You Can’t Achieve Your Dream if You Fear Falling

Last updated on September 20th, 2022 at 05:29 pm

Ever try running on skis?

Imagine you are at a very popular, crowded ski resort in the dead of winter.  You are standing on top of the slope, looking at the path you need to conquer to head back to the lodge.

All of your friends are on the slope–some are waiting for you at the bottom. Others are just getting off the lift, right behind you.

You are skiing down the mountain and your legs start to drift apart–not in the cool ‘pizza wedge’ way, but in the “oh, shit! I’m gonna rip my groin muscle and do the splits in these semi-water-proof snow pants” kind of way.

You are trying to keep both legs steady, parallel, and on track.

Trying to keep your balance by waving your arms around in circles like a windmill. Trying to get down the mountain, not rip pants, and convince yourself and others that this is the way you actually like to ski.

You spend a lot of energy trying not to fall.  Because falling is failing.

In a cold and quiet moment, you realize it’s just you and the skis and the snow.  And everyone is watching. Eventually, you will get to the bottom of the slope, but how?

In this story, one of my legs represents my business coaching practice–a practice not strong enough to support me successfully skiing to the bottom all by myself. My other leg represents my freelance photography dream, also by itself not strong enough yet to get to where I need to be.  The freelance photography part isn’t developed enough to stand alone and be my sole source of income.

Not even close.

I’ve been dreaming about photography my whole life.  I’ve been writing about becoming a top freelance photographer for months. What I realize now is I spend more energy trying not to fail than I spend energy on finding ways to live my dream as a freelance photographer.

Do you ever do that?

Do you have dreams of one-day becoming [insert your dream here]? It’s all out there … waiting. The world isn’t worried too much about us failing or not failing. The world needs brave dreamers like us to grab hold of our dream and ski it to success despite our fear of falling while everyone is watching.

But we do have to decide what next step to take because we can’t fear falling down while reaching for our dreams. Otherwise, we’re stuck.

Remy Gervais

Remy Gervais is a business coach, freelance photographer, and blogger on a mission every day to help people achieve their dreams.