Don’t Chicken Out on Your Big Ambitions!

If you’re like most people, you have a fierce wish, an inspired goal, or some great idea you want to chase. It gnaws at you. You can’t get it out of your head.

But. . . you haven’t moved on it.

You’re not pursuing that big ambition because, well, it seems unrealistic. You’ve made a casual assessment of the situation, and you’ve chickened out on your dream. You tell yourself, “Yeah, I can’t pull that off.”

Really? Where’s your proof?

My bet is that you don’t have any solid proof. Most likely you’re a victim of false premises. You’re assuming you can’t achieve the goal, but you haven’t gathered any hard evidence. You’re just going on guesswork.

Let’s challenge some of the flawed thinking that causes people to chicken out on their finest ambitions:

1. “I don’t know how to reach my goal.”

   Of course you don’t! But you probably can figure it out. You certainly know enough to begin, and that’s half of the battle. Rumi the Persian poet said, “As you start to walk on the way, the way appears.”

2. “I don’t have enough money.”

   This is the tired myth that people so often use to justify not pursuing their dreams. But you can overcome a shortage of money with initiative, creative thinking, desire, and determination. Sure, money gives you power. But as Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Do the thing, and you shall have the power.” Scrounge around, hustle, and be inventive like the TV star MacGuyver.

3. “I feel like the timing isn’t right.”

   Most people’s big ambitions die waiting for presumably safer times or more favorable circumstances. Meanwhile, there’s a failure to calculate the cost of delay. Trust me, you don’t need perfect timing to achieve great things. Right now is almost never the “rightest” possible time, but it’s probably right enough.

4. “I’m afraid I would fail.”

   Oh, I can promise that! Mistakes, setbacks, and royal screwups are a key part of the process. They’re unpleasant, but they help you find your way to the finish line. Don’t let fear of failure keep you from even trying—instead, think of failure as your sherpa, tutor, or guide.

Beware of lazy assumptions and false premises! Challenge them. Otherwise, they’ll deceive you and you’ll chicken out on your big ambitions.