Americans are fans of instant gratification. We love the microwave, the fast-food drive-thru, and getting what we want when we want it. Google “get rich quick” and you will find thousands and thousands of pages claiming to make you a millionaire overnight. So when it comes to going after our dreams, it’s no surprise that people find reasons to give up when the opportunity doesn’t arrive on their doorstep the next day. It‘s very easy to lose sight of your passion, because most people are more committed to their reality than their dream. Doubt and distraction are two of the central forms of internal struggle we experience as we approach our life’s purpose.
The Doubter
It’s there 24/7 — the voice that tells us why we cannot do something or be something. It is important to recognize that there is no excuse for not moving towards your dreams, no matter what your current reality is. When it comes down to making things happen for yourself, it’s inevitable that you will hear The Doubter telling you it’s impossible. It might tell you that it’s all based on luck, or that you don’t have enough support.
From here, people often do one of two things:
1) Listen to the voice and become a victim of why you can’t live your purpose. It’s a lot easier to make an excuse and listen to that voice than become more aware and to develop a plan to move you in the right direction.
2) Pretend that you’re not listening to it and repress it. We often think it’s as easy as “blocking out” The Doubter, but without meeting it head on, we are still sub-consciously digesting those ideas.
The Distractor
In fulfilling our true purpose, one of the biggest obstacles that we face is getting sidetracked. Depending on our current reality, we can get easily distracted and end up doing something else — without any regards to our original purpose. I call this internal struggle “The Distractor.”
Take my life, for example. I quit my regular job to work on my own business full time. But as any new business owner knows, this is not an easy thing to do because I’m just starting. However, I understood that, going in. It would have been easy for me to get a job working 12 hours a day, 6-7 days a week in order to support my family, but I’d be totally forgetting my true passion for helping people as a life coach. I made the conscious decision to stay focused on the task at hand, no matter how hard it got.
How do you silence the Doubter and the Distractor?
The biggest enemies to the Doubter and the Distractor are awareness and discipline. Successful people put time and effort toward their purpose to keep it rolling and not lose track, no matter what their current situation is. The truth is, this process is hard. Maintaining focus is hard. Finding time is hard. Being patient is hard. Quieting your mind is hard.
You have to fight for what you want in life. Nothing in life worth doing is easy. You have to have faith that you’re eventually going to get there, regardless of your currently reality. If you don’t have the right mindset, it’s really easy to just settle for that reality, completely abandon your purpose, and leave this earth not completely fulfilled. Keep an optimistic and grateful attitude, and it will serve you well.
