The Dream Killers are Coming
Their limits are not your legacy
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"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking."
-Steve Jobs
I talk a lot about dreams in this space. I believe you have a dream inside you. Deep down, you know you were made for more than what you are currently doing.
Yet when you start to pursue your dream, people emerge from every corner of your life. The dream killers – persistent, relentless, and wrapped in caring concern. They'll find you at family dinners, in casual conversations with colleagues, and in the hallway at work.
"Come on, dude, be realistic."
”How will you pay your bills?”
"Maybe you should wait until..."
These well-meaning advisors appear like clockwork when you dare to speak your dreams out loud, armed with cautionary tales about failure. “I had a friend who tried building her own business. She lasted 6 months before going back to selling real estate.”
But here's what they will never tell you: every dream worth pursuing comes with risk.
Consider Joy Mangano, a divorced mother of three juggling multiple jobs to keep her family afloat. When she envisioned transforming the mop she used to clean her floors into something revolutionary, the dream killers came for her. Her father suggested she find something stable instead of wasting her time on inventions. Friends asked how she would pay her bills as a single mom. Yet something within Joy refused to dim her vision of what could be. She built a multi-million dollar business around the self-wringing Miracle Mop. In 2015, Jennifer Lawrence won a Golden Globe for portraying her in the movie “Joy.”1
The dream killers didn’t win.
What drives dream killers? Beneath their rational arguments and practical concerns lies a more profound truth: Your courage to step beyond what is safe holds up a mirror to the things they haven’t done, the changes they haven’t made, and the lives they haven’t lived.
When they say, "It's too risky," they're really saying, "I'm too scared." When they tell you to "be realistic," they have resigned to a life of comfort and compromise. Their resistance isn't really about your dream — it's about their relationship with their untapped potential and carefully constructed world of safe choices and predictable outcomes.
Here are some strategies to fight the dream killers in your life:
Upgrade Your People2 - Find 3 people who have achieved their dreams or consistently demonstrate unwavering belief in others' potential. You can often meet like-minded people in online masterminds like I did. These aren't just cheerleaders; they're your personal board of directors who can offer encouragement and strategic guidance when the voices of doubt grow loud in your head.
Practice Dream Journaling. Each week, document your dreams along with concrete evidence of progress. Include small wins, lessons learned, and unexpected breakthroughs. Will you have failures and mistakes? Of course. Write those down, too. This will become your personal evidence bank to draw strength during challenging moments.
Implement the 24-Hour Growth Challenge. Each day, take one action that moves you closer to your dream, no matter how small. Perhaps it's a 10-minute research session, a social media post to start building your audience, working on your pitch, or reaching out to one potential client. Small, consistent actions build an unstoppable momentum that drowns out opposing voices.
Remember, the dream killers don't just show up for small dreams. Their presence is often the first sign that you're onto something life-changing. Don’t let your life fit in a box to keep other people comfortable.
Today is your day to start finding your dream by taking one courageous step at a time. Let’s go!
Tarek, when I saw the movie "Joy," it did something within me. I was pursuing my own dreams "against all odds," and that movie helped spur me forward. I once told a friend...a very wise and elderly woman, I'm going to submit an article to this magazine." She said, "Don't be disappointed if you get a rejection letter." I knew she was just trying to help me face possible disappointment but I submitted it anyway and it did get published (and I got paid!). That incident taught me not to listen to naysayers. Today I am learning new skills in order to fulfill a dream. I'm working against energy issues...so I may only work towards my dream for one hour in a day. But every day is forward progress. There's over 8000 hours in a year. Think about that!
Great insight, when reading this I also thought about how at times I have been the dream killer. I was the one saying it’s too risky and indeed I was too scared.