Being Passionate about Your Dreams (which can change sometimes and that's okay)
Last week, we celebrated MLK day and many remember his famous 1963 speech of where he says, “I have a dream” and I love how what he says still resonates with us, as Americans, until this day (more on that subject in future blogs). If you want to read the very emotional sermon, I’ve added the link here, and personally, every year around this time, I always take a minute and reflect on my own dreams and desires for the future.
So when you think about your own goals for 2022, “what is it that you DREAM of?” How great would it be to have, see, and feel your dreams get fulfilled?
Are you afraid to “DREAM”?
Dreams give us something to strive for, something to hope for, something that we ultimately want to achieve and experience that feeling of utter joy and happiness. And we can have multiple types of dreams, i.e. my dream closet and wardrobe, a dream car, a “dreamy” husband or partner, our dream house...etc.
But really, what are your “dreams” when it comes to who you are and what you want to do? More importantly “who do you want to BE?”
As entrepreneurs and business owners, we want to be asking this question fairly frequently. Think about the time when you first started your business, you must have had a dream or an idea of something you wanted to achieve or create and so what was that? Why was that dream so important to you? And does it still hold true for you till this day?
That is the question that many of us are constantly looking to answer and it can evolve day by day, moment by moment. Take for example, the “GREAT RESIGNATION” that is happening right now in our society. More and more folks are taking a step back and really pondering, “WHAT DO I DARE DREAM TO BE?”
Also, remember making those decisions involves ensuring it is right for you and not a decision that was made “FOR YOU”.
Which brings me to my thoughts for today:
Know What is In Your HEART
My son had a dream at one point to become a karate instructor and currently he is an advanced brown belt - with only 2 more belts to go before potentially getting his black belt. So you could imagine the reaction I had when he said to me, two summers ago, that he wanted to quit karate. And I had to ask why?
His reasons were very typical for a 9 year old at the time, “it’s getting hard”. My response was of course, many things that are well worth the journey is going to be hard. You want to “work” and persevere through the difficulties and the reward will be so much sweeter.
Second, “I’m not progressing”. Which of course,was true (in his mind) since he wasn’t instantaneously getting the next belt as quickly as he previously would. In karate, earlier belts are usually given within a couple of months. However, as you get higher and more advanced, sometimes they can take years instead. I said, usually the closer you get to the “top”, the more challenging it is to advance since SO many others want the same thing. You want to show for yourself and others that you REALLY WANT it.
Lastly, he said, “It’s no longer in my heart”...and this one took me a minute to pause. I had to do some additional follow-up and ask more questions. What’s no longer in your heart honey? The passion, the love, the drive for karate? And he said, “yes. I just don’t love it as much as I used to.” And needless to say, he’s very much now obsessed with soccer (for your context) and to that, I had nothing to say in response.
KNOW the RISKS of MOVING ON
When our dreams start to fall short, we tend to give up on them. As entrepreneurs and business owners, we find ourselves no longer committed to fulfilling our dreams. And this is where we need to ask ourselves: Why? More specifically, we should ask:
Has something else distracted you to do something different? (are we just chasing “shiny” objects?)
Has it gotten too hard or difficult that we aren’t willing to push through and keep working towards that dream?
Are you feeling like you’re not progressing as much or as quickly as you were when you first started?
If any of your answers to the above questions are a resounding “YES!” then I believe you should not be giving up on your dream.
When you give up on your dream, you risk the following:
not fulfilling your potential, this is especially painful, if you felt extremely passionate and authentic about what you are doing
not allowing yourself the opportunity to see something through and see how much you can go beyond the boundaries of your dream,
feeling regret and that something was left unaccomplished,
not being able to persevere until the end and experience your GREATNESS,
letting your fears get the best of you and allowing external influences make decisions or excuses for you.
So ask yourself, are you willing to take on these risks?
KNOW what IT WILL TAKE TO MOVE FORWARD
So when do you know, you need to persevere and continue to follow through on your dreams?
First, you want to ask yourself the question, Is it STILL in my Heart?
Do you still have a spark in your soul and hope in your future, to continue on your path? And if the answer is a resounding YES! then moving forward with your dream you’ll have everything to gain, like:
Confidence that you’ve been able to meet your dreams head on
Strength, that you’ve been able to overcome the obstacles and challenges along the way
Knowledge, since you are now where you are, you can share and give that back to others
Inner joy and fulfillment - you set yourself out there to achieve something and you did it
Ability to calm and set aside your fears (because they don’t automatically go away, fear will always be there within us someway, somehow) and now you know how to get through the fear and potentially use them to help motivate and propel you forward vs. hold you back.
How can you follow through, especially when things aren’t going as smoothly as you had planned?
It’s a matter of re-framing your perspective, maybe tweaking your game plan a bit or what we’ve called (or overused lately) “pivoting” or changing your course of action. Sometimes, it’s as simple as calling in some extra support to help push us forward and encourage us through to the end zone or finish line.
There is a saying I refer to when I find myself in a tough spot regarding whether to keep going or move on (and I don’t know who said it, so feel free to comment below if you know). It is:
“The difference between normal people and greatness - normal people let fear get the best of them, but great people overcome it with sheer perseverance.”
And I would add, HELP and SUPPORT. I think about this saying most when I am working with clients in the context of their “dreams” for themselves and their businesses. Dreams, after all, give us something to strive for in the hopes of feeling heartfelt joy and happiness once they are achieved.
Let me know your thoughts on how you are feeling about your DREAMS lately and what you may need to get you through to your PASSION.