Walking Alone

You have big dreams and aspirations. You know where you want to be. You dream and fantasize about your ideal life day and night. Even if you are vacant of even the slightest idea as to how you are going to get to where you want to be, deep down, you KNOW you will get there. Buried inside of your imagination, as soon as you’ve visualized where you want to be, you own it. The feeling that results is something that is yours forever. At this point, some magic happens. Eventually, you start planning and even executing your plan. You soon find things are coming together for you even better than expected.

Before long, you share your idea with a friend or loved one expecting them to share in your enthusiasm for your bright idea. In the best case they absolutely love your idea and you’re off and soaring with the wind at your back. Now you are even more excited if that’s even possible! What if things are different though? What if they are not enthused? What happens if they clip your wings? What do you do and who do you become in that crucible of challenge? You will quickly find that what you tell yourself in that moment of time is more important than anything else that can come out of their mouth.

Sometimes when you step out of the elevator into your level, no one else is around. Get comfortable with facing resistance, because that force will always exist in some form or fashion. When the sky is dark and the ground shaky, it is incumbent upon you to shine your light in that dark bleak landscape and make the ground you walk on your own. Being that you are alone, no one can tell you what to do. There are no limits whenever you are alone because you can take whatever you are doing and make it your own. This empty canvass is your chance to show yourself what you can do when you truly believe. You must be willing to work just as hard by yourself as you would if you were being prodded along by a team of supporters. This is not the time to take your foot off the gas and coast just because you sense some discomfort at being alone. When no one else is around, you cannot afford to look at things any other way: You MUST keep the fires burning. After all, this is YOUR dream and YOUR vision. Seek the fruition of it into reality at all times, especially when you are the only one who believes in it.

We have all experienced how disconcerting loneliness can feel upon first inspection. We all love to be supported by our friends and family and others closest to us. It is always easier to get more done when you have a cheering section alongside pushing you to go harder. That is ideal. But what is ideal is not always possible. Sometimes circumstances put us in a position whereby you are forced to go it alone. It is not a matter of if, but rather, when. The key is to see what most see as a pitfall as an advantage. When you are faced with a challenge, sometimes you need to change your perspective in order to seek out the solution. Allow me to explain as follows.

If you do not like what you see, change your position. Loneliness is just another opportunity for you so long as you can take control of it and use it to your advantage. You MUST have control. Without control over it, the discomfort will overwhelm you. Recognize that you are being faced with challenge whose purpose is to bring out the best in you. It is uncomfortable but most things worth having require tremendous effort. I implore you to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Even if you hear a hundred “No’s” before a single “Yes,” do not water down your enthusiasm when it comes to something you are creating. You are being tested. You are being challenged. This is what happens to both you and your idea. Accept this as part of the creativity process.

Becoming cold and bitter just because someone else tells you that you will fail will only isolate you from bringing forth the best of your abilities. Again, change your perspective so that you are able to put your most productive version of yourself out front and move forward. Do something each and every day that moves you even just a little bit closer than you were the day before. That includes not personalizing everything that happens. Remember that just because someone tells you “no” does not mean it is an indictment against you. They are just not that into your idea.

Not everyone is going to ride with you. People you love and trust will leave you. They will count you out. Some will even give up on you. And you know what? That’s ok. Keep going. When you arrive, you will realize that sometimes the only company you ever need are your dreams that you seek to make reality. If you push ahead long enough, you will make it. Even if you have to do it alone.

–Daniel Cousin