There is one common trait among every single successful dream. It is something that is easily overlooked. It is also something that holds most of us back from achieving those dreams. If we want to achieve our dreams, we have to first believe that we can.
From the valley floor the mountaintop looks impossibly tall. We might look up at it and think that it is impossible to climb. The slopes are to steep, the ice to thick, and the elevation to high. Our self doubt defeats us before we even set foot on the mountain side. The dreamer looks up at the same peak and knows that they will one day stand on top of it.
The first step to your dream is within you. Before you can practice your skill everyday, before you can hone your craft, you have to believe that you will achieve your dream. Not just a small part, not just a fraction but the whole pie. You must believe that you can paint that masterpiece inside of you, that you can tell that story or stand tall on that stage or on that mountain top. You must believe that you and only can achieve great things.
We live in a world that does not celebrate dreamers near enough. Instead most are met with resistance, or are scoffed at. The world constantly tells us that our dreams don’t matter. It constantly shouts what you should think, how you should act and what you should look like; it’s all just noise. The dreamer must tune it all out and establish an unshakable belief in their dream. Only we can bring about its completion, only we can bring our dreams out into the light. It won’t come about by wishing, or half measures but through the unshakable belief that our dreams will one day come true.
When we are rejected over and over again. When we have to go through hard times. When we cling to our dreams with all of our might and barely manage to hang on, it is because we believe our dream is worth it. There is no direction that is not forward. There is no path that ends in failure. Yet failure will be there. Every author knows the grueling path of rejection it takes to land a publishing deal. Every actor knows what it is like to give everything for a part and turned down. Yet we get back up, dry our tears, dust off the dirt and move to the next one. You don’t go through that unless you believe that the next one will be your next big break. You don’t do that unless you believe that you will achieve your dreams.
This is not to say that everything will be easy. Nor does this mean that your own believe in your dream will not be tested. It does not mean that life, family and love will not drastically alter your priorities one day, or that you will never return to a dream once set aside. Our dreams are a journey, one that no one can chart or map for you. All you can do is take action, knowing that one day, one day soon, your dream will come true.