Are you following your dreams or just following society?
Growing up I was told to follow my dreams. I was also told to get a job that would make good money. Get a job that would provide for my family and one that would always provide me with more opportunities should something bad happen, should the economy crash or the world start burning.
Discovering my discontent of working and living the way I did. I set out to find my passions, my loves and ultimately discovering the gifts that were hidden within me.
Embarking on a journey of self discovery and reinvention I came to the conclusion that I was chasing a dream that was not my own A dream that was instilled in me by a fearful society that would rather watch people succeed than succeed itself.
I realized so many of us tie our identities to our work. We care way too much about what people think when we tell them what we do for a living. We often fear their opinions or crave their admiration just to realize that they don’t actually care or are not that impressed.
Starting out on my journey I realized early on that ‘my’ dream was not my own.
“Yet, how do I know what my dream is?”
I started asking questions like “what would I like to do all day long”, “why do I want to do it”, “what am I good at” and “how can this become a sustainable venture to make a living”.
It is there where I discovered John C Maxwell taught that you know it is your dream if you are willing to bet on yourself and putting your dream to the test was the ultimate way to determine what your dream truly is and whether it even is your dream.
We all have different dreams, we all have different circumstances and we all have different gifts.
We were not put on this earth to meander around to just make money and survive. We were put on this earth to live a life worth dying and a life of thriving.
So don’t judge others for their dreams, dream big and go for it. Whether it makes sense to others or not. Ultimately no one will ever be as invested in your dreams as YOU!
You will face failure and adversity but ultimately you will find success. Big dreams require boldness, courage and a hell lot of hard work. So are you willing to start dreaming, stop wishing and to start working?
Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars — Les Brown
