5 Myths About Pursuing Big Dreams

We all have that one thing we’ve always wanted to do. That thing that we all know is right for us, but we just haven't mustered the courage to pursue it. As years go by, that desire to pursue our dream becomes stronger. The uneasiness within us grows, and no matter how successful we are, there is always something missing.

We often put off pursuing those dreams because we are unsure about the cost of pursuing them. Be it time, money, career, or any other resource, since we don’t have a way of quantifying it, we often don’t make the tough decisions because of the lack of clarity. But over time, we see the cost of not pursuing it.

When we are finally ready to go after that big dream, we start talking to our family and friends about it. Most of them don’t understand the desire to do something audacious. Don’t get us wrong, they are all well-meaning and they truly care about us, but they inadvertently hold us back from what we want deep within.

If we are lucky, we have a supportive group of friends and family to help us along the way. But then maybe we have certain misconceptions about following our heart and what it means to give up our career to go do something completely different. But many of these thoughts and doubts we have, are nothing but myths. We stand in our way of success subconsciously.

If you’ve been on the fence about a big decision, we recommend you consider reading this article in its entirety. This article will cover the 5 biggest myths about pursuing big dreams.

This is not the right time

We often talk about our big dreams as something we will do someday. Someday is vague and honestly, it rarely comes. The only day we have is today. Today is the only day we have. Even if it is a small step, take it. Inching towards progress is better than no progress at all.

When we hear this myth from our loved ones, it's often not the right time because of our finances, relationships, or a million other reasons why we should not take a “drastic” step right now. While all of these are valid concerns, with proper planning, each of them can be worked out. It just means that we need to plan better. And that is an even bigger reason to start today. Because pursuing your big dream is going to require time and planning.

That is the very nature of big dreams, they take time. And if something is going to take time, then isn't now the right time to start pursuing it? We recommend reading 9 lessons we can learn from time.

Chances of success are low

When we hear about this myth from our family and friends, it is often put across as a fact, percentage, or a number from some study done years ago. Or we are led down that conversation path rather cautiously. It’s not that they don’t believe in us, it's just that there are so many external factors involved that the chance of our success is low.
But the thing is, our chance of success is 0% if we never try at all. So, if anything, the odds are in our favor, if we begin working towards our dreams today.

If the fear of failure is something you are struggling with internally, accepting that it is a possibility helps. Take the time to define what failure looks like. Write down all the possible ways to fail. Then for each possibility, start writing down action steps you can take today to reduce that possibility. Use your fear of failure to build more robust plans that lead you to success. Don’t let it bog you down.
Despite it all, if we do fail, then vow to look at it as a learning experience instead. Our failures are often life lessons we are meant to learn anyway. If you are still afraid of failing, it's time you learn the truth about failure.

You can do it on your own

Let’s face it. We’ve all been there. We've wanted to do things on our own. But don’t live in the myth that you can do it all by yourself. Take help from the people who believe in you. Let them help you. If you lack support from immediate friends and family, seek out those who are pursuing big dreams as well and support each other. Spend time with people who believe in the path, it will propel you ahead faster with less self-doubt and negativity.

If certain people and situations are holding you back, it’s time to evaluate your plan. If you cannot get out of negativity, at least make the effort to spend some time around people who inspire you. It may just mean watching videos of people who made it or joining an online community. Give yourself the advantage of community support.

You are being ungrateful

In the early stages when we are trying to build momentum and get our big dreams going, we often hear odd questions like:

“Are you unhappy?”

“But you are so successful.”

“You have everything, so, why?”

A lot of these questions are stemming from the idea that you are not grateful for what you have. Pursuing big dreams often means making big changes. For instance, it may mean that you have to leave your cushy job, move to another country, or change your career. In a way, your big dream requires you to change a big part of your personality and doing something completely different.

Such big decisions do not mean that you are not grateful for your life right now. It is possible to deeply value the life you are living today and have the desire to change it in a big way at the same time. It just means that you are ready for the beginning of a new era.

Failure will be catastrophic

Another myth we often nurse about pursuing big dreams is that our failure will be big and something we will not recover from. But that is not true. When we are trying to go after our dream, our imagination of failure is equally big. It is just a mirage. We will not know what failure looks like until we go after our dreams. Often, pursuing such dreams teach us lessons that stay with our lives, helps us discover a side of us we never knew existed, makes us confident and believe in ourselves, forces us to take us out of our comfort zone, pushes us to learn new skills and introduces us to so many new people. It changes us in ways we can never imagine unless we go down that path. Does that count as failure?

Just like success, the definition of failure is up to you. In theory, tech giant company Slack failed. Initially, when the company started, they were building a multi-player game. They failed miserably at it. However, that led them to create a billion-dollar tech start-up, Slack, which is one of the most popular messaging systems today. So, did they fail? Technically yes. But was it catastrophic? Hello no. It was magnificent.

In truth, there will always be a million reasons to not go after your big dreams. Our brain is wired to reject all change and maintain the status quo. So, resistance from within and from outside is always going to deter you. But don’t let that stop you from doing something you know deep within, is right for you.

If you still need a little push, here is an unconventional video to get you going. Caution: Video may act like caffeine and inspire you to take action right now. Side effects: It may cause unexpected laughter. But like we've mentioned before, you need to take laughing seriously.

We hope that we’ve busted at least 5 myths about pursuing big dreams today. Now, over to you. What myths have you busted on your journey of pursuing big dreams? Let us know in the comments. As always, we love hearing from you.