{"id":29908,"date":"2015-11-30T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=29908"},"modified":"2017-08-30T15:35:52","modified_gmt":"2017-08-30T22:35:52","slug":"what-keeps-people-from-pursuing-their-hopes-and-dreams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/what-keeps-people-from-pursuing-their-hopes-and-dreams-1130154","title":{"rendered":"What Keeps People from Pursuing Their Hopes and Dreams?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-29995 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/man-and-woman-holding-frame-in-open-field-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"A man and woman hold up a frame together in a field\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-id=\"29995\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/man-and-woman-holding-frame-in-open-field-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/man-and-woman-holding-frame-in-open-field.jpg 683w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>I want to be loved. I want to be fit. I want to have a job I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m proud of. We all have hopes and dreams, but sometimes we take too little action to make them come true.<\/p>\n<p>What is it that gets in the way of taking the actions necessary to fulfill our dreams? How do unfulfilled dreams and a lack of action affect a person\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s experience of life?<\/p>\n<p>The pursuit of a goal can give your life <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/life-purpose\">purpose<\/a>, energy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/what-is-hope\">hope<\/a>, and excitement, but it can also bring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/anxiety\">anxiety<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/insecurity\">insecurity<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/emotional-overwhelm\">overwhelm<\/a>. Sometimes, simply acknowledging what you want can arouse feelings of longing and despair. Some choose to avoid those uncomfortable feelings by disengaging from their pursuit. Avoidance might resolve the discomfort in the short term, but in the long term, refusing to participate in your pursuit of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/happiness\">happiness<\/a>, and facing the mixed bag of feelings that come with that pursuit, can leave a person feeling stuck, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/depression\">depressed<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/emptiness\">empty<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It would be wonderful to have all of the energy and excitement of the chase without the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/fear\">fear<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/self-doubt\">self-doubt<\/a>. The more you want something,\u00c2\u00a0the more it matters to you,\u00c2\u00a0the less likely you will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/relaxation\">relaxed<\/a> about it.<\/p>\n<p>[fat_widget_right]<\/p>\n<p><strong>There are many reasons a person may\u00c2\u00a0become afraid to do something they want or need to do.<\/strong> Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a short list:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If a person is attempting something they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never done before, they might fear the unknown. Will they like it or will they hate it? The real problem underlying this fear may be that the person doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe they can survive hating something, even briefly, or believes they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be stuck in this hateful experience forever. In most circumstances, this fear is irrational.<\/li>\n<li>If a person is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/perfectionism\">perfectionist<\/a>, they may not be able to tolerate the discomfort that comes along with learning something new. The only way to learn is through trial and error&#8211;by being able to make mistakes. This can be challenging for perfectionists.<\/li>\n<li>A person can put too many limitations on identity. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was bad at sports in high school, so\u00c2\u00a0I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t join the office softball team now.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It can be comforting to think you know everything about yourself, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also limiting. It can stop a person from expanding who they are and what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re capable of.<\/li>\n<li>Because a person has failed at something before, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re afraid to fail again. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not the failing that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the problem; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how a person feels about failing. If failing led to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/self-criticism\">self-loathing<\/a> and depression at some point, of course a person won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to feel that way again. However, inactivity and stagnation may end up leading a person to those same feelings. If a person came to see failure as a learning experience that can lead to success, they might be less afraid to try.<\/li>\n<li>For some people, fear doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t arise from the actions they need to take, but from the judgment or ridicule of others. In some critical and unsupportive social environments, any attempts to improve oneself may be met with hostility, including attempts to recover from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/addictions-and-compulsions\">addiction<\/a> or return to a healthy body weight.<\/li>\n<li>People who lack self-soothing skills, such as encouragement, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/forgiveness\">forgiveness<\/a>, acceptance, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/self-care\">self-care<\/a>, generally have a more difficult time recovering from disappointment than those who have those skills. It is important to learn the skills to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll land among the stars.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> \u00e2\u20ac\u201dNorman Vincent Peale<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everyone has hopes and dreams, but not everyone takes the steps necessary to make them a reality. Are any of these common fears keeping you stuck in place?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2882,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[31,390,25,416],"class_list":["post-29908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-articles","tag-psychotherapy-practice","tag-fear","tag-psychotherapy-issues","tag-self-doubt"],"acf":{"author_show":false,"author_name":"","author_role":"","author_avatar":null,"author_profile_url":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2882"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29908\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}