I joke with people that I wish I was born a Lawyer or an Accountant, and there might have been a time in my life when that was true. A time in my life where I shunned the gift that I was born with. I suppressed it because being a singer wasn’t a real job (Just over Broke). As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that being a singer is the best job I could ever have. Why? Because it’s what I do best. And that is what I’m here to talk to you about.
Why is everyone so miserable?
I believe that there are millions of people out there just getting by, just living for the next paycheck, retirement, death. They gave up their dreams a long time ago. You’ve heard the expression Pipe Dream? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines Pipe Dream as; a hope, wish, or dream that is impossible to achieve or not practical. The Pipe Dream’s origins come from the English literati in the 18th and 19th centuries where Opiates were widely used. Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the best known users, and it would be difficult to claim that the imagery in surreal works like Kubla Khan owned nothing to opium. Lewis Carroll, although not known to be an opium user himself, makes clear allusions to drug use in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has his hero Sherlock Holmes visit an opium den – although that was for research rather than consumption. I don’t want to stray too far into allegory, but you get what I’m saying. Somewhere down the road, if you are not living your dreams you gave them up a long time ago because either you thought they were silly or someone told you that they were silly. Either way, you gave them up and now you’re miserable.
Following your dreams
It’s never too late. It took me up into my 40’s before I started living my dreams, before I decided that living the rat race was never going to make me happy and that the only reason I was even in the rat race was to make those around me happy. It took a tragedy and a loss for me to finally kick myself in the ass. I hope that for you it doesn’t take that… but it might.
The first step in following your dreams is to realize that everything happens for a reason. You are where you are for a reason. It might not be where you want to be, but there is a reason… even if that reason was a bad decision. When you realize that everything happens for a reason then you are in control. If you believe you are where you are because it was ‘God’s Will’ or fate then you’ve lost control. If you believe in God then you must believe the truth about God. If God created you in his likeness and image, is that not like a parent? Someone that wants the best for you and to achieve even higher goals that they have?
The second step is a small one. Baby steps. Every day do something to work towards that dream. For example; I changed my title. For years I was Dave Watson, Graphic Designer. The first scary step for me was saying that I am David Reed Watson, the Vocalist. It freaked me out the first time I said it. I remember it to this day. It felt like a lie, like I was bullshitting the person that I was talking to, but as time went on it became easier and easier to say, and once it became easy to say it became easier to do and the more I did it the more people around me recognized me as the Vocalist. So it’s going to take you baby steps. If you take a giant leap, you’ll fail. Like exercise, if you haven’t run for years and you try to run a marathon you’ll quit. Plain and simple.
The third step. Make a plan. Set out a plan for your dreams. Years ago I took a course called Abundance and Prosperity. The coach for the course said to us, I want you to make a 20 year plan. Write it down. So, I did. I wrote down that I wanted to be in love, have a big house, travel the world, singing in a successful band that travels the world. That was 2003, 12 years ago. I’ve got 8 years to go before the 20 is up. Where am I at with that right now? I’m in love, I live in a big house, I travel the world and I have not just one great band, but two! The band traveling is literally right around the corner… we start touring the US in March. So the world tour is on the radar. To visually focus on my goals I created a vision board, and as I crossed off each picture of the goals that I achieved I would then create another vision board. There is much more detail to this that I can go into further in another blog, I don’t want to stray too far off topic.
And finally. Believe in yourself. There is a devil on one shoulder and an an angel on the other shoulder. One of them is telling you that you are a failure and the other is pushing you to be your authentic self. Which one do you want to follow? Don’t pretend that devil (limiting belief) isn’t there… recognize that it is there and just let it know that you’ve got things under control. You see… we all have this. Ask any superstar, someone you idolize… if you can get close enough to them they will let you know of their struggles. They might hide it well in public but believe me, and I can use myself as an example… the only reason I’ve achieved anything is because I’ve had to overcome some obstacle. It’s the Yin and Yang. You can’t have one without the other, nor should you want to. You want to be able to look back and see your sweat and blood. It makes where you are now much more valid. You will appreciate it more. Guaranteed.
In summary, use your gift. The world is waiting for you to share your authentic self. Nobody wants to see another clone of somebody else. Just be you. You have something to share, so please share it. If you want help, you know where to find me.
Peace,
David
