Are you talking yourself out of your dreams?

Hey champ,

Since I got back from Africa, something’s been troubling me a bit.

There was this day on safari where we learned about the hunting methods of the Bushmen in the Kalahari desert (the Bushmen are a tribe in Namibia, otherwise known as the San people).

One of the earliest hunting strategies was that of persistence hunting. The Bushmen would track an animal, running with it for sometimes days at a time until the animal tired enough to slow down, allowing the Bushmen to catch it.

Now, for the record, I’m definitely not saying that I think hunting animals is cool!!!

But as an endurance runner, the idea that running was an important, even necessary, part of life for our ancestors absolutely fascinated me.

Part of me instantly wanted to take off on an epic ultra-marathon adventure through the African desert – just me, the heat, and miles and miles of wild space to cover. As you know, I love a physical challenge, haha!

But, almost immediately, I started to think about all the reasons I couldn’t do that: I can’t manage hot climates well because of my injuries, I have a growing business and team to manage, oh, and um, yeah, I’m pregnant!

I completely talked myself out of it.

And it got me thinking, how many other things have I talked myself out of before I’ve even had a chance to consider them properly?

It’s a question I want to ask you:
How often are you shutting down ideas that excite you?

See, that little spark of passion and adrenaline you feel when you’re excited by an idea – that’s usually the sign that you should go for it.

So, here’s my challenge to you:

I want you to think of the last idea or dream that really excited you.
Now, I want you to write a list of all the reasons you used to talk yourself out of doing it.
Then, one by one, I want you to see if you can break through those reasons.

I think that we learn to talk ourselves out of ‘crazy’ ideas at a pretty young age. As a teenager, we start to learn from the adults around us – our parents, teachers, friends and extended family – about the ‘realities’ of life. You grow up, get a job, pay your taxes, get married etc etc. The big dreams for your future start to become a bit silly.

Sure, wanting to be an astronaut at age 8 is great, but when you’re failing Year Ten Physics, that dream starts to fade.

But I think the ideas that really excite us are worth taking a second look at.

Maybe you’ll write your list and see that your reasons for not chasing that dream are more important to you than the dream itself. But maybe some of them aren’t.

Maybe some of your dreams are more do-able than that little voice in your head would let you believe.

To paraphrase Robert Kiyosaki, it’s not what you say out loud, but what you whisper to yourself that has the most power. – Tweet it!

Don’t let that little whisper say “I can’t”.

I’d love to know, what dream have you been talking yourself out of?

Let me know in the comments below.
Turia xx

PS – Don’t want to miss my posts? I don’t blame ya! Pop your details here so I can let you know the next time I share a strategy like this one.