Dear Readers,

In tackling any large goal, you might feel a little bit like a Ghostbuster.

The original movie came out 35 years ago so I will let go of the notion that my blog post will “ruin it for you”, and if you have not seen it, you should. It holds up.

For those who don’t know, in the movie, the main characters, The Ghostbusters help to eliminate ghosts from your life and take them away from your home or work so you can ostensibly get on with life or work, whichever has been disturbed by the paranormal.

In a similar fashion, chasing your dreams and goals, (see extraordinary circumstances) you have to “fight” the ghosts of your past, which says, “You’re too late, you should have done this YEARS ago. You’re too old now.”

Perhaps the ghost of your present shows up which says, “You are far too busy to run a marathon/write a book/go back to school,” (insert your big and scary dream you are chasing) “Just go back to doing what you have always done and stop dreaming, this will NEVER get off the ground, trust me”.

The worst of them all, the “ghost” of your future shows up and says, “See I knew you couldn’t do it, have looked into your future and I foresee failure, I know you can’t do this so let me do you a favor and stop you before you start.”

How is this like our boys in gray? Early in the movie, they get fired from their comfortable academia job and it forces them to open their business, which is really thriving until, you guessed it, they hit another roadblock, and  get thrown in jail. Obstacle.

However, they convince the mayor he can sew up re-election with their help and so convinces the City Of New York to stand behind them. Roll credits, right?

Wrong. They go through all that just to get permission to go fight the ghost, and they are cheered on by a throng of crowds as they approach the building containing their enemy. Bolstered by such a strong reception, they prepare to enter and fight. Then the ground underneath their feet cracks open!

—— Hello obstacle——- There you are, waiting in the wings for us to attempt something big (sound familiar?)

As one of my coaches, Jon Acuff says, “Fear only gets loud when you are doing something that matters.”

So, struggling and shaken, they regain their footing and head into the building, only to find they have to now climb many flights of stairs in order to attempt to fight their ghost.

How many times have you avoided doing the research or the necessary phone calls to see “What’s next?” to accomplish the goal? Just me, right? I didn’t think so. Then after you make that call you find out the goal is even farther away then you thought. Obstacle after obstacle, shows up and you feel like giving up.

(Yes, you will feel like giving up)

So then, you climb the “stairs”.

One flight at a time, and then you make it to the top, and you face a creature with red eyes that questions your right to fight.

You have come so far now, and this THING dares to question you, and screams things like, “Who are YOU to run a marathon? Who are you to write a book? Who are you to attempt to do ANYTHING you are scared to do?

Take a deep breath breath, and shout back:

”Who am I? I am amazing, I persevere through hardship and will not be stopped by the likes of you, FEAR! I am beautiful, strong, and talented and am NOT afraid of you as much as I want to achieve my goal, so SHUT UP and SIT DOWN and WATCH.

Think About It.