People start out their lives wanting to go after their dreams. They spend months and years visualizing the success they want to see in their lives, and some will follow through on those visions… for as long as it’s convenient. Then they stop. Most get stuck working at a job they don’t hate. It’s boring and it doesn’t allow them to grow much, but it’s not too hard and it pays their bills. So they settle, and they anxiously watch their dreams slide by… until they eventually forget about them. That’s the sad story of most people.

So why do some people succeed while others fail?

Before answering this question, I should share with you my observation that when people ask this kind of question, they seem to be expecting a “do it once and forget about it” type of quick fix. The majority of people want, for example, to make more money, but they don’t want to change their habits. They don’t want to give up their weekends. And they don’t want to work on themselves.

1. People Fail Because They Want Their Dreams To Be Easy

Les Brown famously said in one of his speeches,

“The easiest thing for me to do in my life was to earn $1 million dollars, but the hardest thing for me to do was to believe I could earn a million dollars.”

Most people read this quote and think that changing their beliefs is an intellectual matter. They think that they just need to convince themselves that they have what it takes to become successful. They want to talk themselves into it and be done with it. But that’s no different than wishful thinking, and as with most wishes, they don’t come true except in fairy tales.

Changing your beliefs is a matter of experience. If you sit home all day and trying to convince yourself that you have what it takes to break into the technology industry, then I’m here to tell you that you’re a fool. Sorry. But that’s the truth. Without the necessary practical exposure to your industry and years of following up on those trends, you simply won’t break into it.

However, if you find that you have a knack for technology and you choose to pursue the development of this interest, then working within this field will give you the experience to determine just how likely you are to make it. However, if you get involved in the experience, but remain a spectator and passively resign yourself to your cubicle or simply remain at the outskirts of meetings, conferences and events, then you won’t get very far either. You must actively immerse yourself in the field and to show up every single day for all the tasks that will help you get closer to your dream. And the more, the merrier. You must become engaged. It’s only by doing so that you will be able to change your beliefs about what skills and abilities you need to become successful in that field.

2. People Fail Because They Want Their Dreams For Free

Once you’ve identified the skills and abilities you need to develop, it’s up to you to use that knowledge and invest in yourself and your goals.

If you already know what you need to work on, then let me ask you: how are you going to spend your time tomorrow and each day after that including weekends (yes weekends) for the next week? If you don’t know how you’re going to spend your time tomorrow and you’re still not sure if you’ll have time to work on your dream this weekend, then you have to accept that you’re not motivated enough to pursue your dream. It might be nice for you to make more money, but you’re not really that serious about it. In fact, thinking about making more money is something you do when you’re bored, and you probably do so because it entertains you.

But if you believe you deserve that dream, then you will work on it every single day, including weekends. I’ve gotten a lot of heat in the past for telling people they needed to invest some of their weekend time to work on their goals. But if you’re working on your dream, then it shouldn’t matter that it’s a weekend. If an artist loves painting, the artist wouldn’t start painting at 9am and then pack his stuff and leave at 5pm. The artist paints all the time. If you love singing, and you wanted to become a successful world-class singer, would you only sing Monday through Friday? Would you not sing on Saturday or Sunday? It’s absurd to not want to do what you love every single day, but we’ve been conditioned by society to believe that accomplishing dreams is not so much about the joy we derive from doing what we love, but from the lavish lifestyle we expect to have from achieving those dreams. If that’s what motivates you or excites you about entrepreneurship, acting, writing, or business, then you won’t make it, and you will be back to square one; that of getting stuck at a job you don’t hate.

Now, how are you spending your time? What habits have you developed that are preventing you from using your time intelligently? Are you watching TV? Are you wasting your time calling friends or entertaining them when they call you? Are you a social butterfly ready to volunteer your time to catch up on trivial things? It’s important to take notice of how you spend your time each and every day. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make time for fun. You absolutely should, but if fun, relaxation, and taking time off are driving your schedule, then you’re not serious about accomplishing your goals. If you’re serious, then let yourself be driven by your purpose and build your life around it.

If you work hard, and if you work consistently, then the only things that’s standing between you and success is time…

And that time will come.

So take control of your life now and you will reach your dreams faster.

3. People Fail Because of “Uncertainty Avoidance”

Most people fear what they don’t know, and that’s okay. But I am here to tell you that you can experience fear AND take action.

Most people complain about what they don’t know. They don’t understand the market well-enough. They don’t know if they have what it takes to compete against the giants in their field. And they don’t know if they can make a living from their pursuit. In other words, they suffer from “Uncertainty Avoidance.” They will avoid everything they’re not certain about and they won’t act unless they have, to use the economic term, perfect information.

Nobody has perfect information and nobody can predict how well your life will turn out. But if you take calculated risks and you’re diligent and honest about doing all the research you need, including networking, connecting with trustworthy sources, and you learn from your mistakes, then you’re doing everything you could possibly do to become as lucky as you possibly can. And that’s all that’s expected of you. And if you fail, then you fail. And the more you fail, the faster you will learn and the faster you will succeed. That’s it.

Stop complaining. Open up a new document and decide what you’re going to do tomorrow.