Workout: Start Your Dream
14 Jun 2021 · 6 min
In this podcast episode Brendon Burchard explores why people hesitate to pursue their dreams, arguing that the root cause is not the dream itself but the fear of how they will feel and be perceived while chasing it. He distinguishes embarrassment—being seen starting small or being rejected—from the broader anxiety of overwhelm. Burchard advises listeners to rewire their mindset by accepting small, scrappy beginnings, focusing on the first incremental steps (the "first mile"), and building momentum through modest daily goals. He emphasizes the importance of mentorship, studying the journeys of successful people, and consuming relevant biographies and talks to gain clarity and confidence. Throughout, he uses personal anecdotes (e.g., his early video viewership) to illustrate that starting small is a natural part of the growth process and that each small audience member represents impact. The core message is to honor the discomfort, start modestly, and let incremental progress lead to larger success.
Chapters
People say, brendan, I'm scared to start my dream. I'm like, you're not scared to start your dream. You're embarrassed to be seen starting small. Big difference. It's not about the dream that's freaking you out. It's about how you're gonna feel chasing the dream. It's about how you're gonna be perceived chasing the dream. It's about how you fear at night it won't turn out the way you wanted. It's not about the dream. It's about how you're processing the. How it will feel chasing the dream. And once you figure that out, you see that you can rewire yourself. You can teach yourself to think differently about the journey and the process. Cause, look, no matter how small you start, start something that matters. Start something that brings your life back, you know, Start something that makes your heart feel full. Start something that does scare you. Allow that fear, allow that worry, allow that anxiety a little bit. Because that's just saying you're growing, you're. You're learning, you're changing, you're getting going. But let's be very clear. Most people, what they're really scared about is being embarrassed. Well, I don't know. If I quit my job and I start this thing, what do my co workers think when I do that? I don't know. If I start this, what are my friends gonna say when they see me playing small and not doing big things? Because every big project starts with small little tasks that don't look sexy. Oh, what's everyone think about me that I chose this route when the other thing was over here and that was a better choice? Well, what people are scared about is being rejected or more being embarrassed. I tell people all the time, don't be embarrassed to start small. When I started, I was okay with the fact that it was like 10 people watched my videos. You know, nine of them was my mom on a different browser, probably hitting refresh to make me feel better about myself. You know, like, I accepted the fact that starting small was part of the game. Instead of bemoaning that I honored that process, I said, that is part of it. Being small in a big pond with big fish is part of the game. And only until you keep playing, keep moving, keep building, do you ever become one of the big fish. You have to be okay with being small. And so if you start your channel or you start your thing and only 100 people watch it, hey, that's 100 people who heard your message. That's 100 people who you help. That's 100 people who you change your mindset for. That's 100 people who let you do your own thing and watch. And even if they were haters, at least you started penetrating their mind. Get in the game. Never be embarrassed about starting small or scrappy or crappy, because that's part of the journey. It's supposed to be that way. So don't fear it. Acknowledge that's part of it. I'm gonna honor that. Let's go. The reason people are scared to start their dream is because they're seeing this big, complex thing. I mean, they're looking out and it's this huge thing. They see the complexity of the final vision of the dream. And so starting now is too overwhelming. They're not scared to start the dream. They're scared of the feeling of feeling overwhelmed. That's what they're scared of. So how do you deal with that? Stop thinking. You have to have everything perfect and complete at the beginning. The finish line is 26 miles ahead with. What matters now is step one, two, three, four, the first mile. You need to figure out what is the first mile towards your dream, not what's the finish line look like. Of course, if you look at the finish line, it's intimidating. You look at somebody who already has the business you want. You look at somebody who already has the car and the dream, the house and the perfect life, and they've done it all already. They're 5, 10, 15, 20 years in front of you, and it seems so complex. You say, why should I even start? Look how far ahead they are. They. They had more miles. They put more miles in. But you can't compete with their miles. You gotta start with your first step right here, right now. You go, okay, I'm gonna be okay. Starting small. And instead of trying to in day one, have it all complete and take on all the complexity, I'm gonna do one thing here. Three goals today, three goals the next day, Three goals the next day. And I'm gonna get that momentum going. Cause with that momentum comes more motivation. With that momentum, more. More learning. With that momentum, more progress. But it only begins if you're okay starting small and taking on little bites at your dream and not trying to eat the whole thing all at once because it will overwhelm you. People are scared to start their big dreams because they fear their dream won't work out. They think, oh, well, Brendan, you know, what if I do all that work? And on the other side of things, the grass isn't greener. And I went through all that work, and I put my heart and I put my soul into it. Bren, it doesn't work. I mean, how I feel about myself. And I have responsibilities to my family or to other people. And I do all the things that doesn't turn out. And they're so scared it's not going to work. And that's why I say, my friend, get yourself a mentor. Get yourself a plan. Get yourself in the proximity of someone who's done it before so they can guide you, so they can cheer you on. Of course you're gonna fear it's not gonna work out if you can't see where it's gonna go, if you can't see how other people have gotten there. So read their biographies. Study their process. Read their books, take their courses, Engage their material. Ask the questions. The world is full of mentors that you can access with a direct message. Now use that. Ask the questions. There's seminars, there's live events, there's online courses, everywhere available for you. There's a bajillion TED Talks, there's a bajillion biographies. Why aren't you consuming more of those? To understand people's emotional journey, to understand their process, to understand the big decisions that they made, to understand their regrets, to understand their lessons. Of course you're scared to start if you haven't seen the illuminated journey of others. But once you see the map they took, once you hear their process, once you learn the mistakes they made, now that emboldens you. Your mind goes, oh, I got a little more clarity here. With more clarity comes more confidence. With more clarity, confidence, momentum, you'll go after that. My dream, my friend, no matter how small you start, start something that matter.