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“If you have dreams, it is your responsibility to make them happen.”
– Bel Pesce
There are so many articles and posts that tell you about ways to achieve your dreams, but which one tells you about how to kill them? What are those things you are doing right now or have done that have killed or suffocated your dreams and ambitions?
Bel Pesce, in her TED Talk, talked about five ways to kill your dreams:
- Belief in overnight success.
You may wonder who does that. Many people still feel success can come at the snap of the fingers. You see this huge supermarket thriving well. It opened two new branches, and you say, “Wow, it is doing so well!” And you forget that the business has probably existed (in a tiny shop) for the past ten years and has passed through thick and thin to get to where it is. An overnight success story is always a result of everything one has done till that moment.
- Believe someone else has the answers for you.
Have you noticed that people always want to help, be it family, friends, colleagues, business partners, lecturers, coursemates, and so on? They always have one piece of advice or another on what path you should take and don’t even ask for your opinion – “You walk so erectly and rigidly; you should be a headmistress!”
No one has all the answers for you or your life. Eventually, everything boils down to you making decisions FOR and BY yourself.
- Decide to settle when growth is guaranteed.
We all get comfortable with things when they are going smoothly. You have hit the N650,000 target for the month and feel you should relax. No wonder most banks increase the targets from time to time. Don’t settle or relax.
- Believe the fault is someone else’s.
Nothing is as lazy and pathetic as blaming someone else for your mistakes or anything happening to you; it is downright irresponsible. Take responsibility for your actions. Bel gave this example, ” ‘Yes, I had this great idea, but no investor had the vision to invest.’ You relate to this, right? If you can’t get an investor to invest, there is something there that is your fault. You need to get your dreams and make them happen. And no one achieved their goals alone. But if you didn’t make them happen, it’s your fault and no one else’s. Be responsible for your dreams.”
- Believe that the only things that matter are the dreams themselves.
We all have dreams and aspirations, at least most of us. In school, most people were there just for the certificate alone, not the knowledge nor the experiences—social and otherwise. So it is with our goals. When you have achieved them, do you ask yourself, “What next?” Do you remember the process? Did you learn anything new?
Achieving a dream is a momentary sensation, but your life is not. The best way to accomplish your dreams is to thoroughly enjoy every step of your journey.
If you want to kill your dreams, endeavour to do all this, and you will do a fabulous job. I’m just kidding. Rid yourself of all these attitudes and thoughts, and you will be on your way to living a wonderful life.