I was preparing to play a game with some friends over the weekend, and during the warm-up process, I had an interesting conversation with a player I didn't know very well.
"What do you do?" he asked me. "Oh, I do it for myself, I have a software company", I replied. "Really! It's so enviable! I work in XXX company, but I have always had a dream to be an animation designer, to be an independent professional. This is my dream. But now I am caught in this wrong industry."
"You're still alive, aren't you?" I whispered to him as quietly as I could. He continued: "You don't know, I've been waiting for this day for 10 years, but once you have a family, it's hard to do other things."
I couldn't hold it any longer, so I said to him, "Well, if you really want to, maybe you should take an animation design class, or you can teach yourself at home. If you make up your mind to start doing it." I got this soft reply: "Hey, this is so hard, with a family, full-time job, and no time. I would love to do it, but I can't."
Frustrated, I suggested, "You might consider a few weeks or months of off-the-job training, or just quit." He looked at me as if I was going to chop off his right hand. "Are you crazy? Where does my income come from?"
I began to understand that if the conversation continued, I would have an argument with this person I didn't know very well at the first meeting, and I chose to just smile and walk away. But it got me thinking. Why are people unwilling to take a little risk to chase their dreams? Is their dream not worth it? If not, why should we hate such people so much? Are we ashamed of ourselves for not giving our dreams a fair chance?
Now, I understand that not everyone is willing to devote all their time to making their dreams come true. But it shouldn't stop us from never taking a step toward our dreams. I mean, like the first steps of a child's toddler, if you can't burn the boat, you can't kill the dream.
When we were kids, we all had crazy ideas and dreams. When people ask - "What do you want to be when you grow up?", you don't say "I want to have a stable job, I want to be a general manager in a Fortune 100 company" or "I want to work in government". You want to do something that excites you, something you are passionate about – “soldier, scientist, musician, dancer, Miss World” etc. You don't even think about how much money you can get from it, you just want to do it.
But why do we lose all enthusiasm, drive, desire, and strength to hold on to our dreams when we grow up? Why does money dominate our enthusiasm, and in most cases kill it? Why can "a stable income" imprison our dreams? Why should we stop thinking about the things we love?
Why are we so tempted by the steady monthly income of a job that we completely ignore the truth that it’s never too late to pursue your dreams. I can understand why people are like this, people are "fear of failure". Our fear of failure leads us to tell ourselves a lie: some things are never yours. "I don't have time, I have a family, I'll do it when I have enough money, etc" are all excuses. In this way, we acquiesced that it’s okay to lose your dreams, it’s okay not to do the things you love, and it’s okay to do those repetitive and boring things day after day.
Like Tony Robbins said - "The only thing holding you back from getting what you want is when you keep telling yourself why it doesn't belong to you."
What are we waiting for? The moment when all the stars line up the way you want them to? Does this guarantee your success? This road will never work. You can never wait for this glorious moment. The form environment will never be to your satisfaction. There will always be something going against you in one way or another. You have to make up your mind and take a risk. Once we set a goal, we can't wait for the perfect timing in every way, the situation where everything is as I want it to be. What we need is to get started. We can take it slowly while working full-time. I love what I'm doing now, and I'm doing it after my regular day job. It's not easy, but it's fun because I'm doing what I've dreamed about and I'm passionate about the software I'm building.
Maybe it's just me, maybe I'm a weirdo. Maybe I'm stupid, but I'd rather be stupid, I'd rather live my dream and fight hard than make a bunch of excuses. The temptation of money will not bring real success, real success comes from love and enthusiasm. You have to love what you do, you have to have a passion for what you do.
Failure is not scary. It's scary when you look back at 60 and realize "maybe I should have given myself a chance to live my dream, maybe I would have succeeded, maybe I should have kept my dream". But by now it was too late. You may be heading towards this end.
Don't be afraid to realize your dreams. This will be the biggest mistake you can ever make.