I’ve
stalled in my writing about Peru… and maybe my dream of becoming a
writer is something I shouldn’t pursue, or at least that is what Phil
Cooke believes based on his article “Please, stop following your
dreams!” A friend of mine posted a link to the article on their Facebook page, and thought he might be onto something. Curious, I read the article and have to say, I agree with the premise... but only about as far as the author agrees with it. And on that note, maybe writing is not his thing. If you want to read his thoughts, before I corrupt them with my spin, here is a link: http://www.foxnews.com/
The
first issue I had with the article is the fact that he is an
'inspirational/ self help writer,' FROM HOLLYWOOD, promoting his self
help book, “One Big Thing: Discovering What You Were Born to Do,” and
yet, to make his point about not pursuing your dreams, he says this to
his reader: "But Hollywood, the self-help industry, the esteem movement
and well intentioned friends have led us down a far more romantic, but
ultimately destructive path." Since he has just described himself at
this point, I guess I should have stopped reading, and noted the fact that I
should NOT buy his book as well.
But
I continued to read, maybe because the article was like a car wreck and
I couldn’t look away, or it could have been that deep down, I know good
material when I see it, or curiosity as I claimed up front. In
the end, I finished the article, I reflected on the fact that I read
the article, and still I can’t explain why I wasted the time, and
continue to commit to this car wreck by describing the carnage here.
He continues his sales pitch with a list of 'four steps' on how you can stop following your dreams and find that ‘one thing.’ Typically self help like to narrow the task to ‘three easy steps.’ Or, they go for a nice round number like a ‘Top 10 List.’ Phil probably should have stopped at number one, his one thing, but he chose four. The first step is on point with his thesis that you should determine what you are good at and pursue it. Well done Phil.
I
suspect his publishers came back and told him a one chapter book was
not going to cut it, or maybe he came to this conclusion himself. At any rate, he decided to move on to step two and that is where he starts to stray. He doesn’t outright say ‘What is your dream?’ Instead, number two is, “What do you love?” He
asks, “What if you could actually make a living working at a job you
love? If you consider the whole working world, only a tiny minority of
people are actually pursuing a dream they’re passionate about."
Are
you kidding me?! His thesis was not to follow your dreams, and now he
is right back to his self help/motivation roots telling us to pursue the
dream!
Number three is really just number two in different wrapping paper. Instead
of inspiring you to pursue the dream you love, he now wants you to
pursue the thing you hate, as your 'destiny' of what you should
fix. Not what you could fix, or are good at fixing, but 'destined' to
fix. Sounds like your dreaming again Phil.
And
finally number four, again he is telling you, and I quote, "if you have a dream, what
foundation are you laying today for success"? I thought I wasn't
suppose to pursue my DREAM Phil!!!! I was suppose to find what I was good
at. My 'One Big Thing.'
Maybe self help is his thing, in so far as he should really start with helping himself.
The bottom
line is, if you don't think making your dream a reality is going to
take a lot of hard work and dedication, with a foundation of raw talent,
then you truly are only dreaming.
