How To Follow Your Dreams

Following our dreams can be a divisive subject. People like to talk about it in general terms, but when it comes time to act the momentum of the world and the opinions of others can stop us in our tracks.

The moment we step out and follow a dream our community can overwhelm us with practicality, fear, and the weight of what we are supposed to be doing – join the stream, get a job with benefits, save for your 401k, get old, etc.

Those things might very well be part of your dream.  But so might – sell everything and move to Australia, take a lone motorcycle journey, move to the country and homeschool my children, start my own business, learn the guitar and sing in coffee shops, or whatever it might be.

Then the tyranny of the now can stop us in our tracks – “is that really practical”, “do you know what you’ll have to give up for that”, “can you afford that”, “what about health insurance and benefits” and all the excuses you can imagine and fear.

You won’t climb Mount Everest with good intentions.  You have to take that first step, and you have to keep taking them.  They can be big steps or small steps, it doesn’t matter as long as your momentum is forward. Here are some tips to help you begin the journey and overcome the tyranny of the now.

1) Write down your dreams.  Write down what your life will look like if you live your dream. Write down what your life looks like now and 10 years from now if you don’t make changes. This will help illustrate what you are really giving up if you succumb to the tyranny of the now.

2) Simplify. My favorite blog to help simplify is Leo Babauta’s ZenHabits.net.  He is extreme, but you’ll learn something. All the crap we accumulate, all the debt we have, all the obligations we submit to, can imprison our real freedom.  Simplify your life and many of the obstacles to following your dreams will go away.

3) Learn from people who followed their dreams and made them happen.  Don’t just assume the lessons from someone who played it safe and didn’t follow their dreams has any basis in your reality.

4) Never give up! It’s true, most people quit right before they succeed. When things get tough – simplify more, focus more, pray more, love more.

5) Listen quietly.  Listen for God.  Listen to those you would emulate. Walk into the woods and just listen to the wind blowing – away from Facebook, the phone, e-mail, and all the other things that can contribute to the tyranny of the now.

There are so many things we cannot control.  We will all die. We will all have hardships.  Playing it safe doesn’t protect you from trials and can often lead to a life that is muddling and unfulfilled.

Chasing a dream comes with risks, but overcoming risk and fear is ultimately what defines us.

Take a step, run for the rainbow, overcome the tyranny of the now.

 

A couple post reminders:

LIVE BETTER!

I began this journey focused on reaching those living in the dark with PTSD.  I soon realized their greatest hurdle is one we all face, learning to live free in a world where it is all too easy to get caught up in the stream and lose sight of ourself. I want you to live free.

1) To make sure you receive updates on all my new posts, please either subscribe to the blog or click on the RSS logo at the top of the page.

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Who am I? and The Ladder UPP workbook will inspire you and provide practical, easy-to-follow tools to live a better life.  They will also equip you to help others wanting to live free, from struggling mothers facing a chaotic family to floundering veterans dealing with PTSD, from worn out fathers to teenagers struggling to separate from the pack and find their own identity and purpose.

These are the same materials that I use for my discussion/ peer groups and workshops. You will feel empowered to conquer life and you will feel confident you can help someone take that first step to living free and overcoming life’s cracks. You can get them both by clicking here at Amazon.