When Following Your Dreams Fails

There's a prevalent cultural mindset that following one's dreams leads to financial success. Dreams backed by hard work, perseverance, commitment, and dedication are supposed to result in emotional fulfillment, critical acclaim, and wealth. But this isn't always the case. Many people who follow their dreams fail.

Take the woman who hated her 9-5 job that paid $50,000 a year. After over a decade of on-the-job dissatisfaction she quit to follow her dreams of being a writer. Plenty of people make a good living from writing, but not her. Within a year she went from making $50K to being on welfare.

Then there's the couple who followed their dream of opening a sandwich shop. They invested everything they had, took out a sizable loan, and each worked 60+ hours a week. Short of two years after it opened, they lost the business. Shortly after that, their marriage failed, too.

Nobody likes to talk about, but nine out of 10 small businesses fail in the first year. Add to that the number of people who freelance without filing a DBA, and there are a lot of people failing in the name of following a dream. Here are the steps to recovery you can take if it happens to you:

Take a step back. Clearly, you're on the wrong path. Admit failure. Admitting that this path is leading to financial ruin might be the wisest thing you've done in a long time.

Re-evaluate. No one in financial ruin can truly say he's happy. Maybe there was a small part of your business plan that worked, even though a larger part didn't. Sort the good from the bad, be objective about what went wrong.

Mourn the loss. This was your dream, and your dream failed. That hurts. It's OK to mourn.

Don't let the failure define you. You failed. So what? At least you tried. Just because your endeavor failed doesn't mean you're a failure.

Learn from it. Don't make the same mistake again. People may tell you to keep trying. If these people are willing to unconditionally and indefinitely support you financially and emotionally, fine. If not, it's time to move on and become a productive member of society.

Start anew. This is different than trying again. This is saying, "I didn't make money pursuing my dream, so now I'm taking a job that pays better." Even when your dream fails, the experience adds new depth to your resume. Let this be the start of better days.

Sources:
http://mymodernlifestyle.com/7-truths-they-never-tell-you-to-follow-your-dreams/
http://www.gardnerbusiness.com/failures.htm
http://www.creativelivinginc.com/Articles/overcomingfailure.htm
http://storylog.com/how-my-start-up-failed/