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Why You Need To Go After Your Goals (Especially When They Scare You)

Some of our biggest goals are scary to even say out loud. When you need extra motivation to go after your goals, read this.

There’s a lot of talk out there about going after your dreams. We’re told to pursue our goals, to work hard, to make this dream into reality.

And I love it. I really do.

I buy into all of it: the vision boards, the goal trackers, the manifestation affirmations. There’s something intoxicating about working towards a big, fat, juicy goal.

There’s articles on articles about how to achieve our goals, how to turn our dreams into reality. But no one ever talks about what can happen when you get there. They don’t talk about the moment you stop working for the goal and realize it’s practically here.

Here’s the thing about achieving your goals: it’s really freaking scary.

It might be accompanied by congratulations and high fives and bottles of champagne, but it can still feel terrifying, like you just boarded a train that you don’t know if you should be on.

Suddenly things are happening and you’re moving so fast and hurtling past thing and OMG WHAT IF THIS IS THE WRONG TRAIN? and OMG WHAT IF THEY REALIZE I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING? or OMG WHY DID I THINK I COULD PULL THIS OFF? and on and on and on it goes.

You’re okay. Take a breath. Drink some champagne. Try to enjoy this moment. Oh, and remember, this is normal.

This is not a red flag. This is not your intuition arriving late to the party. This is fear at its finest, doing its best to pull you away from anything even remotely scary.

And this is scary.

It is. You can admit it. You can say it out loud. You’re going after your dreams and now they’re here and you’re kinda freaking out a little.

When your dreams start to come true, it can scare the living daylights out of you. This doesn’t mean you’re in the wrong dream. It means you’re human.

You’re trying to avoid risk and the unknown and that pesky little thing called pain. Part of you wants to stay here, where it’s safe and calm and predictable.

That makes sense. Acknowledge that part of you. Thank it for looking out for your safety.

And then get on the train. Stop thinking, start moving. Head towards your dreams with fake confidence and fake joy and with the understanding that one day this will be fine and not so scary. One day this too will feel safe and calm and predictable. And then you’ll have to move onto the next scary thing.

That’s what life is–a leap frog game on lily pads. We’re all just hopping along hoping not to get eaten. It’s not so much the lily pad that we’re after, it’s the leap.

That brief moment in air where we feel like we are flying, like we are untouchable, like we are really alive.

Never stop leaping. Never stop growing and desiring and chasing your dreams. Even when its scary. Especially when it’s scary.

This is your moment. It’s here. It’s happening.

This is your train. Get on it.

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By Jillian StaciaJillian Stacia

Jillian wants to live in a world where the coffee is bottomless and the sweatpants are mandatory. As a professional writer, she enjoys crafting copy that cuts through the bullshit of the everyday media. When she’s not being a word wizard, Jillian can be found hiking the trails with her husband and her slightly neurotic German Shepherd named Penny. To learn more about her work- and her love of sweatpants, visit her online at www.jillianstacia.com.