DAY 11
THE UNEXPECTED PATH TO FINDING YOUR DREAM By Jeff Goins Writer and speaker and author of Wrecked and You are a Writer.
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@JeffGoins
t’s the one question that plagues us, the apparition that haunts all our creative pursuits. We are consumed with it — this insecurity, this fear. This questioning of ourselves. What is it? One simple phrase. One seemingly harmless question that keeps us in the Valley of Amateurs when we should be climbing Professional’s Peak: “What am I supposed to do?” What should I write about? Or sing about or talk about or just plain create? Where do I begin? The answer, friends, is anywhere.
“I COULD NEVER DO THAT.” Several months ago, I had a great phone conversation with my friend Bryan, who’s doing some amazing stuff right now. He’s launched a passion business, something he’s wanted to do for 10 years (ever since he started blogging). As he stepped out into his dream, quitting his job, Bryan heard one phrase from his colleagues more than anything else: “I could never do that.”
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The fact is my friend’s colleagues are like a lot of us: afraid. And in our fear, we search for an answer, a sure solution. A guarantee that we won’t fail. We want a map instead of a globe. MAPS AND GLOBES Maps are easy. They’re flat and predictable, easy to use to chart out a course or route. Maps are about points: starting points and destination points. Follow them, and you’ll be safe — that’s what we think.
Start here, start there. Just begin. This truly is the hardest part. I promise you that.
Or they’d say they had a dream but didn’t know where to start with it. Maybe they’d begin but hit
some form of resistance and freeze. How, they wondered, could he do it? Wasn’t Bryan afraid?
But the truth is maps are unrealistic. Because the world isn’t flat; it’s not color-coded and foldable. The world is complex and dangerous and unpredictable. Which is why a globe is a better picture of how we navigate through life. A globe spins. Really nice globes are topographical, raised in areas where there are mountains. Globes are not the easiest tools in the world to use, but they’re a good picture of our lives. You use a map to travel from state to state, but you use a globe to travel the world. Which would you rather use?
From Clouds To Concrete
