Running Down a Dream
Stop apologizing and embrace your strengths
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“Ain't no point getting outta bed if you ain't living the dream.
It's like making a big old pot of coffee when you ain't got no cream.”1“Living the Dream” -Sturgill Simpson
You pass someone in the hall and ask, “Hey, how’s it going?” They barely look up from their phones long enough to give one of the following responses:
“Good.”
“Fine.”
“Can’t complain!”
or my favorite,
“You know, livin’ the dream!”
Sometimes, I’ll ask, “Whose dream are you living?” I usually get back: “I don’t know, but it’s sure not mine!”
I’ll admit I never had a dream until a few years ago. I didn’t have time for dreams because I was too busy trying to fit into someone else’s definition of success instead of figuring out my own.
I wanted someone else’s rulebook, so I assimilated and tried to follow society’s plans to the letter. Pursuing that path left me empty for many years. The things that brought me energy didn’t fit in that rulebook. I knew I was made for more, but I was stuck in a cycle of chasing a path “they” had laid out for me.
I have been working at the same job for the last five years. The responsibilities haven’t changed much, and I care very much about adding value to my team and our stakeholders.
But something else changed. Namely me.
I started embracing my strengths and not apologizing for them. I started pursuing life-transforming personal growth. Do I wish I had awakened to this truth earlier? Yes. However, it wouldn’t have meant as much had I not gone through the struggle to get there.
I’ve become better at being myself. That feels great.
The same is possible for you! There is a dream inside of you that is wanting to get out. Instead of being enraptured with what everyone else is doing (news, social media, comparison), I have 3 simple ideas for you to awaken your dream:
Read. I like to read physical books that I can mark up. I read fiction, personal growth, and leadership books. Be mentored by people you will never meet. Trade out watching “Landman” or “Virgin River” to expand your mind through reading.
Be present. Your life is happening now. The world is increasingly isolated. People are so used to being drugged by their phones that they don’t notice the people around them. You may be one conversation away from talking to someone who can change your life.
Add value to others. This one is so simple. When you lighten someone else’s load in ways big or small, you are changed the most. Make the world better so much as it depends on you. It matters.
Finding your dream is worth your time. You don’t have to live like I did chasing someone else’s dream. There’s not enough money or comfort to sacrifice your dream for. You may not believe it yet, but you were made to do something great. You were created on purpose and for a purpose. Get on the path to finding it with small steps every day.
The next time someone asks you, ‘How’s it going?’ pause for a few seconds. Look them in the face and tell them you’re pursuing your dream — one step at a time. As long as you’re moving forward, you are a success!
Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful week, and let me know how I can serve you.
Sturgill played the best show I saw in 2024. He played for three hours straight and played 31 songs, interrupted only by the threat of a fine for violating curfew. Everyone I talked to wishes he had kept on going.
I am taking the whole month of January to figure out what dreams and goals I work toward on 2025. How I’m going to spend my time. I’ve finally given up the dream the Celtics will finally draft me, so looking at other opportunities. I am going to do something different, taking Bob Goffs advice in his new book. I’m going to develop and write them down as if it were December 31, 2025, I’d already accomplished them and what I did to get there. That seems a clever way to trick myself that I’ve never tried.
Well said Tarek. I think as a society we’ve lost a lot this last decade as we are online a lot more and out and about less. We see the interaction with the cashier in the checkout line as unnecessary. Maybe partly because we don’t really think we can make a difference. But largely I think we’re learning to interact with these new tools that are so powerful. Your blog is obviously a great online tool for interacting.
So many times, those “unimportant” brief interactions with strangers are life changing for one or both of us. They also hold societies together. We’ve lost some of that.
Keep up the good work.