Being Realistic is Killing Your Dreams

Erma Bombeck said, “It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.” Have you noticed that the moment you venture outside the traditional 9-5 world and start talking about your dream of being your own boss that people will look at you like…, well, like you’re from another planet?

And that they’re all too eager to recite a litany of reasons why your dream is completely unrealistic. After all, having never started a business and knowing absolutely nothing about lavender or starting a farm or an industry association or running tours, being from the Real World, they are, nonetheless, authorities on what is and isn’t possible.

Should you fail to be dissuaded by their warnings of impending failure, they will flat out tell you that you’re just not operating in the “Real World.”

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7 Lessons for Living Your Life on Purpose,
Working at What You Love, and Following Your Own Road

Erma Bombeck said, “It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.” Have you noticed that the moment you venture outside the traditional 9-5 world and start talking about your dream of being your own boss that people will look at you like…, well, like you’re from another planet?

And that they’re all too eager to recite a litany of reasons why your dream is completely unrealistic. After all, having never started a business and knowing absolutely nothing about lavender or starting a farm or an industry association or running tours, being from the Real World, they are, nonetheless, authorities on what is and isn’t possible.

Should you fail to be dissuaded by their warnings of impending failure, they will flat out tell you that you’re just not operating in the “Real World.”

Throughout our lives people have told us that we need to “get real.”

Well, if “real” means spending your entire adult life working at a job you hate, coming home too exhausted to do little more than plop yourself down in front of the television, then getting up the next day to do it all over again, well, maybe it’s time to get “unreal.”

As Will Smith said, “Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity.” His quote was also the inspiration for the title of our latest book, Being Realistic is Killing Your Dreams: 7 Lessons for Living Your Life on Purpose, Working at What You Love, and Following Your Own Road.

Ever wish you’d been born with a piece of paper in your hand saying, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is…?” Fortunately, Valerie Young has created the perfect guidebook to move you along faster and farther after clearing away the obstacles that have kept so many of us stuck. This delightful handbook is also loaded with fascinating stories she’s gathered along the way, stories that will convince you that being realistic starts with defining what that means for yourself. Quite simply, Being Realistic is Killing Your Dreams is a sledgehammer for eliminating obstacles.

Of course living life “on purpose” means different things to different people. For you it may mean making a total career change. Or maybe for you it means greater integration between your work and your life. Then again, to you crafting a more purposeful life may mean downshifting to a simpler lifestyle with fewer pressures. As you are about to discover, living life on purpose is about all of these things—and so much more.

Everyone wants to do work they love. But just to be clear, this is not a book about how to get a better job or advance in your current career from middle management into the executive suite.

To the contrary, this book is aimed at people who are eager to create a satisfying livelihood “outside of the job box”—to find work that passes the all-important “life test.” In other words Being Realistic is Killing Your Dreams is for people who want to follow their own road in life. People who want desperately to go from having a boss to being their own boss!

If that’s you, then you’re in luck!

Because over the last two decades I’ve been honored to meet thousands of fellow travelers on the road to a more meaningful work/life. From their stories, as well as my own, come seven important lessons to help you achieve own your dream.

These lessons are what form the chapters of this inspiring and easy to read guide:BeingRealisticBook-strongershadow

CHAPTER 1: Get Unreal
CHAPTER 2: Go the Right Way
CHAPTER 3: Life First, Work Second
CHAPTER 4: Think Outside the Job Box
CHAPTER 5: Don’t Believe Everything You Think
CHAPTER 6: Create a Life Money Can’t Buy
CHAPTER 7: Figure It Out

Like I was saying, in Being Realistic is Killing Your Dreams you’ll meet real people just like you who have successfully changed course to follow their own road in life…

  • A woman who chucked it all to take a round the world solo motorcycle tour
  • A couple who started their own movie theater showing films for free and earning all their profits on food and member fees
  • A woman who found a way to get paid to narrate audio city tours for a company in Belgium
  • The woman who earned over $20,000 selling used stuffed animals on eBay
  • An accountant who started out helping friends find missing pieces for their China sets and today runs a business earning well over $70 million a year!

You’ll learn too from those who, due to their own fear, misconceptions, or lack of initiative, never got out the gate. Through their stories you’ll discover how to recognize and avoid the common detours and speed bumps that can derail a dream. These “what not to do” lessons are guaranteed to save you time, money, and unnecessary frustration and stress.

As importantly, you’ll be inspired to view your life through the lens of possibility. And when you do, you will realize in no uncertain terms that you truly can create the life you really want and that, as you are about to discover, being “realistic” really is killing your dreams.