I’m sure you’ve felt it and possibly continue to feel it – the pressure of what society, family, friends, and your own beliefs say you ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ be doing with your life. That pressure is one of the biggest reasons why people stay in unhappy careers and even unhappy relationships. Humans dread change. It’s frightening and taking ‘chances’ by affecting change represents potential ‘failure’ of which we would then have to answer to the ‘I told you so’ crowd that loves it when we fail, because it reinforces their reasons for staying in their own safe but unhappy place.
There is a movie, “The Village” where a group of people isolated themselves from the world on a private reserve. They had children and created their own society. No one but the founders knew of the outside world. The younger ones were told that there were evil creatures on the outskirts of the woods, so no one ventured out. But, the inevitable happened. Believing that they could create a perfect society without violence or corruption, they didn’t account for human weakness. One of the male members attempted to murder another out of jealousy over a woman. Desperate to save him, they sent members to breach the walls and retrieve medicine. Deserted by her comrades, one girl was left to battle through the woods and through trial and tribulation, she made it. The irony of it? She was blind.
Why am I bringing this up? We can’t protect ourselves from the real world. Stuff is going to happen, no matter how much we try to isolate ourselves or stay in our safe zone. Blind faith is more powerful than all of the logic you or any of your influencers can muster. We can make up all of the stories we want to reinforce our own walls, but deep down, you know if you should be going for more, and if you are stifling all that you desire to become. When you reach for your dreams, understand that there will be naysayers along the way. There will be challenges no matter what path you take in life. They start with the doubts and stories in our own head that tell us that we can’t do something, or that it’s irresponsible to go after our dreams, or that it is crazy talk.
I’m here to tell you that ‘crazy talk’ is anything you tell yourself that isn’t encouraging you to become all that you can be. No, I’m not telling you to quit your job, abandon your family and join an ashram. There are much more ‘conservative’ paths to reach your goals. Yes, I took a chance, but the truth is that I never ‘lost’ my 25 years in finance. That never goes away. For me, it wasn’t taking a ‘chance,’ it was simply deciding to live a life I would love. So, I did it. The only ‘chances’ we take are when we aren’t taking charge of our own life decisions. Make good ones that you truly believe in with your heart.
Ask yourself what the worse case scenario is for you. For me, it’s never having gone after my dreams then dying. The worst case is not ‘trying something and having it not work out as you expected,’ it’s never having tried at all. You see, real success is continually going after your dreams, learning, handling challenges, and then reaping the rewards. It’s not staying in a career or situation that others define as successful. Only YOUR definition of success counts when it comes to YOUR life.
The night I quit investment banking and my Securities license expired, I slept like a baby. That was my first indicator that I made the right decision. And yes, it can be scary at times to take leaps of faith. But, it’s ‘freeing’ and it will take you in wonderful directions. I’m willing to bet that you feel anxiety and fear now. What if you could exchange that for waking up excited every day because you are handling challenges that YOU choose?
I was hanging onto something that wasn’t serving me well. Now I am free to create whatever I please. I got training in Internet Marketing, and I wrote my books, and I didn’t question my success. And it all unfolded for me.
If you are in a place that isn’t serving you well, you most likely won’t be performing at your best. You probably feel empty and question your purpose in life. You may feel trapped or frustrated because you don’t know how to change your situation.
You probably signed up for my email/video series because you want a solution and may be thinking ‘how can this give me what I want in life?’ It can’t. It CAN be the foundation to all that you want in life, though. Because I know that financial stability is one of, if not THE biggest concerns for all of us. I knew that if I could create that, then the rest of my decisions were easy. I could write all day without pressure of book and movie sales. I could explore other creative ventures without the ‘will this make money’ evaluation.
What amazes me most is how many of us hold ourselves back from doing what we WANT to do with our lives. Is that you? Will you let another day go by without taking action toward your dreams? What is stopping you? Only you.
There is ALWAYS a way to create a life you envision. Start today and go after it. Find the teachers, the relationships, the opportunities that will facilitate your goals and take the action. Leave the doubt and fear behind. You CAN do it!