Have you spent some time wondering about passion? Have you been frustrated enough in whatever you do to identify something that you are willing to stand up for - a conviction? Have you wondered about getting your dream job? I have been asked these questions a number of times by young and old alike. The answer is quite simple: It is in your hand. Instead of seeking the answer in the big things beyond your reach, start with your own dream. What can you see for yourself? It can be a year from now or fifty years from now. Heck! It can be a week from now...
Got it? Great! Now ask yourself what do you have right now that you have not yet explored 100% in order to make a move towards what you see? It could be a free course on Coursera or edX or the guidance of a mentor that is a phone call away. Perhaps it is a book that you bought but have not read yet. You will however find nothing if you believe there is nothing. Once you have identified a course, a friend, a mentor or a place to volunteer - whatever - jump in with everything you got and fully utilise the opportunity that you have identified. If it works out and it is what you should do, master it. If it doesn't work out you have just learned about something in your life that you should probably stop doing and your dream has probably evolved and matured into something better. Get back on the horse and try the next thing.
If you master that specific job, task, opportunity, etc. and you are not dead yet repeat the process whenever you find yourself frustrated and continue with the journey until you breathe your last breath. Up until your expiry date you are still good to go and should let your curiosity evolve into a desire. Let your desire evolve into a dream. Let your dream fuel your motivation!
The point is that it is much more difficult to see any opportunity if you are looking too far ahead. Take the dream and connect the dots all the way back to where you are now. In this way you make a dream a reality and you use what is already there and perhaps easier to access. I have used this approach over the last fifteen years and through it I have worked across various industries and careers, consulted and facilitated to start-ups and corporates, moved to a different city, moved back again and with every change gained greater insight into who I am and the dream that guides me.
Here is the down-side and why few people attempt this: fear of failure. And now to put all of you at ease, yes, there is a fair chance that you could fail at some point, but you will be more alive than ever before. It is only through failure that our dreams can take shape and become real. In other words, if you have a dream but take no action in order to reach it, your dream in fact remains a fantasy. If you do take action and risk failure you take a step towards your dream and the closer you are to your dream the clearer it becomes. Experience is what successful people call their failure - on the path your dream leads you failure is your teacher.
Go from survive to alive!
