The Awesome Factor

Having passion for something feels like this indescribable desire that erupts from within, doesn’t it? An unquenchable thirst that pounds at your heart every time the subject you are passionate about comes up. Your heart seems to tangibly smile inside, laugh even, and as it does, the stretch aches for more room and bleeds for attention. And if you address it, it joyously pounds rapidly almost exploding out control. And if you ignore it, it feels like the air was sucked in and the door was shut. Ever have that feeling? The pursuit of dreams is no easy task, for dreams often seem intangible, like air. And we are taught to dream, dream big, the bigger the dream the better! And we do, we dream, and dream, and dream. And for many, the dreams simply continue to exist in our minds, in our hearts, but we can’t seem to let them out and materialize into reality. It’s much nicer to keep having that dream, because you need a dream in your heart! From beautiful fairy tales in far away lands to Beverly Hills, we are reminded that our dreams shall lead the way and will come true for you one day, if only you just…believe! Or will they? Reality is that for many, dreams just cannot come true because you simply do not allow them to. Or at least they don’t materialize quite exactly as we dreamt they would. And what happens next? Disappointment sets in, or worse, we stop believing in ourselves. And subsequently, we may even stop dreaming! My wish is to inspire you to believe again and to take action. But not believing in fairy tale endings and riches beyond your imagination, but to believe in yourself so that you can crack open a window and fuel those dreams again and send them packing on a trip to reality land! The world is waiting for you! Have you ever attended a class, a seminar, or read an article that made the author (speaker, coach, whatever) super recognized for that work and you said to yourself: “What da!!?? “I could have done that!” Or, worse, omg “that” is what people are raving about, “I can do better!” I shamefully admit I have had those thoughts before. Not in judgment of other’s work, but of my own lack of drive to do it myself. But we must put those thoughts away, for the fact is “I didn’t do it. Someone else did”. And it fuels me to keep going for maybe, just maybe, I DO have what it takes! In fact, we all do. Sometimes we don’t believe our work or skills are really “in demand” (we make assumptions), or we simply don’t take the time to define the steps to make it happen (lack of clear direction). It all comes down to this small but pretty powerful reason: “Those who take the time to define the steps to their dreams are the ones who will most likely experience results”. Easier said than done? Probably! But let’s break those dreams down. Let’s say you dream of owning your own restaurant someday: An Italian bistro with romantic two top tables and an indoor pretend blue sky with fluffy scattered clouds. Music plays, couples glance at one another, baristas serve a taste of the coffee of the day, and servers delight customers with samples of new dishes while serenating your guests. Simplicity and elegance is all around and your customers are happy, joyful, and loving their experience at your restaurant. Come back… we are in reality land now. How do we break that dream down? Well, I am not a restaurant owner, or connoisseur, so I can’t in good faith give you a list of actual steps that you should do in order to open a restaurant. But what I can share with you is general idea of what could do in order to get started with ANY purpose you wish to make come true. You must make a commitment to making that dream a reality. This is also called “setting an intention”. Not for everything to happen over night, but for you to at least draw a path that you know would get you there eventually, if you followed it. What I mean by this is as simple as: If you want to be a paramedic, there are certifications you MUST pass in order to qualify. Identifying not only WHICH those are, but also even, WHEN they are offered, will at least move you in the right direction. You certainly don’t have to show up. But if you don’t even know when, what or where, then you never even stood the chance to begin with. It is also important to determine the actual demand for your product or service. There should be a basic “need” for what you are offering. Or if what you are offering is new in the marketplace, then you must figure out how to create a need. You can certainly craft your very own niche for your idea, just keep in mind that at the end of the day, starting a business must have both: dreams and reality checks (dreams fuel the dream, reality funds it). You can test this “need” before you launch relatively easily. Has someone asked you for this service/product before? Can you offer it temporarily at no cost or highly reduced? Can you do a pre-sale? Online marketers often offer courses and charge up front before the course is even built. This does a couple of things: tests the need in the marketplace, and funds the manpower to build the course. Acknowledge to yourself that some steps you must take along the way will be harder than others. Some steps will take longer than others. That’s just fact. Accept it, hate it, but do it anyway. Trust me when I tell you some people dream of a restaurant and their first step in order to get started never gets passed the “when I win the lottery” thought. And I am here to tell you that if winning the lottery is what it will take for you to start your dream in motion, well, keep dreaming then, just know that your chances of succeeding without it are actually greater than your chances of winning that lottery. And that’s not a DREAM really. It’s simply a “conditional wish”… if I get this, THEN I will do that. Dreams are more like “I want this with all my heart and will do anything to make it happen” kind of desire. BIG DIFFERENCE! (Yeah, you “could” win the lottery; my point here is that it is SO unlikely, that it should not even be a consideration). Who else is doing this? Identify a person already successful in this business arena and initiate contact. They may or may not have time (or the desire) to tell you everything they know, but it is a start and we always assume a NO before we even ask. Tell you what, the MAJORITY of people already successful in any area, probably WEREN’T that successful at one point. What I mean is that most of us have to start somewhere. Maybe they even started with a dream themselves, just like you. So ASK for guidance. Ask for advice, mentorship even. Break it down into the known requirements. Find out what certifications, training, degrees are required to get what you want, if any. You can start by making a list IN WRITING. Making a list IN YOUR HEAD does not count. You must see this materialized in front of you. So write it down. You may or may not attempt to start making progress on your list right away. Doesn’t matter. Make that list anyway. Seeing what needs to be done will make your dream that much more tangible. Or even intangible. But you never know what will come your way that will allow you to say “I can do this NOW”. (And no, I am not talking about winning the lottery here). “If you don’t know where you are going then any road will get you there” Lewis Carroll Be brave and do something even at a smaller scale if possible: What are you afraid of? Is it failure? Regret? What if you fail? But more importantly, what if you fly??? Try living a smaller version of your dream if that’s possible.