Here is Mr. Dream Killer! This poor guy will be walking in the mall and some lady will scream, “Aaaahhh! Get this man away from my dreams! Police! Save yourselves!”
Mr. Dream Killer looks like a reasonably nice guy. He opens the door for you and covers his cough. He donates to charity and looks good in argyle sweaters. He paints.
But when he lures you into his mind trap, he says the devastating phrase that covertly destroys your greatest life hopes…
“The timing isn’t right.”
PAUSE!
I scanned your thoughts as you two agreed “the timing isn’t right.” Sue me later for thought theft, but I found three interesting ones.
1. “The ‘right time’ will come and it will look different than the current environment.”
This is not an unreasonable view, but it is a flawed one. There could come a better time, yes, but it is unknown if that time will ever come! A delay in dream pursuit communicates “I can’t do this right now.” That’s a scary thought, because as you age, your body and brain wear down and become less effective.
In some cases you truly can’t move forward, but most of the time you’re justifying cowardice.
Success guru Brian Tracy continued with the daily operations of his company as he underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer – both of which are devastating to the human body. He knew he could find a way to continue, and he did. Sorry, but I think Brian just invalidated your current excuse.
Excuse removed. Next.
2. “My dream’s difficulty intimidates me. I’ll do something easier for now.”
Difficulty alters human decisions every day; some people run from it, others towards it. We all know that person who will turn down parking spots, and drive for 30 minutes until they find one practically inside the store. Is it you?
Easy feels nice, so the decision is always rewarded. But easy is almost never better. Difficulty is directly responsible for growth, while easy living is to blame for stagnation. Your intuition is likely nodding its proverbial head right now.
You know weightlifting builds muscle and inactivity causes atrophy. You know uncomfortably experiencing other cultures broadens the mind, while staying home narrows it. You know that it feels better to conquer a mountain than to step on an ant (unless the ant bit you, and you want REVENGE).
When I was racing back and forth on the basketball court today for exercise, I realized how much easier it was to shoot-walk to the ball-shoot like everyone around me. It would be even more comfortable than that to stay at home, stuff myself with ice cream…hmm…hold on a sec…. *stuffs self with ice cream*…ok, I admit that was worth it. But because I worked out, I will feel better today and tomorrow and I deserve ice cream.
Why would you wait until it is easier, or worse, trick yourself into wanting something less than what you really want?
The hard path is better. Next.
3. “I need money first. I can’t do that. I’m not prepared.”
Oh come on.
Learn what you need to learn, prepare what needs preparing, and obtain or find a way around whatever it is you need. I know everyone is thinking, “what about money?” I’m about to launch a business that requires almost no money to start (+1 internet fan). There’s another “dream” business I want to start that would require *significant* funds, but who’s to say that this business now isn’t the first step towards that other business? That’s how I see it!
When you catch yourself thinking, “I need this first, I want that first,” think about when you first beat Vega in Street Fighter II Turbo and pumped your fist. Just me? Well, the point remains that you can see challenges as being fun or annoying/impossible. Choose fun.
And by the way, dreams aren’t meant to be easy. You have to fight for them like they’re a dear friend dangling off the edge of a cliff.
“I’m going for it. Ssssssomebody stop me!”
Oops, I left your thought scanner on…Hey! Nice!