your time will come

The adage ‘Follow your dreams’ sounds poetic, inspirational and Disney-que on paper, but it’s not exactly an easy path. It’s not a fairytale by any means, in fact, it’s a long and difficult road ahead. 

It may take weeks, months and even years of waiting as you pursue your dream from the time of its inception to the time that the dream becomes real. 

It takes perseverance, patience and a great deal of time to actualize your dreams. While you watch other people unlock might achievements and achieve what seems like an overnight success, you will be gradually inching forward seeing little signs of progress. You may feel like a school kid who wants to get in the game but is denied because of his size. You know you can excel in the field if you get the chance, but still, you find yourself sitting on the sidelines instead of playing.

But who knows there’s a purpose behind this waiting. Although it may not be what you want at that time and it’s not exactly fun, but the waiting actually helps you grow and become a better person. It prepares you for the work that you ‘ll do in the future. It refines and redefines your approach and makes you feel more grounded and humble. 

There’s a good chance that you may need to take certain jobs that don’t take full advantage of your skills, but you need to march on and still do them anyway. Even if it may not look like it, you need to trust that you are progressing towards your dream job. 

Ken Coleman, a career expert and the radio host of The Ken Coleman Show, reveals that getting to his dream job was not a cakewalk for him; it took him years to develop his skillset and connect with the right people. 

He writes, “When I was stuck in my job and started over by working toward my dream of being a broadcaster, there was no way for it to happen quickly or easily. And it wasn’t exactly glamorous. I went to broadcast school with 20-year-olds (while I was in my mid-30s!). I recorded my first podcast in a 5-foot-by-5-foot sound booth—with no air conditioning—in the heat of a Georgia summer. I spent years finding the right people and right places and built relationships from the ground up. And you know what? Every single part of it was worth it to get where I am today—helping people who are going through exactly what I went through.”

So, if you feel that there’s still a long way to become who you want to be and to be where you want to be in your heart of hearts, take the advice that Ken Coleman’s father gave to him:

“Stay with it. Your time will come!”

PS: If you’d like to learn more about how to get your dream job, you can check out Ken Coleman’s new book The Proximity Principle.