Doubt Kills More Dreams than Failure Ever Will

Do you have any crab people in your life? People who just want to pull you down each time you reach for your dreams? I’m betting you do. Sometimes, we’re able to close the door on those people, for the health of ourselves and our dreams. But what happens if those people are family members or coworkers? Individuals from whom we can’t easily separate.

While we may wish that all of the key people in our lives are affirming and positive towards our goals, this will probably never be the reality. For the sake of our dreams, we must be willing to break free from the herd.

The first step to achieving this goal is to realize you will never get the approval of everyone in your life, indeed it would be delusional to believe so. In fact, when you launch out toward a dream, you better prepare yourself for more pushback, in the form of opinions, negative stories, seeds of doubt, than ever before. It’s just the way it works.

Back in the day, I had to post around my house on index cards, “For am I now seeking the approval of men or of God?” After years of wrestling with my own dreams, I finally came to the conclusion of just that….if they are “my dreams” planted in my heart by the Lord, then they are….”my dreams”….and no one else’s. I don’t need to defend or overcome someone’s opinion, I can just ponder it in my heart and know that’s between me and God. You see, the day you start defending your dream is the day you devalue your dream.

I had to realize that most people are simply a product of their upbringing and share the mindset of their circle of friends/social media/influences … so when well meaning people say things to me that are simply not encouraging or helpful, I’ve made a habit of saying to myself, “God bless her, she’s just doing the best she can.” Love the messenger, throw away the message.

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