Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.

A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” – Steven Pressfield, Do the Work

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

(Author: Matt Cheuvront)

Yikes.  Isn’t this supposed to inspire me, not stress me out and depress me because I realize I have no goals or lofty, unrealistic dreams?!  Maybe I am just too realistic.  I don’t dream of going back to school, because I don’t want to spend the money unless I am guaranteed to get that money back in salary increase when finished with school.  Plus, I don’t have time for that!  I have dreams of things I’d like to know, but not put forth the effort to learn, like Spanish.  Ok, here’s one, which doesn’t really fit the question and isn’t something really unrealistic, but here goes.  I’d like to be more professional and I’d like to be confident enough in my professionalism to not feel like I am faking it or just playing dress up.  I’d like to tone down the cursing and start dressing more nicely for work.  Dress for the position you want, right?  I know this is such a cop out to a question above that should have an amazing answer like hike the Appalician Trail or explore the Grand Canyon, but it’s something I would like to pursue that I’ve been avoiding. 

Obstacles in my way:  Only myself.  And the dress code at my office, which is unwritten and uber casual.

Tangible plan: Try to only wear jeans once a week, on Fridays.  Take yourself more seriously and others will too.  Cut out the cursing, completely.

Ugh, these questions are really hard!