by Jay Bedi, founder of Nylero Entertainment
In the modern entrepreneurship era, words such as ‘hustle’, or ‘grind’ may seem like just words being thrown around with no weightage anymore whatsoever. It’s an almost omnipresent frame of mind nowadays – that starting your own business means you are a proactive, independent thinker. Sadly, it’s just people ultimately seeking to conform to the trending label of a self-entitled ‘business owner.’
However, amongst this crowd are the rare entrepreneurs who are actually striving for a unique, big dream, that separates visionaries from these conformists. This rare breed of entrepreneurs isn’t looking for fame or fortune. Rather – they have their own larger-than-life goal in mind which doesn’t rely on outcomes of success or failure. It’s simply what they were made to do. Not just your standard business, but an unfaltering purpose.
You’ve heard about them for a while now, the Elon Musks of the world. However, the ones who are standing at the starting-line usually have nothing but their wits, dreams and their unshakable confirmation.
Looking at the path to come from the starting line – it’s a scary view. But not one that regardless stops these big dreamers from walking the talk.
1. Stay Grounded: Don’t Let It Overwhelm You.
Having all you ever wanted – it’s a scary thought. Big dreamers often find themselves victims of clouded planning and anxious thoughts.
What am I doing?
This is so unrealistic.
Am I wasting my life away?
And if it hasn’t hit you yet, it’s not unreasonable to think that these uncertainties will one day fill your mind. It’s often the mammoth nature of these big dreams which causes these doubts in the first place. But it’s also what makes it so beautifully fulfilling in the end.
Don’t let it overwhelm you. Take a moment to breathe. Compose yourself. The best validation you can receive is that there is no secondary venture. You have no backup profession that will solace you as deeply on your deathbed – unfulfilled or not.
And this isn’t a one-off deal. These uncertainties are here to stay, and forever play with your mind now and again. But it’s the eventual vision of beginning to see the never-ending path as a challenge, which means that you’re ready to embark towards action.
2. Strive For The Long-Game: Plan, Plan & Plan.
Planning should be the utmost present keyword in your life now. The planning phase may even seem like an overly elongated stage – quite stretched out more than necessary. All big dreamers have larger-than-life goals that don’t follow the simple, start-up step-by-step routine that others around you may have developed. This is because the big dreamer doesn’t have a wish-wash goal. Rather, it’s the vision of themselves that poses an almost unrealistic endgame.
Whether you want to change a country, make an industry, or revolutionise a product. These big dreams frequently seem unreachable or impractical due to their uniquely great nature. But really, it’s just the scary thought that your passion may one day actually come to life. This can be enough to cloud your first step to taking action.
As Muhammad Ali said; ‘If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.’
And it’s often these large goals which require a lot (sometimes years) of planning, and aren’t confined to a specific deadline or timeframe. The dreamers often have an unfathomable level of passion behind them, to the extent that it is clearly their lifelong purpose. So, where do you start planning? Whichever way allows you freedom of brainstorm creativity. Whether it’s as an Excel spreadsheet or going freehand on an A2 paper – give the following a try:
- In a vertical manner mark a start-line and a finish-line – with a large, blank gap in the middle. Write the current month and year on the start-line. Leave the finish-line undated.
- Sectionalise the gap with the subsequent phases to your project’s completion at the finish-line. The first section should be your current ‘planning’ phase. Don’t use the entire gap.
- In the gap – estimate and number the days, months or years your current planning phase requires.
- Roughly do the same for the next phases. If you are unsure of any upcoming phases – leave it be.
- Start at your current week and work your way to the top.
- Remember that this phase or any upcoming phases are very likely to change as your progress. Don’t be alarmed if a phase oversteps into the next planned phase, or if you are required to revisit a phase you thought was completed. Quality is always better than a rushed approach.
This approach helps those projects which contain a vast variety of steps. An otherwise unplanned approach will leave you hastily alternating between tasks for the sake of completion. Laying your path in front of you for clarification will ensure a focused approach. Coupling reminder applications like Wunderlist with this master-plan keeps you accountable for deadlines in a timely manner. Resultantly, it will keep you as compliant as possible to your planned phases.
Don’t beat yourself down if things aren’t going to plan either. It’s common for deeply desired plans to take longer than estimated. As I said – the big dreams often aren’t confined to a specific deadline or timeframe. Be prepared to readjust, realign and swallow your pride to take more unplanned steps than initially desired.
3. No Ideas Wasted: Every Thought Counts.
Good or bad ideas – every thought counts.
Unfortunately, as we’re not in the generation that allows telepathic-to-digital recording, the best method to save those randomly appearing ideas is simple. Notetaking. Applications such as Evernote, allow for instantaneous recording of those spur-of-the-moment ideas that spring up unexpectedly. I often find myself spontaneously notetaking, and sometimes don’t revisit that specific note for years. You never know when an idea that seems weak at first will come into play.
Not all ideas require urgent action, and not every idea is your best. It’s nonetheless those random thoughts and ideas which should stay with you for a later date. There have been instances when I’m going through my Evernote vault, and rediscover a business idea from years ago that is directly applicable to current circumstances.
Remember; your passion derives from your subconscious, gut feeling. Don’t let any thought process slip into the empty pit of the forgotten.
4. Doing & Dreaming: Strike The Right Balance.
Both are just as important as each other. While dreaming helps maintain that high-level of motivation – doing something about it is inevitable.
It’s a self-feeding cycle which constantly demands a balance to get your ambitions moving forward towards fulfilment. You may find that some days, weeks or even months are comprised of purely day-dreaming. That’s fine. Don’t force yourself to stop picturing your vision coming to life. These are all motivation-fuelling thoughts that will ultimately help clarify the perfect picture of your final destination. Often these are also great phases for spewing out your cleverest ideas.
Dreaming about your goal is best thought of as an unlimited supply of free fuel for motivation. Your growing desire will eventually lead you to automatically take the next step towards these envisioned plans yourself.
Jay Bedi is an Actor, Screenwriter & Founder of creative film agency, Nylero Entertainment and Content Marketing Strategist at Indago Digital. Jay’s currently pursuing commercialising Australia’s film industry through his own, aspired film productions.
