Stop Pretending You’re Happy Waiting in the Wings

If you want to build a dream, then at some point you need to be bold enough to create your own stage and stop being the scaffolding for other people’s.

“If you don’t build your dreams, someone will hire you to build theirs.” – Unknown

When I started my first business, I was lucky enough to have a couple of free consultations with a Business Coach. It was useful, but not for what I imagined it would be. I wasn’t completely sure what to expect, but I never forgot the woman telling me how a lot of people won’t necessarily understand or support what I was doing. It was just a friendly, realistic wake-up call about how lonely being an entrepreneur can be. She was right. I remember being really struck by her work ethic: I received an email from her at 6am the next morning and I thought, damn, this woman is committed.

That was almost two decades ago. And I’ve found that what I missed in the past, with previous business ideas was commitment, just because I lacked belief. I hid behind many things including my own ‘busyness’.

Lots of people are walking around carrying an unrealised dream inside them and sometimes they also hide from them. Or more specifically, they hide from their fears about their dreams. Commonly, they also hide behind other people’s passions.

For them, it can seem like a practical solution to gravitate towards those who are building their own dreams. You tell yourself that it will be good experience watching someone else doing it, and that it will be great exposure. Which it certainly can be. And you may think that those people could offer the best network for you. Also true.

You might additionally believe that it will motivate you to pursue your own calling. But that’s not always how it goes.

Because startups, you see, are often energy sucking. They require a lot of leg work. And while they can give you excellent insight to inspire and educate you, they can also become havens for your excuses too. Places where you compare yourself, never feeling ready to act on your dream. On the one hand, it can feel like you’re a key part of someone else’s vision, a vital cog in the wheel. Your shared excitement might fill a gap within you – for a while. But it’s not your vision. It’s not your dream. And eventually, you might feel like you’re putting everything into someone else’s calling simply because you’re too scared to invest in acting on your own.

But fear is a legitimate part of the process, as much as being part of your inevitable success story. You need to embrace that notion. It’s what makes your dream so special because it means the stakes are as high as required to make it worth the fight. What is that fight? To win over your self doubt.

Being gutsy enough to get out there with your idea is not necessarily going to be easy. But, if you are propping up someone else’s dream, the greatest piece of truth you need to take from the experience is that, if they can do it, you sure as hell can. Come out from behind the curtain and put yourself and your dream first. And don’t delay any more.

Pimmi Pande , September 2023.

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Pimmi Pande has spent well over twenty years observing the behaviours, practises and characteristics of successful individuals, and those who aspire to be, and assisting individuals in creating fulfilling, successful, lives. A key focus is on how people think and communicate. Pimmi has used the results of research and experience from working in the Film & TV industry, and as a writer, to create communications and mindset practises to great effect with her international clients over the years. Much of the writing shared in this publication is a direct result of this work.?

Pimmi now mentors groups and individuals, guiding them towards how to live consciously while achieving more. She also offers motivational speaking opportunities, commissioned writing, and is available for interviews.?

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