Fear… self-doubt… procrastination… Are these dream-busters keeping you from going after your dream of being your own boss?
Why wouldn’t they?
“By the time you’ve hit your 20’s,” says Walter Anderson, author of Courage is a Three Letter Word and The Greatest Risk of All, “you’ll have heard a whopping 25,000 ‘can’ts’.”
Twenty-five THOUSAND… that’s a lot of “can’ts.”
“You can’t work at what you love and make a good living.” “Impossible. Can’t be done.”
What most people call “reality” is a very poor place to nurture dreams… and to share them with others? Forget it.
Erma Bombeck once said, “It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.”
Erma knew that other people’s fear, skepticism and negativity can be as contagious as the flu. And unless you’ve built up your immune system, these dream stompers can knock you – and your precious dreams – for a loop.
Don’t believe me? Try this at your next gathering…
Announce to your family and friends that you’ve decided to quit your job to become a writer… or a personal organizer… or do your art… or be an aroma-therapist… or flip houses… or pursue your love for history… or travel the world for a year… or whatever it is you’d love to do.
What do you think their reaction would be?
Would they encourage you to “go for it?” Or might it sound more like this…
“Yeah right, in your dreams.” “It’ll never work.” “Better to play it safe.”
If you listen to the naysayers out there, the message is loud and clear. Stay stuck, don’t even dare to hope, forget your dreams.
Is it any wonder you’re probably finding it hard to take control of your life and whole-heartedly pursue your dreams?
Think about how all the “It’ll never work,” “Forget your crazy dreams,” “You should be happy that you have a job,” messages have buried themselves deep into your psyche and affected how you see the world.
For example, if you sat down right now and took a personal inventory of your life, would your list look something like this?
I’m miserable in my job. But it’s impossible to make any money doing what I love.- I feel like life is passing me by… but there’s nothing I can do about it.
- I keep thinking there has to be more to life than this…. I suppose I should just forget my crazy dreams
Sound familiar? Okay, so what do you do?
Well, for starters you might want to think about what will happen if you do nothing.
Close your eyes and picture what your life will be like if you continue to be ruled by your fears and self-doubts and heed the red lights thrown up by your well-meaning family and friends.
In other words, imagine staying where you are right now… day after day, year after year dragging yourself through the work week until you retire.
Pretty scary isn’t it?
Now imagine feeling encouraged and empowered to go after your dream.
Picture yourself looking back at your life and basking in the self-satisfaction of knowing you went for it…. If you like the way that felt then you’ve already begun to experience how powerful it is to readjust your thinking. You see the thing is…
If you really want to create a more balanced, rewarding life doing work you truly love, you’ll need to create a mindset that will instantly turn ‘can’t’ into ‘can.’
There will always be dream dashers.
But the world is also full of people who believe in the power of a dream. You just need to find them.
Fortunately you don’t have to look all that far. A few years ago I compiled a book filled with the voices of just such people.
People like best-selling authors Barbara Sher and Barbara Winter, creativity expert Bob Baker, motivational speaker Steve Simms, and a dozen experts join a chorus of Changing Course readers who allowed me to share their success stories.
Think of Yes You Can as the inspirational kick in the pants you need to take control of your life and go after your dreams.
It’s a message I deemed so important that I’m giving a free copy of Yes You Can away to all the people who’ve been signing up for an online workshop I’m leading called Work @ What You Love.
Gifting Yes You Can is my way of rewarding you for taking decisive action to turn can’t into can. There’s still time to get yours, but you must act by Thursday, January 15th at 4PM(16:00).
I hope you can join the enthusiastic tribe of change seekers who’ve already registered to attend Work @ What You Love.
There’s just no better way to adjust your mindset than by “hanging out” with people who know how to guide you along your path and give you that inspirational jolt you need to realize that yes you can.
On any given day we all need help remembering this – myself included.
It’s why as a child Golden Globe winner Gina Rodriguez’s father told her to start each day with this single thought…
“Today is going to be a great day. I can, I will.”
The Half Price Early Bird Price is Still Available – But the Yes You Can Bonus Offer (a $29 Value) Ends Today
