go tothe gym, you might not be able to do certain things you like, but you will be able to do the thing youlove and pursue your dream. You have one life, so what do you have to lose to go after a dream?Nothing.
3. Your peers think otherwise.
¡°Hey, Jenny, heard you want to be a writer. Good luck with that ¡ª you can¡¯t write, and becoming asuccessful author is, like, super hard, so come party instead.¡±
Everyone has that one person who will stop at nothing to put down their dreams, their aspirations.These people believe that in life, you have to be a realist. Being an artist doesn¡¯t pay bills, neitherdoes being a writer. What pays bills is working a 9-to-5 job that you might hate, and for what? A nicecar, a nice house, a nice job, some status? But what about that dream? What about that dream to bea writer, to publish work?
You know, I can tell you something, something that¡¯s a fact. If you worked a 9-to-5 job and diedtomorrow, what would happen? Someone would come and take your place, people would mourn,and that would be it. Your life as a blip in the earth¡¯s existence. Forgotten. However, if you go outthere in that big world and attempt to make something of your dream, you will be more successfulthan any other millenial who worked all day in a job they despised. Whether it¡¯s being a dancer,being an athlete, being a writer ¡ª you have the chance of never being forgotten. The chance of yourname to be written on a great piece of work, in a record book, in an amazing play. You have nothingto lose and everything to gain. So go for it.
To quote Alan watts: What would you do, if money was no object?
Do it.
4. You say, ¡°I¡¯m not quite ready yet.¡±
It takes a lot of courage to chase a dream. That becomes more evident when you sacrifice familytime, your lifestyle, your hobbies, your finances, and even risk losing everything. Now, I¡¯m notsaying go out and quit your job, burn your bridges, destroy your foundations. What I am saying is torediscover that passion, that eternal flame that is within all of us to chase our dreams, because youonly have one life.
With every day that passes, you are the oldest you¡¯ve ever been, and the youngest you¡¯ll ever beagain. Time will run from you, and I hear a lot of, ¡°I¡¯m not quite ready yet¡± or ¡°I¡¯m too young, Idon¡¯t have enough experience.¡± That is bologna. I will say this time and time again: you don¡¯twait for opportunity, you create your opportunity. You build your bridges, and I¡¯ll be damned ifthere is a path that leads to success that is covered in debris, fallen down and broken ¡ª you¡¯dbetter get ready to clear it. Because you are ready. You will make yourself ready.
5. You lie to yourself.
Being honest to yourself is one of the hardest things to do in life. People do not likedisappointments, and when you are striving to be successful, you always hear the words, ¡°I¡¯mdoing my best,¡± ¡°I work my butt off,¡± and ¡°I¡¯m always busy.¡±
People like to proclaim self-greatness. But it¡¯s always good to understand you aren¡¯t the best ¡ªyet. I¡¯ll give you an example. My dream is to become a writer, and when I was younger, I used toclaim that I didn¡¯t read books because I thought all the stories were pointless and I didn¡¯t like theway other writers wrote. Well, I was lying to myself, and had convinced myself of this lie. The realitywas that I believed I wrote the best and had the talent to be the greatest ¡ª I still do, but in a muchhumbler way. I stepped back and told myself that I am nothing but dirt right now. That in order forme to grow, I must learn from the best. I picked up many novels by Stephen King. I don¡¯t like hisnovels greatly ¡ª some I love, most I like. But he is argueably the most popular and well-known writerthere is. I stopped seeing myself as someone who can contribute to the world of literature, andstarting seeing myself in my true form: as an apprentice, learning on his own through self-education