7 Steps to Overcome Challenges Facing Your Dreams
Discover the secrets to overcoming challenges as you pursue your hopes and dreams.
Dreams are like precious gems and should always be protected.
Never stop believing in your dreams.
Pursuing your dream motivates you to stay up late at night or wake up early in the morning.
It causes you to travel the world to see sites you have never seen.
It is the driving force to conquer your fears of the unknown.
You must believe in your dream.
Keep it ever in front of you.
If you lose sight of your dream, a big part of your life also will be lost.
Chasing your dream requires a belief in yourself.
It needs you to be the type of person who is comfortable blazing his or her own trail in life.
Dream chasers that succeed are seen as brilliant visionaries.
Those that fail are regarded as fools that need to get their heads out of the clouds.
Overcoming challenges as you chase your dreams
As a born dreamer, I began chasing my dreams when I was 12 years old.
Getting my dream motorcycle at age 13 only fueled my dreaming mind to think bigger.
I chased my ultimate dream until I achieved it in my early thirties by retiring to live on the interest of my principal investment.
I was a millionaire, and my life was everything I’d hoped it would be.
That was until I invested in my close friend’s business venture.
I lost everything when his investment turned out to be an illegal Ponzi scheme.
Not only was I devastated by the betrayal of my close friend, but as a victim of this scam, I also lost all of my possessions, land, my marriage, and the dream for my life.
Overcoming challenges with this loss took some time for me.
The thing that hurt me most was losing the ability to dream about my future.
My mess became my message.
However, over time, I could begin dreaming again.
Anyone pursuing their dreams will face challenges along the way.
Here are some of the most common challenges a dream chaser MUST overcome:
- It’s taking too long—When you are actively chasing your dream and thinking about it regularly, it’s like the watched pot that never boils. You know in your heart that the long-awaited goal is coming, but it usually takes much longer than you expect.
- Failure is necessary—Failing is part of pursuing your dream. But it can stunt your excitement for a bit. When you lose your excitement, your forward movement slows down.
- It’s difficult—It’s impossible to expect all the difficulties involved in achieving your dream. These setbacks can make you question your ability to succeed.
- You’re on an island—You feel like you are on an island of your own or a pioneer discovering a new land. There is no roadmap to follow the trail you are making. So it’s easy to question your direction.
- Change is required—In order to successfully achieve your dream, you will need to be open to change. Your course or direction will be modified and new ideas will require implementation to make that dream come true.
- You must focus—You must continue to focus on your dream and pursue it with passion because there are many others that don’t share it. They don’t believe you will succeed. Sometimes, in their efforts to help you, they will steer you off your path to success.
- WHY are you doing this?—It is easy to forget why you’re doing something when difficulties arise.
Pursuing your dream and successfully achieving it will require commitment, persistence, and genuine belief in yourself.
You will sometimes feel you are going crazy, and those around you might agree with you.
But the trick is to NEVER give up.
Steps to overcoming challenges while pursuing your dreams
Here are the seven steps to overcoming challenges while pursuing your dreams:
1. Build your vision board
Keep a vision board loaded with pictures representing your dreams.
Look at your board every day to remind you why you are pursuing them.
2. Visualize every detail
Take time daily to visualize the dream coming true.
See every detail and feel what it will be like when you achieve it.
It’s easier for you to believe it will happen when you’ve seen it in your mind already.
This was true of Andre Agassi when he won his first grand slam at Wimbledon.
Reporters asked how he felt to win and he said he’d already won a hundred times in his mind.
He had fully visualized the event many times before it became his reality.
3. Use a support system
Surround yourself with a support system of friends and family that believe in you and spend time with them regularly.
One of the most important elements to accomplishing your dream is having someone or a team that believes in, supports, and encourages you when it’s needed.
4. Mentally prepare yourself
Setbacks will happen, so it’s important to prepare yourself mentally for the reality and plan for your reaction.
This will prevent the setbacks from hindering your excitement for your dream.
5. Make change your friend
Always be willing to look at new and innovative ways to accomplish things.
Embrace the idea of change because it is the one thing that’s constant when pursuing a dream.
6. Remember your ‘why’
Tap into your emotional connection to remember WHY you are chasing your dream and keep that with you always.
7. NEVER GIVE UP!
You will be the only person who really sees the big purpose of it all.
That is why you must NEVER GIVE UP.
What dream, goal, vision, or purpose is worth believing in so much that you can see it achieved before it has happened?
You can make your dream a reality.
No one can take away what lies inside of you.
I believe in you.
Believe in who you are and in your dreams.
Then watch them come true.
Emmanuel Ejim
January 18, 2023 at 5:12 AM
Nice writeup
Danielle Dahl, Managing Editor
January 18, 2023 at 11:42 AM
Thank you!