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Five ways to help you build the courage to follow your dreams.

I promise you that it is so worth taking that leap—toward the life of your dreams.

Connect with yourself

When we connect to ourselves we’re able to create lives that are fulfilling, that allow us to chase our dreams.

So cherish your solitude. Spend a lot of time in nature. I mean a lot. Give yourself some rest from social media. Hike a mountain alone. Go for a walk in the snow. Get up early and watch a sunrise. Sleep out alone and watch the stars.

Read that book that you’ve wanted to read for a long time. Take a hot bath every night. Sleep enough. Create art. Cook your favorite dinner—just for yourself. Go travel alone. Go so far away that you stop being afraid of getting lost. Let the moon guide your way home.

Sit in your living room with no noise, no distraction. Light a candle. Meditate. Connect with your emotions. Observe your fears, your joy, your anger, your love. Connect with your mind. Observe your thoughts. Connect with yourself, with your true nature. Find access to your intuition, to your inner voice.

Get rid of destructive inner beliefs

Most of the shadows in our lives are caused by the fact that we stand in front of the sun ourselves. 

Negative inner beliefs are the cause of the problems we have in life. We all have these destructive inner beliefs that started to settle into our minds when we were kids.

Even if we had the most perfect childhood, no parent is flawless. We all suffered in one way or another when we were kids. We just cannot remember these moments anymore.

Deep down in the hidden parts of our mind, in our unconsciousness, these inner beliefs settled down—positive as well as negative ones. Since the positive ones generally support us in the way we want to live our lives, we can welcome them with open arms. Those that hinder us from evolving are the ones we should become aware of. Why? Because inner beliefs are directly connected to our self-worth. And the more we strengthen our self-worth, the stronger we become. 

Inner beliefs like “I am stupid,” “I am unworthy,” or “Nothing in life is for free” do not only hinder you from following your dreams, they actually make it close to impossible that your dreams become reality. 

Find the courage to get a therapist or a coach, be honest with yourself, and start digging deep. There is so much magic, power, and freedom hidden in this internal work.

Build up universal trust

You might not even know what I am talking about when I am referring to universal trust—because it is something that has always been inside of you, because you have always been accompanied by it. For me, however, it was not like that. I had to understand it first and I had to dig deep to create it.

Over the years, I learned to trust that life will lead me to wherever I am supposed to be. I now trust life to carry me in its safe arms. I trust that wherever I am going in life, there will be love, compassion, and friendship to be found. I trust myself because I know that no matter what life is throws at me, I am going to find a solution, I am going to find a way through it, and eventually, everything is going to turn out just fine.

A big part of my courage is built on that exact trust in life. It took me quite a while to build up this universal trust. Some people may already have it when they are born. I did not have it. I had to have all kinds of different experiences—good ones, bad ones, confusing ones, painful ones, shocking ones. I had to get through the sorrow to find out that there is basically nothing that will stop me from living my life the way it feels right for me. I learned that I can get through anything. 

What I have understood is that there is something like a universal law. Life is an incredible, intelligent entity. Life wants us to learn something from each and every situation that it puts us in. Oddly enough, the situations that seemingly do not have anything to do with ourselves, that seem to be caused by circumstances, by others, or just by coincidence, are the ones that will teach us the most.

Trust that life will teach you exactly the lessons that you need to be able to follow your dreams.

Cultivate willpower

Willpower means you don’t let fear, routine, or any other excuse stop you from following your dreams. 

Do something that scares you—climb that mountain, ride that horse, go diving, catch that spider, quit your job, try out a new job, go on holidays alone, travel to a country you do not speak the language of, tell someone an opinion that you have been holding back for a long time, take part in a heated discussion, change your course of studies. Make new friends. Talk to a stranger. Dive deep into a different culture. There is a long list of things that you could do. You know best what scares the sh*t out of you. 

Try out new things. Start to practice that new sport—with the full force of your nature. Make it a priority. Set yourself a goal. Promise yourself how often you are going to do it, how well you aim to become in this sport—and then stick to it. With every promise to yourself that you keep, you unconsciously build up willpower.

Make a list of all the things you already achieved in your life and of all the things you already went through. Then consider what was helping you back then. Which were your very own character traits or skills that helped you to achieve it (or to get through it)?

And surround yourself with people who inspire you. I mean—truly inspire you. People who make you become curious. People who have a magnetic effect on you. People who support and motivate you in living your dreams. People who do not reflect their own unfulfilled dreams on you.

Cherish this one point in time

There comes this moment when we seemingly don’t have a choice anymore.

I am talking about this one moment when our inner voice gets so strong that we just cannot ignore it anymore. This one point in time will come—and it will be a magical, powerful point in time. 

You will just know it. Because staying would be harder than leaving. Because it simply gets unbearable to keep on living life the way you used to. Because every cell in your body screams for this new step.

Whenever this exact moment arrives, you will know with absolute certainty that it is time now. 

It is so worth taking that leap toward the life of your dreams.

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