DOUBT, FEAR OF FAILURE & THE STRESS OF FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS

Are you ready for the biggest pep talk of your life!?

Sooner or later everyone is faced with doubt. No matter how passionate and sure you are about something, you will find yourself questioning everything you do at one point in your life. This may occur when you’re working so hard on something for a very long time (even dedicating your life to it) but you are seeing no rewards or improvement. This can be an overwhelming and discouraging feeling but it’s important to get passed it and to continue hustling – here’s why and how:

• “I didn’t come this far only to come this far”

You need to recognise that this moment is not the end; it’s only a little bump in the road to success. Acknowledge your success so far, no matter how small or big you think it is, and be proud of yourself.

• Revisit your goals or set new ones.

Focus on the bigger picture. Sometimes it’s easy to get lost in the never ending to do lists, and you may forget why you are working so hard. Think about what is it you want to accomplish in the future – then decide whether what you are doing right now is bringing you closer to that vision.

• Look at all your accomplishments you’ve achieved so far.

As humans, we are programmed to consistently look to the future. We keep on preparing ourselves to what is around the corner, and rarely stop to think about our present moment. Pause. Stop and look at everything you have achieved so far. Celebrate your little successes. Whether it’s a good grade you recently got, making someone smile or somewhere new you got to go. This will give you motivation to keep pushing forward.

• Have faith – easier said than done I know.

Believe it will happen. Have your goals clearly imagined. They will soon manifest into your reality. I’m not going to write a whole essay about the Law of Attraction but definitely look into it. Here’s a video about the basics, and a whole documentary about it. If you’re not familiar with it, it may sound so weird and unrealistic at first but there’s scientific proof it is so…

• Comparison will kill you

Don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t look at what other people are doing. Focus on what you are doing and be your own inspiration. You have no idea what other people are going through so don’t wish you were them; take everything at your own pace.

• Other people don’t have it easier! (This one is especially for my artsy people out there)

Aspiring artists are always told how hard and impossible it is to make it as any type of artist – whether it’s a photographer, editor, illustrator or musician… we are forced to believe that for some reason it’s a silly route to go down. So at moments of doubt you start thinking about what it would be like to follow a “normal” career. But what is normal? Because being a good doctor, a lawyer or a teacher is also extremely hard. Just because a career is “respectable” or not doesn’t mean it’s easier to get to the top, especially if your heart is not in it. I remember talking to a friend (aspiring doctor) about this topic and I was complaining about how hard it will be to achieve what I want to achieve because of stigma, need for contacts and relentless dedication. And she simply said – if you want to succeed and be at the top, it doesn’t matter what career you chose, it will always be hard. You need contacts, dedication and trust in yourself no matter if you want to be an artist or a medic, a poet or an academic…

• Never stop educating/improving yourself.

If you find that you are not growing enough or moving forward at the pace you want to, take a moment to look at your work and how you can improve it. There are millions of books, Ted Talks and documentaries about every subject, use those resources. Take advantage of the fact that the whole world is at your fingertip – literally. I can’t stress how important this is. You are never finished learning. No matter how good you think you are, you can be better and I promise you, you still don’t know everything!