Be Your Hero

“The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” -Nelson Mandela

There is always a multitude of stories told of great achievements in someone’s life. We always look in awe at high achievers asking ourselves questions like, what does it take to do that? Or saying, I can do that. I have dreams and goals.

The truth in all of this is dreams remain inside so many of us. They never come to the surface and manifest themselves. You see, a dream will always remain in your mind unless you do something about it. Do you think the high achievers only dream without doing anything about those dreams? No, they don’t. They take those dreams and evaluate if they align with their life objectives. If these dreams do align, the high achievers write the dreams down and start to plan the journey to make them come true.

How many times have you heard a friend say to you or hearing you say this to a friend, I thought of that before, if only I had done something about it, I would have been the owner of that business.

Where do you think the richest place on earth is…the graveyard. This is where all hopes and dreams go to die. Many people go through their lives wishing, hoping and dreaming of some grand vision. Not starting the business they always wanted to have. Places that were never visited. That childhood goal that was set aside never to get back to. The books that were supposed to be read but weren’t. The love not said. Financial security never reached. The books that were never written.

Unfortunately, I could go on and on. Too many people were deprived of these accomplishments. Our world needs strong and courageous people. People that leave a more positive mark on our world. Even if only one person benefits from accomplishing your goals, you will have triggered a snowball effect that will drive others to step forward and make this world a better place.

You should not be selfish and keep all our dreams hidden. You are maybe the person that will positively change the life of a person you don’t even know. So, find the courage to be a hero. Be your own hero.

This is not an easy task to accomplish, to be your hero. It takes perseverance and determination to achieve any goal or dream. But first, you must find the courage to write it down, talk about it, plan your strategy and take action. This is where so many fail and never move forward with them. The FEAR of failing sets in. The FEAR of ridicule from others. The FEAR of not having enough money. The FEAR of not having knowledge or resources.

Your comfort zone will be screaming out at you not to move on your dreams. Fear is not a reason to quit. It’s the coward’s way out of not facing the doubts you have. The first thing you need to tell yourself is if your dreams are scary…go for it. And if your dreams are not scary at all, you are not dreaming big enough.

This is one of my favorite quotes from Theodore Roosevelt

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Remember all the dreams buried in the graveyard. Don’t let those dreams be yours. Conquer your fears and be your hero!