Since opening Old Town Yoga, I’ve had numerous conversations with people aspiring to fulfill a dream they have had for a long time. They see the success of the studio and have all kinds of questions. How did you know? What did you do? Was there a moment you were sure? How much is your rent? Did you create a business plan? The list goes on. I always answer these questions to the best of my ability, but after the 10th or so time of having this conversation, I realized that none of the answers will get anyone closer to achieving their goals.
There is only one thing that will give a person a decent shot at realizing their dreams and fulfilling their potential; their willingness to fully and completely COMMIT. Forget about having a backup plan, or managing your risk, or maintaining approval of others, or looking like an idiot. Transforming a dream into reality requires ALL of your attention. If that attention is diluted, your outcome will be diluted and you will find yourself believing that you simply lack some secret skill or technique. The only skill required is UNRELENTING dedication; a laser-like focus of where you are going with no other options in your field of vision.
In The Dark Knight Rises Batman movie, there’s a scene where Christian Bale is trying to escape prison over and over again by climbing up the walls of the pit. With each attempt he ties a rope around his waist as a backup plan. After failing time and time again, one of the older inmates explains that only one person has ever escaped, and did NOT use a rope. In other words, he was more committed to achieving what his heart desired than living without ever seeing his dream realized. With that understanding, Batman attempted escape once again, this time without the rope, and made it.
Now, I am not suggesting you risk your actual life to achieve your dreams. This is obviously an illustration, but it will FEEL like you are risking your actual life if you are doing it correctly. The level of uncertainty that you have to move through will be crushing at times. You will have an urge to put all your “ducks in a row” before you make any big decisions, but that is the opposite way that it works. Take the leap first, and the net will appear. Author Anais Nin said, “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” My hope is that your courage is so great that your life expands beyond your wildest dreams.
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
There are risks associated with EVERYTHING you do in life. The risks you regularly expose yourself to become your norm and don’t feel like risks anymore. They are still risks though. The risks that come with making a change or taking a leap of faith are uncharted and unknown, therefore scary AF. Be aware of this and that decision fatigue/decision avoidance is a REAL thing. Spending time agonizing over a decision, big or small, results in a deterioration of the quality of decisions you make. And, it doesn’t just affect that one decision, it affects your ability to make any decisions. We are only allotted so much energy each day, which means we must use it wisely and efficiently.
So, do yourself a favor. Sit down and think about what you want out of life. If you already know, you are a step ahead. Once you know what you want, ask yourself, “Do I want this change MORE than I want to stay the same?” If the answer is “no,” then that is FINE. Truly. It is. However, if the answer is “yes,” you need to associate tremendous pain to staying where you are, because the pain of change is going to be enormous and you will want to retreat to the familiar unless that “familiar” is even more painful. Connecting pleasure to where you are headed will also be crucial to propel you towards your goal.
Next, fully commit to the path you choose with a deep, unwavering belief that you will be successful, no matter what. Tony Robbins has seen success on his desired goals not only with himself, but thousands of others. He has found that success is 80% psychology and only 20% skill. So, yes you better have skill, but more than that, GET YO’ MIND RIGHT. Nobody can do that for you and before anyone believes in you, you MUST believe in yourself. Do you? DO you? DO YOU? This cannot be faked. Your energy introduces you before you speak. Fix your energy, fix your mind, act, and watch your life expand!
