Are You Scared Of What Might Happen If You Reach Your Dreams?

I read an interesting article yesterday on success, and it suggested something I’d never even contemplated before. The idea was that a key reason for people letting their life fly by might be a sub-conscious worry about what might happen if they reach their goals. Sure, it’s not a brand new concept when you put it like that, but have you thought about this –

What if you were continually sabotaging your efforts to consistently eat really really well or workout regularly, because you wouldn’t know what to do if you truly looked and felt your best all the time?

As a health coach for 13+ years now, I thought I’d encountered every possible reason for self-sabotage and certainly I think I’ve heard every excuse under the sun but this? The idea that fear of too much energy; of feeling or looking too good might stop us?

Huh.

To be honest, the very idea of it stopped ME right in my tracks.

But it kind of makes sense, doesn’t it? If you think about it maybe a LOT of sense. Stay with me here as I ask you to consider the ways your life might be different if when you actually become ‘that girl’.

• More energy would mean increased ability to finish off projects you’ve been procrastinating on, or start on new ideas and dreams. Your ability to justify to yourself with being too tired or too busy would have to go.

• And finishing off projects or testing new ideas would mean facing the possibility that they might not work out. You might fail at achieving something, which is surely worse than not giving it a go and therefore never knowing. Isn’t it?

• People might treat you differently. Loved ones could become jealous, or derisive; patronising perhaps. They might tell you it won’t last, that you shouldn’t get used to it. You might have to believe in yourself rather than listen to what other people say!

• YOU might treat you differently. If you were a bouncy, energised, and ‘healthy-inside-out’ kind of gal you wouldn’t be drowning your troubles in food or extra sleep that you don’t really need. You’d have to face your troubles head; maybe even deal with them and move on to the next challenge

Perhaps it’s as simple as you might just have no idea what to do with all the extra energy or good feelings

And I think that’s what it’s about, for the most part. We become so used to living at a certain level, to having the energy for a certain amount of output per week. We ‘know our boundaries’, even if we do abuse them some of the time.

think about this

You didn’t used to be as busy as you are right now, did you? 5 or 10 years ago, perhaps longer, you had less responsibility. Less financial concerns. Less people in your life to worry about. Being younger meant you could tell yourself that there was still plenty of time to do all the stuff you wanted to do.

And now?

You’re flat out, mostly. Your life is full of people and projects and errands and just, well, life. So, you’ve adapted. Wherever you were 5 or 10 years ago, you probably had no idea you could successfully take on all of the stuff you now take for granted as part of your everyday life.

Here’s a thought.

Imagine if what you took for granted a year from now (heck, a few months from now; perhaps even a few weeks) could be something as big and bright as your wildest dreams? If your so-called fantasies became your everyday life?

Imagine if you always felt ‘on’. If you no longer had to worry about what to eat. If daily movement was just who you were and if loving the life you lived was something you took for granted. If the stuff you spent your time on was the stuff that truly truly mattered; if you spent each and every day following your passions in one way, shape or form.

And then ask yourself –

Are you willing to do what you have to do to make this happen? Willing to admit that maybe what that takes is NOT about doing more but rather about recognising you need to stop dragging yourself back down to your current comfort level? When it comes down to it, ask yourself this –

Are you willing to believe it’s possible; that anything is possible? And can you accept that it’s just about whether or not it’s worth it or whether you prefer remaining comfortable and safe in whatever reality you now exist in?

You decide.

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