The Dark Side of Pursuing Your Dreams

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Pursuing your dreams, when said out-loud, sounds like it’s going to be all sunshine, rainbows, a road paved in gold, while riding on the back of a unicorn, doesn’t it? Don’t get me wrong, the act of pursuing your dreams can, indeed, be a hugely fulfilling adventure and I encourage you to do just that but it would be irresponsible of me to not tell the whole truth about what it actually means to pursue your dreams.

“Figuring out if it’s worth the risk.”

Jumping right in, one thing that you’d need to settle between yourself and those involved, if there are others involved, is figuring out if it’s worth the risk. No matter what your dream looks like, it is going to have costs attached to it.

This can be finances, time and attention. You will be required to sacrifice on luxuries; time to yourself, family and friends; and devote your attention to strategically laying out a plan for achieving your goal and sticking to it.

Moreover, when it comes to pursuing your dreams, the work hours may be out of the conventional. Imagine having a full-time job, a family/spouse, other commitments and then deciding that you would be now pursuing your dreams. Where would you possibly get the time?

Your own energy will run out

This is where the tough get going, or something along those lines. No, seriously. This equates to sleepless nights, unrelenting transitions between your regular responsibilities and then the responsibility of making your dream a reality but it’s worth it, right?

As we proceed, I want to challenge you to ask yourself, “how will I measure my progress?” This becomes necessary because, according to what your dream is, the resources you start with and your actual investment, it may not be possible to utilize a standard measure of progression, if there even exists one.

“How will I measure my progress?”

Figure out very early, how you will measure your progression, as it can quickly feel like you’re going nowhere fast, without doing this.

Finally, allow me to state that pursuing a dream is not for the weak. You got to have an unbreakable will, with unshakable focus, otherwise, every obstacle, every naysayer, and every distraction is going to get the better of you, and trust that you’ll encounter every one of these.

Your tools will fail you; your support system will dwindle; your own energy will run low but you need to connect to your ‘Why’. Why is this important? Why am I doing this? Why won’t I give up?

“You need to connect with your ‘why‘ “

In closing, just know that if there’s no one that believes in you, I believe in you. This piece isn’t meant to discourage you from the pursuit of what’s meaningful to you but it’s designed to arm you with knowledge and the, often, left out truth about what it really means to pursue your dreams.

Go forth, knowing that you are just a bit more prepared for what comes next. Cheers.