Have you ever told someone your dreams or goals and immediately they started to shut you down? And when that happened did it make you reassess your goals? It shouldn't. Please don't let other people's fears and doubts infect your own ambitions.
Bruce Lee often said not to share your plans with others and this is exactly why. The doubters have a narrow view of life. Whatever their story is it led them to a place where they crave comfort and consistently. When you present your lofty goals to this type of ingrained thinking they instantly balk because they focus on all the things that could go wrong.
“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” - Bruce Lee
Dreamers are different. They see what could be and they go after it with gusto. To have dreams doesn't mean your head is in the clouds and you are seeking something that isn't based in reality. Your dreams are there for you to make them a reality.
Problem is, when you get around the doubters they have a way of draining your ambition. Soon you get stuck in the same place they are believing that what you want for your life will never be. Have you ever seen a child talk about all the things they want to be when they grow up? They are imaginative goals unburdened by doubt. But as we grow up and get faced with adversity those goals start to fade into more reality based ideals. Slowly, our dreams die.
In the Netflix series Stranger Things the villain Vecna explains to the hero about how he came to be. In it he says:
"Where others saw order, I saw a straitjacket. A cruel, oppressive world dictated by made-up rules. Seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades. Each life a faded, lesser copy of the one before. Wake up, eat, work, sleep, reproduce, and die. Everyone is just waiting. Waiting for it all to be over. All while performing in a silly, terrible play, day after day. I could not do that. I could not close off my mind and join in the madness. I could not pretend. And I realized I didn't have to. I could make my own rules."
Why would I quote a villain? Because there is a bit of truth in there. I'm in a unique position to recognize that time in this life is fleeting. So, I recognize the hard truth that being pigeon-holed into a position you're not comfortable with isn't a way to live at all. I understand that people need to make a living but that shouldn't come at the cost of your mental or physical health. And it certainly shouldn't curtail your ambitions.
When speaking with a co-worker recently and laying out what I wanted to do she kept shooting down every point I made. She made it sound as though I was trapped in a place that no longer suited me. That's when I realized why you shouldn't share your ambitions with certain people. They don't understand it and they never will.
I love when people try to tell me "no, you can't do that" because it lights up the fire inside my belly like a furnace being stoked. My immediate, internal response is "watch me!" But I recognize that not everyone feels that way. You may be uncertain in your own skill but that's okay. It's why you shouldn't be talking to those people that will weigh you down like an anchor around your foot.
Quietly work on your plans until the time comes to unveil them. But don't let the world press you down and suck the life out of those things you believe in. The ideas are inside you for a reason. If I listened to people tell me what I should or shouldn't be doing I never would've written the books I wanted to write.
I have even greater ambitions than that. This entire website came to be because I saw a need to help fellow authors and creatives discover their best selves. In a world of social media where everything is under a magnifying glass I feel it's more important than ever to keep the treasured parts of your being close to you. Let the world see when you're no longer the caterpillar in the cocoon but the beautiful butterfly!
“The doubters said,
“Man can not fly,”
The doers said,
“Maybe, but we’ll try,”
And finally soared
In the morning glow
While non-believers
Watched from below.”
What ambitions have you been putting off because someone said they were impossible? Don't tell me! Write it down in a notebook or a journal and reference it often. You get a giddy feeling when you envision these dreams, goals, and ambitions coming to life. That's because your true path is being exposed to you. Follow that path and let it lead you to your greatness!