We all have limited time before we finally kick the bucket. Is this time too short for any real significance or is it long enough? These are some fundamental things that many philosophical minds have thought about since, well, the beginning of time. Another important question that we have to ask is why do most people never get to live their dreams? 

The study of why humans fail is nothing new. A wise old Roman philosopher known as “Seneca the younger” wrote about this topic 2000 years ago! He discovered 8 reasons why people are generally unsuccessful. I believe these are quite accurate, even today! I’d like to briefly share these reasons. 

Typical reasons why humans do not reach their dreams 

1. Greedy activity 
2. Dedication to useless tasks 
3. Drinking/drugs 
4. Laziness 
5. Worrying what other people (will) think of you 
6. Self-imposed servitude to thankless people (e.g. one-sided relationships) 
7. Pursuing other people’s money (making someone else rich) or worrying about your own money too much 
8. Going after no fixed goal 

Do any of these seem familiar? I believe that the 8th point is the greatest reason why people typically don’t achieve success. People tend to “drift” around, get carried away by politics/news/sport and continue along with what everyone else is doing. 

I have heard people tell all kinds of stories about something that they would like to do (or achieve), but almost all of them don’t actually do something about it. Few start to chase their dreams. Even fewer commit once they've started and soon stop chasing. Many people have told me they just don’t have time to chase their dreams. False. Almost nobody ever has time. You have to make time. 

Many people have told me they just don’t have time to chase their dreams. False. Almost nobody ever has time. You have to make time.

There could be no simpler recipe to get to your dreams:

• Decide what is important to you. 
• Set a fixed goal and commit to chasing it. 
• Do it. And do it. And do it until you have reached your goal. 

Don’t just follow along. Don’t be like most of the people in this world. Decide what is important to you and go for it! You might just succeed. :) 

JSYK: I shot the post image from inside a Toyota Hilux with my Nikon DSLR the other day. /nobigdeal

Recommended book: Seneca on the shortness of life

Dream big. I have heard that plenty of times. Should you really? Maybe it's better to keep your dreams small. Smaller dreams could be much more achievable and equally satisfying!

I had a discussion with one of my friends today. We started off talking about failures and how they affect people. I started to mention a few people that have had devastating failures, but still achieved great things afterwards. Sure, the lesson from my examples seemed clear: don't give up on your dreams!

The problem remains that your dream may be "invalid". Maybe you plan on being an astronaut and one day walking on the moon (let's assume that is a big dream), but you are just not fit to do it. It may very well be that in order to become an astronaut you will have to first get a PhD from some Ivy league university, have an amazing thesis and then get a job at NASA before you will be able to go to space. One thing is certain about this scenario.

A big dream like this means years of dedication and, most of all, assumes no complications or failures. 

Perhaps it could be better to dream small. A person may have a small dream (in comparison to the astronaut) to buy a motorcycle and tour the country for a few weeks. It is a no-brainer that a small dream is much more achievable. Perhaps it is even more enjoyable. Your bragging rights may be less with a small dream, but you have to decide for yourself if that is important. Small dreams could of course also lead to great things.

The great thing about dreams is that you don't necessarily have to achieve them. Sometimes it is just fun to think wishfully without expecting to your thought to become a reality.

Perhaps the ultimate answer would be to dream big, but divide your big dream into several smaller ones. You will at least have some satisfaction of finishing things even of you don't get to make your big dream a reality.

I could go on about this topic, but I think I'll write some more about this in a future post.