Five Epic Mistakes People Make When Trying To Achieve Their Dreams

There are way more than five epic mistakes people typically make when trying to achieve their dreams but for today, I’ll focus on five biggies.

1. We give up before we reach success.

 As humans we tend to over-estimate what we can do in the short term and under-estimate what we can do over longer periods of time. As such, we get frustrated when we run into obstacles that slow us down or even stop us in our tracks. Inevitably, the process turns out to be harder than we thought, our goal costs more than we anticipated and we don’t seem to have enough time to move the ball forward.

Here’s the thing… most if not all of those events are bound to happen. So here’s the secret; make sure you are absolutely passionate about your goal because if you’re not, you’ll give up before you reach success. In other words, follow your passion.

2. We procrastinate.

 Who doesn’t procrastinate, right? I’m guilty of it myself. But there are ways to get past that. One thing I tend to do (and recommend) is to schedule time for my future. I schedule about three hours a day to sit in front of my computer and “work”. Yes, I’m sorry, getting where you want to go does take work, or effort, or energy. Whatever you want to call it, if you want to create the life of your dreams, you’re going to have to spend time working on it.

Now, this is where what I discussed before come in… your passion. If you are passionate about what you’re doing and the goal your after, it won’t be work. You could be saying, I don’t have three hours a day to work on it. That’s fine. Find an amount time that works for you. It may require you to get up an hour earlier or spend some of your day off focusing on your desired future but hey, do you want to live your dream life or would you rather procrastinate? So the lesson here is don’t procrastinate.

3. We don’t believe we can do it.

 Our biggest enemy is in our own head. We constantly exercise our limiting beliefs. That’s our brain telling us “you can’t do it.” My mother used to tell me, “Can’t never did anything.” She was, and continues to be, correct.

We also lack self-confidence. At times we don’t feel we have the courage, determination and skills to accomplish our goals. Here’s what I say to that… If you don’t have the skills, what’s stopping your from learning that new skill? Being a lifelong learner is key to success in today’s ever-changing world.

I’m pretty sure you have a phone. And that means you have access to all of the world’s knowledge right there in the palm of your hand. Use it. Be curious and search for what you need. I’ll bet you find it. That will give you confidence. And confidence gives you courage and courage leads to determination. So please, stop doubting yourself. You can do it.

4. We think we don’t have the resources.

When we think of resources (or lack thereof), we typically think we don’t have enough money, we don’t know the right people or we don’t have the time. I’m here to tell you all of those are simply problems to be solved.

Over the years I have developed a series of statements that I use to guide me in times of crisis. I call them Rudyisms and I have one that relates to resources. It is as follows, “Where my budget ends, my creativity begins.” As that relates to money, ask yourself, how can I adjust my strategy so it doesn’t cost so much? As for connections, reach out to people you don’t know. Now, I know that requires some self-confidence but we already discussed that. Just do it. Introduce yourself in person or virtually via email, linkedin, facebook or wherever that person resides. If you’re passionate about what you’re doing (as we discussed), you’ll probably make some headway. What’s the worse thing that can happen? You’ll get a no. And if that happens, just keep on looking. As for time, stop procrastinating and you’ll find the time.

5. We are scared of success.

As crazy as that sounds people actually fear success. Success means something will change. And people fear change. I know, crazy right? But true. Here’s the thing… what people fear most is actually something we can control. People fear uncertainty. We’re uncertain of what happens if… (fill in the blank). So what’s the solution? The solution lies in the opposite of uncertainty – which is certainty. Duh. So do what you can to make things more certain. How do we do that? We educate ourselves, we hypothesize, we plan, we prepare. By doing those things, you will have already thought out the possible results and will know and be certain of what is to come so you are not scared of your own success.

There are plenty more mistakes to discuss but for now, let’s stick with that. Thank you for choosing to spend your time and attention with me. I hope my sharing this little secret with you makes your day a little brighter and helps you move toward the life of your dreams.