Things that Can Get in the Way of Following Your Dreams

Following your dreams takes a lot of faith and courage. But it also requires persistence – the ability to keep on keeping on regardless of the obstacles that may crop up. And there can be many. While you may think obstacles only come from outside forces, the opposite is also true. In fact, the greatest obstacles tend to be those we create for ourselves.

Be sure to also check out part one of this two part series on Following Your Dreams.

Self-Doubt

Even the most successful and seemingly confident people have experienced self-doubt at some time in their lives. It’s a perfectly normal human trait. Those who have followed their dreams to success are the ones who have overcome it. Overcoming self-doubt involves nipping it in the bud. Realize when it’s plaguing you and then make a conscious effort to change your mindset.

Tips to help you conquer self-doubt include:

• Surrounding yourself with positive, successful people
• Paying attention to the positive feedback you get, not negative comments
• Not worrying what other people think. Base your decisions on what you think is right, not what you think other people think is right.
• Not comparing yourself to others. You don’t do yourself any favors by gauging your success as it compares to the success of others.
• Set a series of smaller goals, in addition to your big goal, so you’re consistently achieving a series of wins.

Frustration, Giving Up Too Early

No one said following your dream would be easy, or that attaining it would be instantaneous. It can take incredibly hard, incredibly tenacious work to make it happen. You have to be in it for the long haul, no matter what. If you give up too early or too easily, it’s not going to happen.

When Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz was trying to raise money from investors to make his coffee shop dreams come true, he hit a major brick wall… More than 200 of them, in fact. He spoke to 242 potential investors during the year he was trying to raise money – and 217 of them said no.

Colonial Sanders is another great example of persistence. He was 65 years old when the restaurant he owned failed and he went to plan B. His plan was to share his special chicken recipe with restaurants for free, in exchange for the restaurants giving him a percentage of the chicken sale profits. He got 1,009 rejections before someone agreed to his plan.

Those are two great examples to keep in mind when you feel frustrated and feel like giving up. Remember their stories, along with the old sales adage that says you’re going to get 20 “No’s” before you get a “Yes.”

Not Pushing Hard Enough

Not only are rejections par for the course, but they can also be an indication that you’re on the right track. If you go out of your way to only get a yes and avoid a no, you’re probably not pushing hard enough, according to author Andrea Waltz. She says this type of behavior “leads to a mediocre life where you’re always in your comfort zone.”

The success of your dreams is not where you are in your comfort zone, but above it. You have to grow and meet it if you want it. A few ways to push harder include:

• Imagining yourself getting to your next level. Focus on what that next level is, and what you need to do get there.
• Taking on a little bit more than you think you can. Challenge yourself to bigger and better things all the time.
• Looking at how other people got where you want to be.
• Remaining inspired and motivated. This can come from inspirational quotes, videos, images, meditations and support from someone on your side.

World Events, Such as COVID-19

Once you get past all the self-made barriers stopping you from following your dreams, you may still face forces beyond your control. What’s going on with the coronavirus is a prime example of this. With so many businesses operating on limited hours or, in some cases, not at all, you may think this is the worst time to follow your dreams.

That’s not necessarily true. You can still do the legwork for following your dreams. Perhaps you can enroll in classes or training you were too busy to tackle, or catch up on your industry reading or networking. You can also look for opportunities within the situation, rather than excuses for letting it slow you down.

Look for a need, and then offer to fill it. In my voice over business, for instance, I’ve made sure clients know I’m available for new messaging, commercial spots, retail in-store announces, IVR system recordings and more providing updated information or changing schedules due to COVID-19.

One final tip is to stay positive and optimistic. This is another mindset you can learn to cultivate with repeated efforts over time. As Sam Altman says in his “How to Be Successful” post: “I have never met a very successful pessimistic person.” So don’t let outside circumstances – or your own thinking – take you down and out. Keep moving forward, heading onward and upward instead.

Be sure to also check out part one of this two part series on Following Your Dreams.