Five Reasons Why Dreams Don’t Take Flight by John C. Maxwell


Most of us never see our  dreams come true. Instead of soaring through the clouds, our dreams languish  like a broken-down airplane confined to its hangar. Through life, I have come  to identify five common reasons why dreams don’t take flight.

1. We Have  Been Discouraged from Dreaming by Others
 We have to pilot our own  dreams; we cannot entrust them to anyone else. People who aren’t following  their own dreams resent us pursuing ours. Such people feel inadequate when we  succeed, so they try to drag us down.

If we listen to external  voices, then we allow our dreams to be hijacked. At some point, other people  will place limitations on us by doubting our abilities. When surrounded by the  turbulence of criticism, we have to grasp the controls tightly to keep from  being knocked off course.

2. We Are  Hindered by Past Disappointments and Hurts
 In the movie Top Gun, Tom Cruise plays Maverick, a  young, talented, and cocky aviator who dreams of being the premier pilot in the  U.S. Navy. In the film’s opening scenes, Maverick showcases his flying ability  but also displays a knack for pushing the envelope with regard to safety.  Midway through the movie, Maverick’s characteristic aggression spells disaster.  His plane crashes, killing his best friend and co-pilot.

Although cleared of  wrongdoing, the painful memory of the accident haunts Maverick. He quits taking  risks and loses his edge. Struggling to regain his poise, he considers giving  up on his dream. Although the incident nearly wrecks Maverick’s career, he  eventually reaches within to find the strength to return to the sky.

Like Maverick, many of us  live with the memory of failure embedded in our psyche. Perhaps a business we  started went broke, or we were fired from a position of leadership.  Disappointment is the gap that exists between expectation and reality, and all  of us have encountered that gap. Failure is a necessary and natural part of  life, but if we’re going to attain our dreams, then, like Maverick, we have to  summon the courage to deal with past hurts.

3. We Fall  into the Habit of Settling for Average
 Average is the norm for a  reason. Being exceptional demands extra effort, sustained inspiration, and  uncommon discipline. When we attempt to give flight to our dreams, we have to  overcome the weight of opposition. Like gravity, life’s circumstances  constantly pull on our dreams, tugging us down to mediocrity.

Most of us don’t pay the  price to overcome the opposition to our dreams. We may start out inspired, but  through time we fatigue. Although never intending to abandon our dreams, we  begin to make concessions here and there. Through time, our lives become  mundane, and our dreams slip away.

4. We Lack  the Confidence Needed to Pursue Our Dreams
 Dreams are fragile. They  will be buffeted by assaults from all sides. As such, they must be supplied  with the extra strength of self-confidence.

In Amelia Earhart’s day,  women were not supposed to fly airplanes. If she had lacked self-assurance, she  never would have even attempted to be a pilot. Instead, Earhart confidently  chased after her dream, and she was rewarded with both fulfillment and fame.

5. We Lack the  Imagination to Dream
 For thousands of years,  mankind traveled along the ground: by foot, by horse-and-buggy, by locomotive,  and eventually by automobile. Thanks to the dreams of Orville and Wilbur  Wright, we now hop across oceans in a matter of hours. The imaginative brothers  overcame ridicule and doubt to pioneer human flight, and the world has never  been the same.

Many of us play small  because we do not allow ourselves to dream. We trap ourselves in reality and  never dare to go beyond what we can see with our eyes. Imagination lifts us  beyond average by giving us a vision of life that surpasses what we are  experiencing currently. Dreams infuse our spirit with energy and spur us on to  greatness.

"The best advice I ever came across on the subject of concentration is: Wherever you are, be there." —Jim Rohn


"Pay attention. Don't just stagger through the day." —Jim Rohn