Destroy Your Dream-Stealers (Before They Destroy Your Dream Career)

Career Management

So you’ve identified your dream career. You’ve got your big scary audacious goal.

You’re ready to rock out and fulfill your potential. To be all you can be. To change the world, one meeting, one email, one promotion at a time…

And then reality kicks in:

Who do you think you are?

Who’s going to listen to you?

How do you think you’re going to get that role? You can’t even get a phone number.

What makes you so great when Mr. Perfect/Ms. Popular is applying for the same position, and you’re going up against hundreds of people more qualified, more good looking, more talented, more capable, more [fill in your own blank here] than you could ever be?!

Recognize that voice?

That, my friend, is the voice of your personal inner Dream-Stealer.

Everyone has one. And each one tailors its put-downs to your own deepest insecurities and worries — for maximum dream destruction.

The big question question you face is: Are you going to be run by it and have your dreams sabotaged, or are you ready to slay your inner Dream-Stealer and claim the career that was yours all along?

If you’re still reading, then you’ve already answered that question. (You go-getter, you!) Here’s how to slay your Dream-Stealer:

 

The Doubt-Destroyer

The reasons these dream-stealing thoughts are so potent are:

  1. They’re specific to you, your history and your past perceived “failures.”
  2. They stay mostly hidden, buried behind the busy thoughts of all the things you have to do.

The way to slay them is therefore to tackle them on both fronts:

  1. Realize everyone has certain themes and “brands” of self-doubts; and then.
  2. Understand that when you look at them, in the cold light of day, they are only thoughts that you’ve practiced time and again, like a habit. And like any habit of thought, they can be kicked to the curb. Quite easily, in fact.

So how do you go about doing this?

  1. Find a time and place to sit very quietly with a pen and paper to really tackle this issue.
  2. Write down all the “reasons,” doubts and excuses why you think you can’t have your dream career. Include everything from the silly and insane to the tangible and seemingly “concrete.”

For example, if you think you need to have more experience, write down the specific experience you think you lack. If you think you can’t really have excitement and joy in your career because you’ve never had it, then scribble that down too. It’s just as important and just as valid.

You need to acknowledge your fears — even if, when you write them down, you think they’re lame/crazy/stupid.

Next, you want to go through each item and decide you’re not going to let that particular thing stop you from having what you want. No matter how real or tangible it is, you’re not going to use it as an excuse.

Just decide.

Now , pick two items to work on first. Any more than that and you dilute your focus. Just pick two, and then go to work eliminating them.

How do you eliminate these items?

Well, there are a number of ways…

 

1. Reason Your Way Out of It

For instance, say you see someone waltz into a job you would love, and you think, “I could never be that brilliant. I could never have that.”

You can start using logic and say to yourself things like, “I know he wasn’t born into that position. He must have done certain things previously that led naturally to that job offer. If one person can grow into a role, then surely I’m no different.”

Keep looking for logic to expand what is possible for you. (Tweet this thought.)

 

2. Practice Another Belief Instead

An example of this would be the belief that “ men in your industry are promoted more quickly than women.”

If you’re a woman, as real as this may appear to you, you’re going to turn it upside down and choose the belief that as a female you have certain skills, talents and upward mobility to your advantage — which means that you will be promoted more quickly than your male counterpart. Use your mind and your thoughts to your creative advantage.

I use this one all the time. So easy. So effective. Just pick a reality you like!

 

3. Get Familiar With Your Dream Career

Start talking to people in that industry, that company, the vicinity of where you’d really like your career to go. The more information you can find out about that world, the better equipped you’ll be to insert yourself into it.

Get to know the players who can help and inspire you. Spend time mulling over what it would be like. The mind is creative — and what you think about, you’ll pull into your experience.

And that brings us to experience…

 

4. Set Yourself Up for Success

Think broadly about transferable skills and relevant experiences that will equip you to fill that role.

Spend your free time and any opportunity you can muster to seek out and gain experience that will stack the odds of success in your favor. Focus on being the best you can be at the role you’re preparing yourself for… and if you only focus on this, you can’t help but naturally bring this into your experience.

 

Your Success Is Yours Alone

So there you have it — a number of practical ways to destroy your inner Dream-Stealer, while simultaneously galvanizing your psyche to live your dream career.

Go ahead and make your list, then pick the two items you’re going to focus on taking out first. And if you’re feeling committed and inspired — or if you need a bit of public accountability — go ahead and share the two items you’re working on with the link below.

Here’s to your inevitable success!

What dream-snatchers will you work on first? Share in the comments!

Image: Flickr

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