Why You Shouldn’t Always Follow Your Dreams: A Crucial Detail That Could Be Life-Saving
It is often said that the path to happiness is to do what you dream of. So, could thinking that the path to happiness is through your dreams be the source of your unhappiness?
It is important to say from the beginning that these may seem harsh, but this article was written not to discourage anyone, but in the hope of offering a different perspective. No matter how useful it is to daydream and take a break from reality and wander around in the dream world; We should not forget that every dream we cannot realize in life is a burden that pulls us down. That's exactly why listening to Ryan Holiday's advice can move us forward, at least in terms of more realistic and goal-oriented thinking. The story he tells on his YouTube channel underlines why we should not rush to realize our dreams and that dreams can sometimes be misleading:
“When I was 22 or 23, I received my first offer to write a book. Someone who read the blog post I wrote made me an offer to turn it into a book. After I told my mentor, friend and boss, Robert Greene, about this offer and told him about my dream of becoming a writer, he said to me: “You are not ready, reject the offer.” It was a big disappointment for me. I thought that this offer was the only and best opportunity I would ever come across. “The person I admired was telling me I shouldn't do this.”
Maybe someone who has adopted the phrase “just follow your dreams” as his motto in his life would have taken up this job without questioning himself in the first place. But greater things can emerge when your priorities and strengths don't get in the way of your dreams.
“I trusted him and rejected the offer. When I was ready, 3 years later, I wrote my first book on a completely different subject. A few years later, I wrote the book that I rejected the offer to turn into a book. That book has now sold over 300 thousand copies and has been translated into more than 20 languages. “If I had not listened to Robert, I would have tried to write this book before it was ready and probably would have thought I was inadequate and would not have succeeded.”
Lenard McKelvey (Charlamagne Tha God) received a similar reaction when he told his mentor about his music career, when he was a teenager with dreams of a music career and was also working as a radio host:
“You can't build anything on empty dreams. “A career in music is not suitable for you based on your abilities.”
You'd think that when McKelvey heard this, he'd remember his promise to never let anyone kill his dreams. But he heard what he needed to hear objectively. McKelvey abandoned her music career and focused solely on radio hosting, playing to her strengths. He is currently one of the most listened to radio hosts in the world.
What Can Be Done Instead of Chasing Dreams?
Sometimes we can encourage the people around us and ourselves to follow our dreams without thinking enough. Sometimes what needs to be done is to say “never mind your dreams”. In this way, you can create a more objective and development-oriented perspective.
This is not killing the potential within you. It's about diagnosing the disease and doing something about it while you still have time, before it's too late.
That's why we need people in our lives who tell us the truth without hesitation and to whom we can sometimes say “never mind your dreams”.
We should know ourselves, our potential and our limits, and be the person we can be; Not who we thought we would be. Focusing on our strengths instead of dreams will perhaps bring greater success and happiness.
“We are the sum of what we have achieved, not what we have dreamed of.”
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