There is association among people that dream is something desired but unreachable.
It is something that will make you extremely happy if it comes true, but since it’s a dream most probably it will never come true.
The above stereotype is complete nonsense. There are many examples of dreams that came true. But somehow it happens to others, not us.
Why is that?
Maybe because those ”lucky” people realized that dreams don’t come true by themselves. One is supposed to make them happen. One has to take action and do things in order to succeed.
We all have different dreams living in our minds. Often all we do is only dream about those.
So why don’t we take the first step? What is stopping us from acting?
Below are just the few ‘‘barriers’’, which make sure that we never live our dreams. Thanks to them the wrong stereotyped association about the dreams was created. Overcoming them one by one will get us closer to our dream and make the ”impossible” reality.
1. Fear
We all have fears that hold us back. Different fears are hiding deep inside. Fear of competition. Fear of failure. Fear of commitment. Fear of hard work. Fear of loneliness. Fear of instability. When they all unite we feel weak and numb.
Tip: Deal with each fear separately. Look at the worst scenario and you will see that fears seem scarier than they really are. If that does not help, try the bungee jumping technique – just close your eyes and ask someone to push you from behind.
2. Procrastination
Yup, that nasty thing keeps you away from what you are supposed to do. You get lazy. You postpone doing what you are supposed to do for later. When that ”later” arrives you immediately find a new excuse to postpone again.
And you get stuck in-between many ”later”s and ”tomorrow”s.
Tip: Practice self-discipline and self-motivation. If nothing works try to bribe yourself – a chocolate or a big ice cream once you do what you were supposed to may work.
3. Risk
Finance people know well about the ”high risk – high return” thing. But that’s not only about finance – life functions exactly the same way.
Your dream is definitely a very high ”return”. Often we are not willing to take the high risk it requires. As a result it appears that our dream did not come true not because it was ”impossible” but because it was our choice. We simply chose not to take the risk.
Tip: Objectively evaluate the risks and decide for yourself, which is the maximum level you are willing to take. Do not dream for anything that requires higher level of risk and there will be no disappointments.
4. Lack of motivation
Yes – you have a dream. Yes – you would like to live it… but Nope – you do not feel like doing hard work, taking risks and making sacrifices for that.
It would be great if your dream came true by itself. But if it is up to you … then sorry, you are not motivated enough to go for it.
Tip: Imagine that your dream has already come true. See how nice everything is? What a wonderful life, right? If that does not motivate you, then your dream does not seem to be good (or yours) enough.
5. Life obligations
Yes – life happens and unfortunately it is not completely under your control.
Life makes twists, which may stop you from making the first step even if you are motivated enough. You get obligations you cannot give up – family, kids, full-time job, etc.
Life obligations consume time and energy and most probably not much will be left at the end of the day for pursuing your dreams. Sad but true…
Tip: So how to overcome that? The only thing I can think of right now is – treat making the steps towards your dream as yet another life obligation. Do not leave it to the choice and put it at the same level as other obligations, which you cannot escape from.
Let’s look at it this way. Barriers are not there to stop you. They are there to make sure that you want your dream really bad. They are there to make sure that once you get what you want you appreciate it, because it cost you something.
What do you think about all this? Which are barriers you have to overcome?