(ARTICLE) 8 Realities I Need You To Accept If You Want To Live Your Dreams

“Will you look back on life and say “I wish I had” or “I’m glad I did?”

— Zig Giglar

I have heard stories from people who are very old.

I have seen them cry with regret, or smiles with contentment.

I have spoken to adults who look back at what they wanted pursue as a child and now wish they hadn’t given up on what they really wanted out of life.

“I wish I hadn’t quit so soon”

“I wish I had studied harder.”

“I wish I had taken that chance.” (Very common)

“I wish . . .”

Where do you see yourself in that equation?

What do you wish for deep in your heart?

I know you have at least one dream.

We all aspire to be something more than we currently are.

One of the most unfortunate tragedies of life is that most people do not live their dreams.

There is nothing worse than wasted potential.

Not from a lack of capacity, not from impossibility, but because they decided that they could not achieve them.

They stopped dreaming, and settled for just being.

As children, we genuinely believed anything was possible — but when adulthood challenged us, now we start to adopt the belief that having all these big goals and ambitions are naive and unrealistic.

Many people dream until reality slaps them in the face. Many more keep dreaming, but cannot accept the realities of what their dreams will cost.

Between us and our dreams, are realities that cannot be ignored, but we are not taught about what it truly means to pursue a dream.

How many people are taught about such realities?

Some, maybe, but in my experience we are not taught to dream, but we are taught to fit in and become like everyone else.

Not only that, but we live in a world full of people who mean well yet think it is their duty to talk us out of our dreams.

Do you just want to fit in?

Do you just want to be like everyone else?

I don’t, and I bet you don’t either.

Are you a highly ambitious person?

Good. Me too.

But there are some realities we need to face — and these realities are what separate a dream come true from a dream that remains forever unfulfilled.

1. Not All Of Our Dreams Come True

Even though I have always loved helping people, that was never my dream. My childhood dream was to become a professional athlete performing at the highest possible level in the world.

If you had told me at 12 years old that I’d be on an App called Patreon and helping people with there lives….I’d have laughed at you.

During my youth, I spent my time around top level academies, but unfortunately around age 16-17, my dream of being a top level athlete got cut short due to things which were completely out of control.

And this leads me on to say, No matter how hard we may try, we may not be able to make everything we wish for come true.

That’s a bitter pill to swallow, but not everything we dream up can happen. Failure is a possibility, and so is the death of a dream.

Some fall along the wayside so that other dreams may grow. Some lose their allure because we realise they were not what we thought they were, or because they were never our dream in the first place but one installed by someone else.

That does not mean we quit. It only means that we understand that we can do everything right and still lose.

We need to accept that risk. But most dreams, if you fight for them, are possible.

2. People You Love Will Try to Talk You Out of It

“Don’t let someone who gave up on their dreams talk you out of going after yours.”

―Zig Ziglar

Growing up, I was encouraged to become a brain / heart surgeon by my mother.

It’s easy to ignore a stranger. If some random person tells you that your dream of becoming a neurosurgeon, professional athletes, an actor or a successful entrepreneur is impossible and that you should stick with working the dependable 9–5 at the office.

But what if it’s your best friend? Your parents?

The people in my life who most discouraged my dreams were not strangers, but people I loved and who loved me.

They do not do this out of hate, but out of fear — they do not want to see you fail, they want to protect you from what they perceive as poor life choices.

But that’s their view, not yours. And oftentimes, those who give up on their own dreams become experts at telling others they should too.

Live the life you want to live, not the one you think you should.

3. You Will Have to Say No…..A Lot

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

- Warren Buffet

Pursuing a dream is not only about leaving behind bad stuff.

To pursue anything worth having means leaving other things behind. It might be a way of life you enjoyed.

It might be relationships, or stability, or financial security.

It means saying no to what others want you to be. It could even be opportunities that other people would kill to have.

No dream comes without a price, and if a dream is to become a reality, one must be willing to say no to anything that threatens it.

It could even be opportunities that other people would kill to have.

No dream comes without a price, and if a dream is to become a reality, one must be willing to say no to anything that threatens it.

4. You Will Look Like a Fool

“In order to share one’s true brilliance one initially has to risk looking like a fool: genius is like a wheel that spins so fast, at first glance , the wheel appears to be sitting still.”

— Criss Jami

Dreamers are often pictured as fools, and that’s not an accident — most dreamers fall flat on their faces, and the rest of the world laughs.

It’s easy to laugh at the gladiator in the arena when you are the spectator in the stands.

This is why dreams are hard, because we look like idiots when we mess them up, and if we care too much about what others think, one misstep is enough to convince us to give up.

I know what I’m after, and I know it’s worth looking like a fool to get there — and when you do achieve your dream, the funny thing is that suddenly nobody calls you a fool, but everyone calls you a hero.

5. You Will Fail

“Don’t bury your failures. Let them inspire you.”

— Robert Kiyosaki

Between you and your dream is a whirlwind of failures.

Long nights, screw-ups, rejection, mockery, disappointment, and a wounded heart.

You will fail.

Even the best of us do.

Be it athletes like Michael Jordan, creatives like Stephen King, like Jack Ma or Jeff Bezos.

Repeated failures and suffering is part of the deal.

The question is, will you get up again? And again? And again? And again?

Let your failures teach you.

Let them strengthen you.

Let them inspire you.

6. There is No Finish Line

The journey does not end when you reach your goal.

Dreams are fluid.

They change, and we constantly change too.

But more importantly, the actual moments of attainment are few and far between.

An athlete trains for months, even years, for a competition that lasts less than an hour.

Most of life is the process of becoming — and when we reach one goal, we feel compelled to strive for another, not in an unhealthy way but because we were meant to grow.

We are happy when we are growing.

There is no finish line, and for me, I don’t want there to be one.

The more you achieve, the more you can achieve, and the journey is sometimes more satisfying than the destination.

Set yourself a point in life where you will be content with your achievements.

But don’t let contentment to stop you from growing as a person.

7. The Greatest Enemy of Your Dreams is in the Mirror

“Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts. “

— Buddha

It’s easy to blame everything but ourselves for our failures and broken dreams.

Talk to anyone their problems, and they wil give you a bunch of reasons:

The economy, other people, luck, adversity, corruption, or whatever politician is currently in office.

But at the end of the day, giving up is still your choice.

Our worst enemy is often ourselves.

Look in the mirror: that is the person who has the most power over your dreams.

8. The Greatest Ally of Your Dreams is in the Mirror Too

Flip the coin over, and you can be your own best friend.

Just as only you can give up on your dreams, and just as you have more power to sabotage yourself than anyone else, you also have the power to make your dreams a reality.

Which will it be?

Will you tear yourself down or bring yourself up?

It is not a matter of being capable of one or the other.

A life worth dreaming is indeed a life worth living.

But while it is important to dream, it is just as important not to fall into the trap of putting off living until you get it.

There are people who spend their life working their ass off to get them the dream life and they forget to take care of what mattered along the way:

Health and family.

What and elderly person told me:

“All my life I worked my ass off to get those things, and now I’m too ill to enjoy any of it.”

Chase your dreams, but make sure they do not cost you too much — and more than anything, do not miss life.

It is perfectly possible to spend your whole life going after something, only to realise that you failed to live.

So do not miss today.

Do not miss all the fun of being alive.

There will be periods where you’ll have to through grind phase.

But don’t let a grind phase. last a lifetime.

Life is a journey, so enjoy the trip.

Till next time.