3 minute read
The Unexpected Path to Finding Your Dream by Jeff Goins
DAY 11 THE UNEXPECTED PATH TO FINDING YOUR DREAM
By Jeff Goins
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Writer and speaker and author of Wrecked and You are a Writer.
@JeffGoins
It’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.
Start here, start there. Just begin. This truly is the hardest part. I promise you that.
MAPS AND GLOBES
“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.”
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?
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 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.
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?
Back to Bryan. When people ask him the specifics of how he’s pursuing his dream, he’s honest. He doesn’t have a map. He’s not even sure what the destination is. All he cares about is moving forward. And that’s all you should care about, too.
The analogy Bryan draws is this:
Say you live in Kansas. It’s not a bad place to live, but you long for the beach. You dream of the waves and sand and sunsets. But you never leave home, because you’re not quite sure exactly where on the beach you want to go.
What Bryan would say, and I would echo, is this: Get out of Kansas.
What do you think you could never do?
What is the next step you need to take in your path, to move in the right direction?
Do you perceive your solution more in terms of direction or destination?
That’s your first step. Begin to head towards water. As you move, you’ll find the beach, and once you’re there, you can pick whatever spot you like. The path to your dream is more about direction than destination.
YOUR DREAM IS BIGGER THAN YOU THINK
Most dreams aren’t small. They’re big and grandiose; that’s why they’re called “dreams.” When you start moving towards yours, you may find it’s wider than you first thought. That’s because your dream may not be just one thing. It may be many things, and that’s okay.
The point is to not sit and wait for the perfect opportunity or for the storm to calm before stepping out onto the water. To not squander your days and nights and weekends, holding out for some gatekeeper to give you permission. As Seth Godin says, “No one is going to pick you. So pick yourself.”
