Deep inside, you know what you're meant to be doing
Words on honouring your dreams and actually making them happen
I’ve been writing since I was 15. I remember one of my first pieces. I wrote it down, not really knowing why, only that I had to. Since then, I’ve been writing on and off.
I opened a blog and decided to write about everything, in every format. I wrote from poetry and general blogs to essays and short stories. I wanted to try it all.
Over the years, I’ve stopped writing for months, even over a year, but I always come back to it.
At first, I saw it as a hobby; now, I’ve come to realize I just keep delaying what I know deep inside.
I am a writer, and I want to write for a living. Not for others, but for myself.
I believe deep inside, we all know what we should be doing.
We know our calling.
We know what makes us feel alive.
But we just don’t do it.
We’re scared.
We feel it’s too big for us.
And so many of us let that idea die.
It gets buried deep within our subconscious.
Never forgotten, though.
It comes back again.
It gets triggered.
It’s part of what moves us.
Relatable?
You might be feeling unsure right now.
That call might seem distant or unclear.
And that’s okay.
This feeling is part of the journey.
Maybe you thought about that calling (or not) when reading this, and what I can tell you is:
Nobody really cares what you do that makes you feel alive.
We think everyone has all the time in the world to think about our decisions and projects, but in reality, everybody is just thinking about themselves.
The only one stopping you from your dreams is you.
Let that sink in.
I’ll say it one more time, maybe bigger.
Yup, let’s do bigger:
The only one stopping you from your dreams is you.
So the question here is, why?
Are you scared of what others say?
Are you afraid of failure?
Do you think you don’t have what it takes?
Do you not know where to start?
Let’s break each one of these:
Are you scared of what others say?
The quicker you realize nobody really cares about anything other than themselves, the easier it will be to start.
Your mind is so powerful.
I’ve said it before in another piece, and I’ll say it here again:
Every single thought the mind has is taken as the most serious thought in the world.
The mind is a toddler — it has so little training, so little control.
We can have a damaging thought about the future and let it take over our life, our well-being, and our present, all based on an expectation.
Are you afraid of failure?
Believe me, I was too, I still am, and low-key? I think no matter how confident you are, failure is scary AF.
Failure is the absolute worst thing that could happen to the ego; it’s a slap in the face, no mercy whatsoever.
But failure is also the key to growth. Classic sentence, right? But it’s true.
Do y’all know how many times I’ve published a piece where I poured all my heart and soul into and received zero visible engagement?
Endless.
It’s actually my normal. I haven’t cracked the code here, or on Medium, or Instagram, or on all the other platforms where I’ve attempted to start something of my own.
I think we need to get over ourselves, the embarrassment, and the “what will they think”?
In my (very humble) opinion, staying in your comfort zone forever is what’s truly uncomfortable in the long run.
Talking about others' failures without ever trying something yourself? That’s the easy way out.
And judging others from a low-frequency place only reflects where you’re at, not them.
When you get over yourself and understand there are low-frequency people everywhere, you’ll start focusing on yourself and your big dreams.
Do you think you don’t have what it takes?
You do.
You SO do!!!
Since I was around 10 years old until a few years ago, my close family would often tell me, 'Thank God, I was beautiful,' as that was my greatest skill.
When I was 5 years old, I was diagnosed with ADHD.
I had a stutter, struggled a crazy load with speaking, and had difficulty pronouncing certain words in the alphabet.
The combination of my family’s statements regarding my incapacity to produce more than beauty, and my cognitive conditions, opened the doors to a massive insecurity, genuinely thinking I couldn’t do it.
And then, I decided to prove to myself that I could.
And I did.
Thinking you don’t have what it takes is most likely your inner child speaking from past experiences where it felt extremely attacked, disturbed emotionally, and deeply hurt.
Even though my stutter is 98% gone (still gets activated when I feel high stress levels and anxiety), and my ADHD is still present (as is with most humans), I changed the story.
It’s mine, and no one has the right to tell me how to tell it.
Changing my story helped me build confidence, trust, and resilience in my path to reach my dreams.
Do you not know where to start?
You don’t need to. Just start wherever. Share your idea with someone you deeply trust, ask for their thoughts. The first step doesn’t have to look neat. It should be messy; it makes sense that it’s messy. And messy, even though very criticized, for an artist, is the best way to start.
But start. The rest will follow. The beginning is the most challenging part; it’s what takes the most courage. The “getting over myself,” the “I don’t care what others think, I’m following my own path.”
The first step is opening the door— the gate to a universe of possibilities.
You know what you should be doing
and you know
no matter how deep it is right now
you’re an absolute genius at it.
There’s nothing stopping you, and though very cliché, the more I grow up, the quicker time passes.
The first half of the year has already passed. Don’t look back, look forward. Whatever’s in the past is behind you. It can’t be modified; it can only be remembered. But you, well, you have the now.
So, how will you use your precious lifetime to reach your dreams?
Stay wild,
Isabella