Stop Justifying Your Dreams To Other People

When you were young, you wanted your life to be cool.

Maybe you wanted to be an astronaut. Or a racecar driver. Or a luxury sailboat owner.

Somewhere along the line, things changed. Maybe your parents told you to “grow up”. Maybe your friends said your idea or your goal was stupid. Maybe someone told you that it’s too far-fetched. Maybe you convinced yourself that it’s too difficult to achieve.

And you listened. And slowly, you molded your life to fit the norm. You got a job that was socially acceptable. Your lifestyle changed to become more accommodating and people-pleasing.

And here we are now. If you’re reading this article, I’m going to make an educated guess.

You’re not really happy with the way things are. You know you’re capable of something better. Once in a while, you look at an Instagram post or a cool video on YouTube and think “I could be doing that.”

I’m here to tell you today that you absolutely, 100%, certainly, most definitely can and should be doing that. In a world where teenagers routinely become millionaires and severely handicapped people become massively successful motivational speakers, there’s very little you can’t achieve.

Stop Listening To The Naysayers

Listen, it’s incredibly easy for people to say “No”.

They don’t know you. They don’t know your drive, your desires or what makes you happy.

They don’t know what you’ve been through, and where you’re going. Someone you met at a conference or had a quick conversation over breakfast with can’t possibly be the decider of your fate.

When faced with any kind of real challenge, an overwhelming majority of people will say “No”.

As a result, an overwhelming majority of people will lead uneventful lives, dreaming about the things that could’ve been and watching other people do cool things on the Internet.

If you’re having a conversation with your friends in art school about a great networking app idea you have, they have no frame of reference for what you’re talking about. As a result, their opinions on your idea don’t really mean much.

Maybe the conversation that led you to abandoning your dreams happened at a time when the other person was really busy and/or flustered, thereby making it impossible for them to give you an objective answer.

And really, what could someone who does taxes for a living possibly know about scaling Mt. Everest? Nada. Zip. Zilch.

Here’s the blatant, unfiltered truth – for any number of reasons, most people you meet are going to say “No” or “It can’t be done”.

And yes, rejection hurts. It’s tough to hear someone you’re close to dismissing your goals outright. If you’re chasing a dream that no one in your family or your community has ever gotten close to achieving, there will be times like this. You’ll feel like a failure. You’ll feel like your dreams are stupid and all you’ll want to do is listen to My Chemical Romance while drinking an unhealthy amount of wine.

But don’t let that stop you. The path to success is paved with failures.

Giving Yourself Permission

You’re only here once. You get one chance, one opportunity to experience all of the crazy, amazing things this world has to offer. And the only permission you need to chase it all is your own.

If you want to have your own store, don’t wait until a person of influence decides your idea is worth donating some money to. Go out there and make it happen.

If you want to be an author, don’t wait for a publishing company to approve. Write your book and publish it online. It’s incredibly easy and convenient to do.

If you want to spend your life traveling the world, don’t wait for your social circle’s approval. Pack your bags and hit the road. You’ll figure things out along the way.

Just say to yourself “Yes. I give myself permission to chase this dream.”

Results are undeniable. When your friends and family see that you’re really making it happen, they’ll eventually come around to your point of view. And if they don’t, they don’t. Life is too short to let other people’s insecurities dictate your story.

Making it as an entrepreneur is tough, and it comes with a series of challenges that you probably hadn’t expected when you were working at your day job. You have to handle schedules, invoices, leads and a ton of other stuff that goes into running a business. Which is why we created Dubsado. Dubsado automates almost all of your client management and makes it possible for you to live out your dreams as an entrepreneur.