No Excuses: The Power Of Unsettling, Risk Taking And Dream Chasing

Have you ever thought it would be easier to start doing work you love, if only there were fewer things holding you back? Maybe you’ve thought it would be easier if you didn’t have kids.

You could afford to unsettle if you didn’t have a mortgage. Or, if only you could break free from your full-time job so you could have more time to work on your project.

I get it. It’s hard to unsettle when you have responsibilities.

Wouldn’t it be easier to build your dream and unsettle if you could squeeze more minutes from your day, more money from your paycheck and more focus from your brain?

Newsflash: This is Reality.

Restrictions like time, children, full-time jobs, focus, money and energy (which seems to be zapped from you in five minutes) are things we all deal with.

 If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be humans.

I have restrictions; Richard Branson has restrictions; the most successful person you can possibly think of has restrictions.

The difference between people who act and people who don’t isn’t a lack of restrictions; it’s how they handle said restrictions.

Real Restrictions vs. False Restrictions

Life is hard, and restrictions can certainly make going after your dream a little more challenging.

But, most of our restrictions — most of the things we think are holding us back from achieving our dreams — are false restrictions.

They are self-imposed limitations we’re using as anchors to mediocrity.

- We think we can’t build a business because we have no money, yet there are so many businesses that cost less than $100 to start.

- We say we can’t travel because we have children, yet so many people travel the world with their kids. Kids benefit from travel.

- We think we don’t have enough time to act on our ideas because of our full-time jobs, yet the full-time job is actually a blessing in disguise.

Real restrictions do exist.

In "The Art of Work," the author, Jeff Goins describes a young boy named Garret. At 5 years old, Garret had a tumor the size of a golf-ball removed from the back of his head, which left him blind, mute and paralyzed.

Now, those are real restrictions.

(But not even those real restrictions held the little boy back. A year of cancer treatments later, when Garret was 6, he completed his first triathlon).

Using the Limited Resources You Do Have

As I was doing research for Unsettle, I came across Chris Guillebeau for the very first time. I was reading an article he wrote back in 2009, and he mentioned he projected he would make about $42,000 that year (back then).

That is an average salary; a salary many people would consider a limitation. Chris undoubtedly makes far more than that nowadays, but back then, he was starting a journey of visiting 100 countries. In his piece, A Brief Guide to World Domination, he writes:

"I figured out that the cost of visiting 100 countries would be roughly equal to that of buying a new SUV. When I saw how relatively little that was, I felt encouraged. I gave up the hypothetical large vehicle and received the world in return."

Chris realized he had limited resources, but chose to use those resources in a way that helped him achieve his dream.

And you’re making choices, too. Every time you go for dinner, every time you buy a coffee out, you’re making a decision.

And hey, I’m not saying that you’re making the wrong call when you look at it like this. Maybe it’s absolutely the right decision.

Though, I suspect that if you’re reading this, you have a dream. And you, like the rest of us, have limited resources.

So think about it: Would you rather spend $3.50 on a coffee, $40 on a night out or even $600 each month driving your car, or would you rather cut back on those things and achieve time, work and lifestyle freedom?

So Make The Choice

We all have restrictions. I have a mortgage, I’m newly married and I started all of my businesses while I was working full-time.

Are you going to let your restrictions stand in the way of your dream? Or are you going to build your dream in spite of the restrictions?

You can be either person. You get to choose what matters to you.

And, if what matters to you is time wasted on social media, money wasted on coffees out and potential wasted on fear and self-doubt, then that’s completely fine. That’s your choice and those are completely fine choices.

Those are the conscious decisions you’re making.

But if you’re reading this — if you’re part of my tribe —, chances are, that’s not what matters to you.

So cut that crap out. Remove it from your life. Not all at once, but slowly (don’t beat yourself up if you fall victim to it sometimes) and stop blaming restrictions for not building your dream.

We all have ’em.

You get to choose what you do with them.

And hey, do me a favor? If you know someone who wants to love his or her work and his or her life, but has a full-time job or some other responsibility, email this post to him or her. I think it can inspire people to fight past those restrictions.

Sarah Peterson is the author of Unsettle.org, where she encourages people to never settle for careers they don’t love. Sign up for her free course to find the perfect idea for a lifestyle business so you can gain flexibility and freedom and do work you love.

This article was originally published on Unsettle.org