Hello there,
You’ve got an idea! There is something you always wanted to try. Something that you constantly talk about if someone would listen to you 24/7.
A warm yet scary feeling goes through your body, thinking about the possibility of making it a reality. You start imagining how amazing your life would be. You will have the money, the validation and the impact you’ve always dreamed of. You will finally be able to afford everything you ever wanted and to pay back to everyone that helped you along the way.
You imagine how you will turn an idea into reality. How proud your parents will finally be. How proud you will be.
You notice that you have a small, almost silent voice whispering: DO IT! You’ve got this!
When you hear that voice, another starts screaming at you, louder and louder: WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! You will never be able to do this! There are so many things you know nothing about! You’d better stay right where you are!
You shake your head. You approve it.
That voice sounds so familiar. You heard it before. She has been with you all your life. Who are you to doubt it?
You go back to the office, mindlessly working on your computer. The almost-silent voice starts talking again: Do it! You can do it! You’ve got this!
For a millisecond, you are again in a dreamland. You imagine how your life would be. The freedom, the joy, the Oh-I-Can-Finally-Do-What-Sparks-Me-joy.
The louder voice comes again: Dreams are for kids! You are a grown-up now. You have a stable job, and a raise is coming up. Why would you waste such an opportunity for nothing?
And you shake your head again.
And again.
And again.
Until the louder voice is the only one that you can hear.
However, there is something inside you that doesn’t leave you alone. Once you had that thought, it planted a seed in your mind that you can’t ignore anymore.
You go outside. You search for validation from other people.
They tell you the same thing as the louder voice:
- You don’t have the experience
- Who do you think you are?
- You’d better keep your current job and ask for a raise
- There are another million ideas out there; why bother?!
Their voices become your voice.
And you continue living your life as the louder voice tells you.
You reach 80 years old.
You are on your deathbed, thinking about your life.
About the people.
About the friendships.
About the missing opportunities.
A silent voice comes to your mind: You could have done it! I would have been right next to you.
You close your eyes as a final thought comes to your mind: Maybe I could have done it, but now I will never know.
—
That’s how dreams die.
They die when we don’t open ourselves in the face of the unknown.
They die when we let our egos, past lessons and people stop us from doing what we secretly want to do.
They die whenever we convince ourselves that ‘‘this is not how we should live’’.
They die when we don’t use fear as a catalyst but as a prison.
If you were looking for a sign to take a small step towards doing something that brings you joy, THIS IS YOUR SIGN.
Write that book.
Post that video.
Start that business.
Open that conversation.
—
And if you need someone to light your path through the unknown and hold your hand when things become scary, it will be my honour to be that person.
Drop me a line at hello@petrutatuliga.com
Don’t let your dreams die!
