5 Fears that Prevent Dreams (And How to Overcome Them)

No matter which dreams you may have there will be a point when accomplishing it may look impossible. Dreams can seem too big or too far away. After all that’s what makes them a dream. The work to accomplish them can appear overwhelming. It is part of the challenge. It’s what makes the dream alluring. So what do you do when your dreams are surrounded by fears? How can you overcome them and make to the dim light at the end of the tunnel? By recognizing your fears:

1.      Others are right when they say you will fail

Know that there will always be naysayers. People already living the dream and people who don’t know anything about it. You can take their words as truth or you can use it to fuel your determination. Wondering if you can do it or if you’ll fall flat on your face is irrelevant. No one, including you, will know what you can do until you give it a try.

 

2.      You don’t know what you’re doing

This happens and there’s a simple way to fix it. Learn more. Fears can come from being afraid you aren’t good enough, but often there is something you can do about it. Learn all you can and then keep learning. You may not know all you need to know now, but if you make it a habit to increase your learning you will always be improving and one day you will look back and realize how much you have grown.

 

3.      You’re not ready

There is a point to which this can be very true. It’s important to make sure you are as ready as you can be before leaping out into space. But sometimes what happens is that you are ready, you just don’t want to jump. Ask yourself this: How badly do I want this dream? A dream is not worth realizing if it is easy. You have to fight and fall and bleed, but when you get it you will cherish it because it cost all that pain.

 

4.      It’s not perfect

Aim for perfection but don’t die over it or let its lack in your eyes keep you from taking action. Often we can create a goal in our minds that is beyond, not only our abilities but even the abilities of those we think we’re trying to be like. I would paralyze myself by imagining what I would think of my books in twenty years. O how young and naïve I would seem to me then. But you can’t hold yourself responsible for knowing stuff you simply don’t know yet. You can’t hold up what you believe is perfect and say, “Until this dream is like that I won’t try it.”  Make it as good as you know how and when you no longer have errors you know how to fix then give it a shot.

 

5.      What if no one likes it

There are over 7 billion people in the world. Believe it or not your tastes and interests are not unique to only you. Odds are there is at least one person out there, if not thousands or millions, who shares a similar interest in the same things and will find your product a breath of fresh air. Find out why you like what you do and market it to yourself.

There are many reasons that fear will use to keep you from following your heart. Learn to live with them, but don’t let them control you, because the fact is fears and doubts are always there. Will you let the control you and keep you locked up or will you keep them behind you as you race for the goal?

This was originally posted on Write Over the Edge, a blog for writers. Check them out.

Writing a Book with Soul

I am a firm believer that you can't write about something you don't already have in you. A writer writes and creates out of the abundance in the well of his or her own soul. What is inside will be displayed on the page. If you have a deep soul, you will have a deep book. If you have a wide variety of experiences then your work will reflect that.

In other words, a book is a direct product of who the writer is. When I write I have to dip into my soul and spread it on the paper. Sometimes I do this knowingly, but most of the time this happens without me realizing it. I am just writing about life and characters in the way that seems most real to me. But I have to use what is inside me to create otherwise the story will sound flat, the characters will be one dimensional and the book will lack the one thing it needs: a connection to reality and truth.

So what do you do if you want to write a deep book, a book with soul?

Cultivate you. Cultivate your character. This is an art that our culture has lost, yet even so we all have character. Sometimes if we look at ourselves objectively we realize that our character is not what we would like. We may think we're the good guy, the main character, the hero, but we act and think like the villain.

Often as writers we can be so concerned about our writing skill and developing technique that we forget writing is the product of a person. Skill does have something to do with it and technique is important, but the person writing the story is more important. Take the time to develop yourself as well.

Discover who are you. When was the last time you stretched yourself and tried something you knew you would hate or find boring? All of life is open to the writer's scope. How can you write effectively about boredom or pain unless you have lived them? Do hard things. Learn new skills. Be really bad at something and then watch how you grow. Touch a leaf with your eyes closed. Try to describe the taste of milk. Climb to the top of a building using the stairs and see where you burn. Face your fears. Live.

Half Way to April 16th

It's about two weeks until April 16th and when the results of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award's third round are revealed. When quarterfinalists become semifinalists and begin the mad race to first prize.

There doesn't seem to be a day that goes by without me feeling something. Especially the polar ends of my feelings about this contest. Today is a day when all my fears have gathered around me and insisted upon playing a staring match. The kind where you can't blink and your eyes dry out and twitch. The kind I was never very good at. Staring without looking away was better for me, but I never could figure out the mechanics of how to keep my eyelids from falling.

Where the ABNA is concerned it is easier for me to prepare myself for not making it through than it is for me to hope my name will be among the few. Not that I am giving up. I'm ready for a good staring contest, because giving in to my fears has never benefitted me. I still have days when hope rises and fills my heart with dreams. It's just hard to hope freely when I don't know if it will be crushed later. I don't want to set myself up for greater disappointment. Even though it would seem wonderful to let dreams run loose and indulge my fantasies, controlling them now keeps me from despair later.

Do you have any dream that you are afraid won't happen? What did you do if it did? Or didn't?