When and How To Follow Your Dreams

This is another great quote from one of favorite authors, Seth Godin, and I feel it can give those of us who are wanting to have more influence in our experience of life new insight into how to deal with the difference between possibility and what we (and/or those around us) perceive as reality.

This is important because many people will tend to minimize what is possible under the guise that “it just isn’t realistic.” And, of course, sometimes this is true. The challenge is to look at the motivation behind this minimization to see if it is something we truly want to trust. For example, when we, or those around us, are trying to convince us that something is not realistic to protect us from being ridiculed if we fail, this “avoidance motivation” may be counter productive.

In fact, for those of you who follow my “Life from the Top of the Mind” philosophy, you will recognize that this fear based motivation comes from the “fear based” part of the brain or the limbic system/brainstem. Coming from this lower brain is helpful in a fight or flight situation where we need to react without thinking in order to survive. However, we don’t want to be trusting this lower brain when accessing our clarity, confidence, and creativity is called for, or when we need to objectively look at the future to determine whether we pursue what is possible. In fact, this ability to accurately look at the future comes from the frontal lobes of the neocortex, what I call “The Top of the Mind.”

Then there is the second half of the quote that has us brining our best to life by “examining what’s possible, and then deciding if we care enough to pursue it.” This is important because, often, achievement requires dedication and the allocation of resources (time, energy and even money). Just because something is possible doesn’t necessarily mean that it is important enough to pursue.

Once again however, this decision will need to be made by the upper 80% of the brain so that we can have confidence that the goals we have chosen truly match our highest purpose, or what is really important in our lives.

Therefore, if understanding the difference between possibility and reality (with respect to what we pursue and how we allocate resources) is important to you, I suggest you reject the fear based advice of those who are trying to protect you from failure, and instead, consult the part of you that is able to look at what is possible with clarity, confidence, and creativity. Then, if you decide that some goal is indeed important enough to give it all you have, then do so, knowing that even if you fall short, the lessons learned along the way will put you in an excellent position to refocus your aim and shoot for what’s next.