Last Updated on October 11, 2021 by Shane Corbitt
Most people have at least one big dream. However, the most significant percentage of them will keep theirs a dream—a pie in the sky idea—by never even trying to make it happen. We may even ask ourselves what’s holding us back from even attempting to live the dream. If you want to take the risk, but have still been sitting on the fence, don’t beat yourself up. But do understand these five reasons why so many of us chose to play it safe rather than do something extraordinary. Awareness of how they affect you is the first step to overcoming them.
1. We Don’t Make It Clear
We all have spells of daydreaming every once and a while, but how often do we turn those daydreams into reachable goals? One of the big reasons why we don’t have big enough dreams is that we let them slip away. We didn’t define them and set them as clear priorities—instead, we just look at them as “must be nice” and move on.
2. We’re Underestimating Our Abilities
If it sounds like you could never lose weight, you’re underrating yourself. If it seems like you’ll never be able to run a company, you’re undervaluing yourself. These things have been done by people just like you, so why can’t you do them? The answer is you can! The belief that we aren’t good enough is one of the biggest reasons why people don’t take the chance to make their dreams come true.
3. We Don’t Have the Skills
A dream may sound scary if you don’t have the skills necessary to do it, but why would you stop at that? You can learn anything you wish to, and you can get started today. Most big dreams don’t rely on formal education or years of study. But we often hold ourselves back because we don’t believe we have what it takes to learn the skills necessary to make our dreams a reality.
4. We’re Afraid
We’re afraid of so many things. Failure, success, what others will think. Everyone who has ever gone after their big dream has been scared of something. There’s a part of our brain that’s job is to keep us safe, which means staying where we are. When we think about reaching for a big goal, it brings up all types of thoughts to make us stay safe and small, so we don’t get hurt. Understanding that everyone is afraid and that our brain is part of the reason we are can go a long way to getting up the courage to try anyway.
