Are our biggest “dream thieves and life vampires” the ones of our own making? If so, what can we do to hold them at bay?
John Cena, of WWE and “Are you smarter than a 5th grader” fame, was
reflecting on the advice he got from a different former wrestler turned mega-actor,
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as he was freaking out about preparing for an audition: “He gave me a piece of advice that still rings in my ears like he said it yesterday. I don’t even know if he knows this was such sage advice, he just turned to me as smooth and casual as he does with everything he says, and in such an inspirational tone, as with everything he does, he was like, ‘Just be yourself, man. That’s why they asked you there in the first place.’ And that message of ‘always be authentically yourself’ has stuck with me, and created the opportunity I have. Thank you, The Rock.”
The surfing legend,
Layne Beachley, talks about how despite being barraged by “
dream thieves and life vampires” - who attempted to reinforce negative self-doubts around why she would not be able to achieve her dreams of being a world-class surfer - her own personal vision and the fact that she chose to surround herself with people who constructively encouraged her to be better, allowed her to ignore the thieves and vampires.
The writer
Kahlil Gibran, is often known together with the quote: “And God said “Love Your Enemy,” and I obeyed him and loved myself”.
Why is it that we can be our own worst enemy - and conversely, our own best coach?
The hurdle is called
Imposter Syndrome - which, simply put, is the feeling like you haven’t really earned your achievements and what is coming next might go completely haywire because you are not ready or have the necessary expertise to master the challenges at your doorstep. It is a hurdle that many of the most amazing people that I know struggle with. Heck, I myself am a card-carrying member of this crowd.
Therefore, befitting to Halloween to
unsheathe the “dream thieves and life vampires”, some thoughts and advice from others on how one can to tackle the very real self-driven challenge to personal growth and professional development. Where the actualization to ‘always be authentically yourself’ turns out to be a very good thing - and not a scary costume.
