What I’VE LEARNED FRom risking it all to chase my dreams

Over the last couple of years, I have learned a lot from risking it all to chase after my dreams. It wasn’t easy, that is for sure, but along the way I realized how much I had to give up to chase my dreams. There’s this notion that staying in a 9 – 5 jobs saves you from all the problems that come with chasing your dreams. Well, it depends on a lot of factors. The truth is nothing is certain, when you go after your dreams, it takes a lot out of you. More than it would if you were in a 9 – 5 job. Here’s the thing, you aren’t sure that you will make it in the end. You aren’t sure you will keep your job. 

I don’t have a story about doing a corporate job and losing it or quitting. Most millennials are told they need to go to university and get a job. Then once they do, everything will be settled. I went to a great university and graduated at the top of my dream. I got three internships and I was ready to take on the world, but I didn’t get a job. All I heard was crickets, but I am not the only millennial who has gone through this.

You might be wondering if I am not risking a stable job then what is the point of this article. Risk can come in so many different shapes and forms. It all depends on the way you look at it.

I have realized that most times you have to do things that seem like they won’t work out so you can be certain they will. You can’t be successful if you don’t try. Even if the odds are up against you then you have to keep trying in order to make sure that you go after what you want. I have learned a lot of things from risking it all. You can use my examples as a way to understand what you will learn from risking it as well.

Risking the chance of being employed

I once listened to a podcast by Pete Voogd, in it, he said that they are two types of people; those that build other people’s dreams and those who build their own. He said often people work so hard to build someone else’s dream and that hit home. I realized I was doing that, not everyone can do the 9 to 5 thing. I certainly couldn’t, sure I was an intern, but it wasn’t even a really bad internship. I wasn’t sent on errands, it was more like a proper job with less pay.

I have never been so bored in my life. There were days when I would stare at the computer screen wondering why I was doing it. My family thought I was crazy, jobs are meant to be boring and that’s what growing up is all about. That might be a valid point, but the journey for me has been filled with so many roadblocks that I just couldn’t deal with doing a 9 to 5.

It was a stable career path. I always got paid every two weeks and I could do what I wanted with my money. Being an entrepreneur is unstable, for one thing, I can’t be certain I will have money this month or the next. At least this is how it is in the beginning.

However, I feel so alive doing this even though I know that it requires me to do a lot of work. Working on entrepreneurship means spending less time working on looking for a job. I learned this from risking it all. You can’t avoid it so you have to decide what you want. To be employed or unemployed for some time. It also depends on your circumstance, for some people they already have a job when they are working on their business. Remember, not to compare yourself going forward. 

Also Related: Why You Should Break Out Of Your Comfort Zone?

Risk of failing

This would be the third blog I have done, but it gave me an opportunity to understand how to set up a website. I know more about websites than I did two years ago. I wasn’t techno-savvy and yet, because I had to learn I became one. I learned about Photoshop, how to do graphics and the list goes on. I am not bragging, but the little I knew about computers was basic.

Grade level kind of basic and with time I no longer say I am not techno-savvy. Not because I am a genius because I am not. I have failed so many times that it’s strange I didn’t quit. Here’s the thing that I have learned, we all fail. It is a lot easier to swallow when our friends know about it and that’s it. When people outside of our circle know it stings. I published a book and it flopped so hard. I was miserable about it for a while, hesitant to do it again because I failed.

I realized with time my strategy sucked and that is why I failed. It still hurt, I posted it on Facebook. Thinking I would at least get a couple of dollars, it didn’t even earn a hundred. I want to be honest with you because most bloggers don’t share their pains just their gains. 

It occurred to me that I did fail, but that is the only way I could learn how to do it better next time. In the beginning, it will be a lot harder to gain momentum, but with the time that is what will happen. What I learned from risking it all is that failing is one thing that you cannot avoid. 

Also Related: Five Ways To Make Peace With Failure

Donating personal time 

When you chase after your dreams it means you donate your time. That is what happens because you are focusing on pushing yourself so that you get to where you want to go. It sounds crazy, right. In the beginning, you might not have enough time, to begin with, and that is where it gets even weirder. Doing all this means I have had to go to bed early. 

Often, I joke about how it has aged me because my bedtime went from 12 am down to 9 pm and then now it sits at 7 pm. A lot of people either think that I really love sleeping or I am delusional. I have had to learn to wake myself up really early because if I want to get all my things done then I have to work like a crazy person. I have three side gigs I am doing besides this blog so I never run out of cash flow. Sure, it is hard, but whoever said that this was easy clearly was lying.

I have realized that if I want to be successful, I need to work hard now so I can get to where I want to go. It may seem like I have always had self-discipline, but I will be honest with you that wasn’t the case. I was lazy. I was the type of person who watched television all day and never got bored. I would sleep at 5 am during the holidays just watching television. Nothing else seemed to matter. 

Now I dedicate my time to working on my dreams so that in the next couple of months or years I have achieved my goal. If I can do this then you can. You just have to believe you can. Sounds corny I know, but the word has been changed simply by having faith that you can make it. I learned from risking it all that sometimes giving up your personal time is something you need to do if you want to be successful. 

Being misunderstood

As a kid, the one thing that I hated was being misunderstood, but I welcome it now. Not because I am a crazy person, but I have realized that people will always have an opinion on you and it sucks. It sucks when your family thinks that you are a workaholic or your friends see you as someone who is chasing a dream that will never be fulfilled. 

A lot of people won’t support your dream, they have their own reasons and it is valid to them. You will lose friends along the way because they will misunderstand you. That is something you can’t avoid. I have learned that the hard way, but it is your decision what you do next. Even your parents might not support you the way you want them to.

What I have learned is everyone is doing the best they can and sometimes they are wrapped up in their problems. So, they can’t support you the way you want them to. Does that mean they are terrible people, no? But when you are dealing with your own problems, you can’t be someone’s support system. 

When you go down a different route then most people will misunderstand you. The hard realization is that you need to learn to be okay with it. Being okay with it makes you stronger.

As Kelly Clarkson said once upon a song, “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Whatever happens in your life it will make you stronger, but in the end, we all risk things every day. The stakes are a lot higher for people who go after their dreams. There’s fear, failure seems imminent and you aren’t sure what tomorrow will look like. Does that mean you should give up? The thing is you can’t avoid risk, it will always be there, but it is far better to risk it all going after your dreams. You cannot avoid being misunderstood. Your family will think you are being childish, but you need to ask yourself what is important. I learned this from risking it all. Sometimes you have to deal with the heart ache for a little while to achieve what you want in the long haul. 

What risks are you willing to take to chase after your dreams? Loved to know. Comment below.

                                                                                     Keep Pushing

                                                          Vanessa