St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) is full of people who are afraid to go after their dreams, and when many tried they were cut down and stopped in their tracks. The streets, beaches and mountains of SVG are inhabited by people with secret talent and unfulfilled dreams, because they caved under the pressure of critical people who parade around as know-it-alls, offering advice like how bad doctors give out poison.

1. When you dream big dreams, the process will stretch you, make you feel uncomfortable. It will push you to speak up when you don’t want to. You will have moments of doubt and even gut-wrenching fear. You will be forced to collaborate when you just want to be self-sufficient and do it all yourself. Your dreams may even be delayed by decades (I know some of mine have been), but you must keep believing.

2. If you can do it all yourself, your dream is not big enough. You have to be okay when your own dreams scare the daylights out of you. You have to learn to be okay when you have no clue how to get it done, but you just know it must be done. Big dreams need focus, so understand that your time with friends and family may be less and your conversations will need to change, because your mind is being rewired. You are not better than others and are no less, but things must change. Don’t spend time trying to change people or convince people. You just need to do what you must. Adjust your thinking and learn to #comeuphigher. 

3. Build a support system. Find at least one other person to support you. They are there to listen to you and challenge you when you get stuck. If you don’t have anyone, turn to YouTube videos, read books about successful people and on accomplishing dreams so you can feed your mind positive food; eventually the right people will come alongside you.

4. The struggles your dreams produce are for your own growth, for you to be prepared when you get to that next level. Stop whining about people not understanding you, blocking you, talking about you, etc. See them as part of the process and just smile and ask for help frequently. Be okay with being rejected multiple times without holding grudges or bad feelings to those who say “no.” “No” is a great word. Just accept the “no’s” until you get to the one “yes” you want.

3 Ways You Can Come Up Higher

1. Speak encouraging words to the people who share their dreams with you.

2. Offer to help someone accomplish their dream.

3. Resist the urge to tell people their idea is a bad one. If you have feedback, make sure you are offering positive helpful suggestions instead of ripping the idea apart.
#comeuphigher

Karen Hinds is an author, consultant and CEO of Workplace Success Group LLC, a consulting firm that helps organizations develop the next generation of leaders. www.workplacesuccess.com Social Media: @KarenHindsWSG