When I was a kid there were all sorts of things I dreamed of doing.
Climbing a mountain, being in a submarine, becoming a bus driver and a squirrel (Don't judge me....) and drawing for comic book company.
I didn't become any of those things by the way, especially the squirrel just in case you were wondering and although the world needs people to climb mountains, sail....er drive..ummm....wait...pilot? Yes...pilot submarines and draw comic books (Not the squirrel thing...I am sure no one needs a person to be a squirrel.) sometimes that isn't enough.
Side note...my mother wanted me to be a commercial artist instead. Ohhhhh how exciting!
No offense to commercial artist, but I promise you it is a far cry from being a comic book artist.
Let me level set.
Climb "A" mountain or Climb several mountains?
Drive "A" bus or own a fleet of buses?
Draw for "A" comic book company or start one?
Do you see the difference?
Even if those other choices and opportunities were available to me, I still set my sights...my goals low.
Now I want you to see something. There is a difference here. One so fundamental that it is almost laughable.
Doing the "Safe" thing was more appealing than doing the thing I actually wanted. Doing what made my heart race with anticipation.
Go big...Or Go home.
Avoiding the risk of failure and taking the road most traveled, despite the fact that it was unappealing was what I resigned myself to do, even if my heart and spirit cried at the thought of it.
Kind of like the difference between dreaming in black and white and dreaming in color. I placed limits in and on my dreams and therefore the results.
I was settling.
The easiest for me to obtain was whatever was closest to me. I am not saying that drawing for a comic book company was easy, but I dare say much easier than drawing for several and even more so owning and managing one.
The question I should have been asking myself is why?
GIANT size dreams require GIANT size actions and here I was trying to be as small as possible.
This would have been different if I actually wanted to be a commercial artist or just drive a bus.
But I didn't.
Go big....Or Go home.
I am not even sure it was fear, although I am sure fear was in there somewhere. Maybe I didn't think I was worthy of it or that it was too far out of reach for someone like me. Or....maybe I didn't truly understand how to fall in love with what I love.
I didn't understand passion. Or Purpose. Which means....I didn't understand me.
And maybe that's it right there. Maybe we know that we aren't quite sure who we are or what we love. We are bogged down by thoughts of the future about paying bills or paying back student loans, stressing in advance so much that we lost sight of what gave us joy.
We were dreaming small and acting....small.
We play it safe. We stand against wall versus dancing in the crowd.
Or....we go out with the person who is the most like the ideal versus what makes our heart beat fast.
We go for the small and average. The safe.
Go big...or Go home.
And what do we get if we do this? Exactly what we put into it. Small risk, small reward.
Oh I know what you are thinking. "I make 6 figures and I am the CEO" blah, blah, blah......
Blah.
I am not impressed. Nope not even a little, mostly because of the fact that unless that is not your big dream, if that isn't something you have always wanted to do, then ....yeah....whatever.
Shades of gray and beige.
Where is the color? Have you at least asked yourself if that is what you wanted? Not the salary, not the corporate credit card, but the thing you get up in the morning and spend hours of your life...your time doing?
Is it your "Thang"?
If it is.....great. We need those CEO's, Bus drivers, Baristas. Heck...we know that the janitor is as important as the guy who runs the company.
My question is and was if this was your Big Dream and are you living the life you are passionate about?
Let me change that. YOUR question should be is this your dream and are you living your best life doing it?
Yeah...that's better.
So....are you?
Don't answer right now. That is not the point of this post. I want you to think about it. I mean really think about it. It's not too late.
It's never too late until it is. If you can read this, you can change. You can grow. You can discover your passion, the one that used to keep you up at night and fulfill your destiny.
It's your story.....
Go big....or Go home.
Speaker...Coach.
Comments