Last week I facilitated a 3-day project management class. A side conversation over lunch reiterated what I hear regularly. It goes something like this…. “It’s so cool you’re living your dream, Andy. I just don’t think I could make that leap. I have a mortgage, a family [other excuses go here] and don’t think I could make as much money to support our needs.”
Too many people stay in a job they dislike because they somehow fear that “the devil they know is better than the devil they don’t”.
I can understand the hesitation to go from what seems certain to that which is certainly uncertain! If it were not for an incredible set of circumstances, I might have been to wimpy to make the leap myself. Yet now that I’m on the other side, having made that leap two years ago this month, it’s abundantly clear to me that the leap to follow your dreams is not nearly the fearful journey through the abyss that it might seem.
I fundamentally believe that the seed of a dream is planted within each of us. We were wired up to be more effective, more fulfilled, more difference-making when we pursue that dream. Yet too often the seed is left untended. It must be watered, fed, and weeded. The busy-ness of life and fear of uncertainty too often keep us from seeing the fruit of the dream.
On this 2 year anniversary of pursuing my dream, here’s a blog entry with some thoughts to help you see that fruit in your life:
- Life is too short to waste doing things that mean little to you. If you don’t have at least some clarity on the dream to pursue, start taking action. Don’t wait another year because that will turn into another decade.
- Look at past performance reviews and comments from bosses and peers. Ask trusted friends. What do they consistently say you do well?
- Do you enjoy doing those things? I mean real enjoyment. When I’m in front of a group of people, whether it’s 20 or 2000, and they are connecting with what I’m working to communicate, it is pure enjoyment for me. Now that might sound like total terror to you. That’s OK! What do you get real enjoyment out of? Much of the magic is finding that intersection between what you do well, the amount you enjoy it, and your ability to be compensated for it.
- You don’t have to make the leap in the next 24 hours! But how about a step? If you have an idea of what you want to pursue, find someone who is doing something similar and start asking them questions. Get an idea of what they like, dislike, the surprises they’ve encountered, the lessons they’ve learned. Find a way to do it on the side, if possible, to make sure you really like it.
Often we fool ourselves that our current situation is too secure to look beyond it. Such incorrect thinking can mess with us when all of a sudden the situation is threatened (e.g. possible job loss). May I encourage you to take action this month to start pursuing the dream that has been planted within you?
See “How to Banish Your Fear of the Pink Slip” for some ideas on how to start.
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