How To Crush Uncertainty And Realize Your Dreams
You know the feeling.
You have a dream or maybe a plan. You’ve been at it for quite some time now. Weeks, months or maybe years.
And yet, the dream hasn’t come true yet. In fact, you feel farther from your goal than ever before.
Doubtful thoughts mess with your head in an infinite loop.
What is it that you’re missing?
Are you not smart enough? Is it about luck? Are you too young/old for this?
You feel you know what it takes to make your dream come true, but what if you’re wrong?
Maybe you’re wrong in thinking that you know how to do this.
And that’s exactly what is holding you back.
The Hidden Failure Of Conventional Wisdom
You’ve heard the advice.
Believe in yourself.
Focus.
Keep a positive attitude.
Never give up.
Whatever your goal is, if you follow all of those, you should be able to achieve your goals, right?
Wrong.
Here’s why.
Imagine you’ve come to a new city. You do not know what places to explore. So, you use a map to guide yourself.
Except, it’s the wrong map.
No matter how much you search for a place, the map will always mislead you. You can keep a positive attitude, reaffirm your self-belief, and try as hard as you can. It wouldn’t get you any closer to your destination.
Unless you realize you have the wrong map, the only place you’ll reach is frustration.
Why Most People Fail To Achieve Their Goals
You learn from life experiences. Take a moment and think about all the things you know today.
If your father is a software engineer, you probably started to code at a very young age. If your uncle is a professional painter, you would know the different color combinations and brush strokes.
In short, your life experiences have been a source of knowledge.
But here’s the problem.
Your life experiences are limited. So, the things you learn are also limited.
What happens when your goal lies outside your life experience?
What if you want to build a business when everyone in your family has had traditional jobs? How to be a creative writer when the only people around you are corporate buddies?
How to make up for what you do not know?
You do the obvious.
You guess what will work and hope that you’re right.
Usually, you’re wrong.
See Also: Your Ability To Fail Without Fear Is A Requirement To Reach Your Goals
What Does It Really Take To Succeed?
Two reasons why the successful achieve their goals:
- They know things that you don’t know.
- They do things that you don’t do.
If you study the methods of successful people, it becomes obvious that their approach is unique and counter-intuitive.
More specifically, it’s counter-intuitive to your guesses, because you don’t understand things the way they do.
Here’s a personal example.
Years ago, I started a blog without knowing much about it.
I guessed that I should start a WordPress website and write as well as I can. The readers will happily show up on their own.
What I just described is the fantasy of every blogger on this planet.
Unfortunately, it’s merely a fantasy. It never happens this way.
Today, we have hundreds of thousands of blogs. With so many options for a reader, I’ll probably get lost in the crowd of average bloggers, even if I was really good.
It wasn’t just about writing good content and hoping people to show up. I needed to find my readers and bring them to my blog. I have to learn about them and produce my best work that actually helps them. Apart from that, I should do this consistently and exactly in this order.
See Also: 5 Habits Of Successful People You Should Be Following Today
How To Not Waste Years In Making Silly Mistakes
The real reason you fail at goals is that you have no idea of what it takes- at least initially.
And if you rely on personal experiences, you’ll have to make tons of mistakes and take years to learn what works.
How to learn about things that you’ve not experienced?
“Proactive Learning”.
You learn how to “avoid” making mistakes. You realize the common pitfalls ahead and prepare in advance.
Why wait to learn from mistakes when you can find and avoid them in advance?
You may feel that avoiding all mistakes is not possible. We all falter and that is true.
However, do you really have to make all the mistakes that most people make all the time?
Instead of making 100 common mistakes, would it not make sense to avoid 90 by being proactive? Just because a person walking ahead of you fell into a hole doesn’t mean that you should, too.
Simply walk around it.
Go Back To First Grade
I know what you’re thinking.
“All this sounds great. Sure, it would be great to avoid mistakes instead of making them. But we realize our mistakes after we’ve made them. How to predict mistakes before making them?”
To answer the above question, you need to answer this first:
Who knows more about building a profitable business?
A businessman earning huge profits or an employee of an organization?
It’s obvious.
It’s the businessman.
He knows how to build a business. He's done this for years now. He made some mistakes along the way but finally, he is successful.
He knows this game.
If you seek his help, he will show you the right way. He’ll tell you what steps to take. He’ll explain what mistakes most beginners make and how you can avoid them.
His lessons can be the difference between your business thriving or turning to dust.
This question points to an important truth.
99% of people never do much in life. So, when they hear about your dream, the best they can do is discourage you. They’ll call you mad for believing in something big.
But there’s also the 1% that actually make progress, achieve dreams, and realize their aspirations.
These people want you to trust in your dream just like they did. These people don’t want you to give up just like how they didn’t. They want you to succeed just like they did because they know it’s possible.
Your job is to become deaf to the 99% and learn from the 1%.
Not everyone’s opinion matters.
Become A Zen Student Of Success
By now you must have realized:
- If you chase your dreams on your own, it’ll take you years before you make it (you can still do it though).
- You can save years of effort and time if you learn from successful people.
But, you may still be wondering.
How to learn from the successful?
These people are extremely busy. Bill Gates isn’t sitting close to his phone, waiting excitedly for your call so that he can teach you his Microsoft secret.
The answer.
You live in the Information Age.
There are books, interviews, audio podcasts, and so much more out there. You can sign up for premium courses. A little research can find you plenty of resources to help you understand their methods and philosophies.
You want to understand what they know and how they act based on that knowledge. You’re looking to avoid the mistakes which they’ve made when they started out. You’re looking to succeed without falling into the traps that kept them stuck.
As you pursue proactive learning, you’ll begin to see the following benefits:
- Stronger self-belief – Learning from the successful will give you success stories affirming that you’re not crazy in chasing your dreams. Their stories prove it’s possible.
- Better Focus – When you're unsure of your plan, you keep wondering if you’ve made the wrong plan. Proactive learning gives you better focus because you know it will work.
- Better Planning – You know you’re learning from the best, so your plan is bulletproof. It has worked earlier and will probably work for you, too.
Rise Of The Superhero In You
So, now you know.
You know exactly how to find what it takes to succeed.
Like Luke Skywalker, you will blast the Death Star of self-doubtful thoughts. There is “A New Hope”.
You’re free.
It’s not about being smart, lucky or having the right age. It’s about finding what actually works in real life and then doing it.
You no longer have to guess. By learning from the successful, you will know exactly what to do and what mistakes to avoid. No way are you falling for those traps again.
Like an expert driver avoiding most bumps on the road, the way to your dreams will be one pleasant ride.
Buy that book on business principles. Sign up for that writing course. Book that coaching session with your ideal teacher.
Your goal is no longer lost in some distant future. It’s coming true right now. Every action you take is in the right direction.
You’ve found the right map.
Now, your beliefs, attitudes, and focus will skyrocket your growth.
Go live your dream.
