How to make your big, daring dreams come true

So, you’ve got big, exciting and daring dreams you want to see come true… now comes the moment when you have to step off the edge and go for it!

The thing is though that it can be really scary. You’re not sure how everything’s going to work out, you can’t see all the dips ahead, you can’t be certain where you’re going to end up.

But why is it that so many of us never manage to jump? I think there are two major reasons:

Fear – of failing, of the unknown, of making mistakes
Not knowing what to do or how things will work out

Fear

Have you ever been so scared of making a mistake or failing that you decide not to do what you wanted to do? I have definitely done this more than once! And now I wonder ‘what if…’

What if I had had the courage to send that email? What if I’d been brave enough to pick up the phone and make that call? I’ll never know what could have been if I’d not been frozen by fear of making a mistake.

So many of us miss out on great opportunities, because we’re scared of the things that might go wrong. We let the fear of failure hold us back.

Thomas Watson once said, “Would you like me to give you the formula for success? It’s quite simple, really – double your rate of failure.”

If the formula for success is to fail more why are we so scared of failing? Perhaps it’s because at school we’re conditioned to believe that failing is bad. Perhaps it’s because failing means we haven’t achieved what we set out to achieve and this makes us feel disappointed. Perhaps it’s because failing pushes us outside of our comfort zone.

Whatever the reason, we need to let go of our fear of failing and embrace it. We need to have the courage to make mistakes and then learn from them. We need to have a positive attitude towards making mistakes and realise that our failures contribute towards our success.

Ask yourself…

What’s the worst that can happen?

Is it really that bad? Bad enough for you to not even take the first step and give it a try?

Not Knowing

We’ll never have all the answers, yet so many of us feel like we should have all the answers and know all there is to know before we get started on something new. When we don’t know the answers we hold back, because we’re unsure. The unknown is scary.

Quite often if we don’t know the answer to something, we start to feel like we can’t do it or we’re not good enough and then we give up. Countless amazing ideas go down the drain for this very reason and it’s such a shame.

The truth is that all the answers you need to know already exist – someone somewhere will be able to help you. Instead of freaking out that you don’t know what to do or where to begin or how to get started, set yourself a mission to find out.

What to do when you don’t have a clue

Accept that it’s ok not to have a clue – take the pressure off yourself.
Find some people who you think might be able to help and ask them questions. If you don’t know who can help then start by asking your friends and family. Don’t be afraid to pick up the phone or send an email to someone you don’t know and ask for advice – people love to be asked for advice!
Learn, learn and then learn some more! Read books, listen to CDS, go on courses. Learning doesn’t have to be expensive either – just think about all the information you can find by doing a search online, it’s endless! There is a mass of amazing, free content and it’s sat there waiting for you to read it!
Open your eyes and ears – become more observant and aware of what’s going on around you. Watch other people and companies and see how they do things – you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

You have a big decision to make now…here are your choices:

You let the fear, the doubts, the unknown take control and you back away from the edge and you let your dreams slip from your grasp.
Despite the fear, the unknown, the doubts you have total belief and conviction that you’re going to make your dreams come true. You see this as an adventure and you’re excited to get started. With belief and a positive attitude you take a step towards the edge and you jump knowing that you’re on your way to making your dreams come true.

You have to agree that option two sounds way more fun, right?

So, go for it, dare to follow your dreams!

Carrie x