The last 2 years have given us all plenty of time to think about our prospects. Just what the hell are we doing with our lives? Why are we even on this planet? Do I actually like my job? What have I achieved in life?
You weren’t alone having those thoughts. 2021 was the year of the great resignation with people discovering that commuting, working in offices and analysing spreadsheets making money for big corporations probably wasn’t the best use of precious time on earth.
A lightbulb has gone off for many people wondering if there isn’t a better life out there. A more fulfilling existence. There is however one thing stopping us…fear.
It’s easy to let fear win and to settle for what we have. You simply press “next episode”, scroll a little longer or tell yourself you’ll start on Monday. Fear makes us subconsciously park our dreams.
What Are You Scared Of?
I’m not just talking about starting a business when it comes to fear either. It could be anything. Deciding to have a baby. Going back to school. Giving up alcohol. Singing in public. Buying a house. Quitting the job you hate. Traveling the world. We all have dreams but most of us are scared shitless of trying to make them happen.
Doing the big things we have spent our lives dreaming about is…scary.
I’m Scared
I’ve no problem admitting that I am scared about the journey I’ve started. Saving 10,000 dogs per month won’t be easy. Some of the things I have to contend with include…
I live in a country where I know nothing about business
I can’t speak Thai
I don’t have a network here to lean on like I did before
I have to start a charity from scratch
I’ll be be responsible for 100s of dogs soon
Figuring out how to fund this
I’m squeamish when it comes to injured dogs
Finding land to rent / buy
Constructing buildings
Hiring and managing staff including a vet
Learning about medical treatments
To put it bluntly I don’t have a clue how to do what I’m about to take on. One thing is feeding these 5 guys at the side of the road today but another is trying to save 10,000 of them. Terrifying.
5 Simple Steps To Overcoming Fear
I’ve used the following 5 steps to get this project going. They will work for you too. You don’t have to do these all in 1 day or even a month. This whole concept took me over a year to think about, probably even a whole lifetime if I am being honest.
1. Be Honest With Yourself
We are all very good at putting things off and not being fully transparent with ourselves as to what we are dreaming of. We will daydream but quickly push the thoughts away as being “ridiculous” and go back to drifting through life in our comfort zone on autopilot.
This may sound easy but get a sheet of paper and write down what your dream is. Seeing it there in black and white and being honest with yourself is a key first step. Try it today and you’ll see it is a lot harder than you think to even admit it to yourself.
2. Tell Someone
An incredibly hard step. Telling someone is opening yourself up to failure and becoming possibly vulnerable. As humans that isn’t something we do easily. My version of telling someone was starting this newsletter and sharing updates on social media about my goals. You don’t need to be that extreme. A partner, friend or family member will do just fine. You’ll be amazed at how supportive people are around your dreams and by telling someone it makes it suddenly more real.
3. Take Action
Start very small. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. In my case that was just buying some food and finding my first 10 dogs to feed.
4. Visualise
What does the dream actually look like? Find a quiet place and imagine it. Really immerse yourself and picture what your dream looks like in 1-5-10 years time. I do it at the top of the mountain overlooking this jungle where I feed a small family of puppies. I look down for 5 minutes each morning and imagine a facility with 100s of dogs, vets coming and going, trucks loading up with food, smiling faces and dogs wagging their tails. I can see exactly what it looks and sounds like already and although the steps to get there are huge I know they are worth taking.
5. Define The Worst Case Scenario
Most of us have an inbuilt mechanism that stops us from taking risks because of fear. What will others think when I fail? Will people be laughing at me? It’s easier to just not take risks and not open ourselves up.
I defined my worst case scenario…This whole project doesn’t work, it falls flat on it’s ass and I look stupid for saying I could save 10,000 dogs a month and end up not even getting to 100. My worst case? I go back to feeding and helping 10 dogs per day and driving around in the sun. Really not that bad is it?
Please don’t let fear stop you.
Be honest with yourself and define your dream, tell somebody else, take small actions, visualise the future vividly and realise that the worst case probably isn’t that bad even if you do fail.
Good luck.
N
P.s
This is my little gang up at the top of the jungle who are there when I visualise. They aren’t into it themselves as they prefer eating and sleeping.
I named this guy “Happy” this week for very obvious reasons. You can see him here.