Realise your Dreams
“DOUBT KILLS MORE DREAMS THAN FAILURE EVER WILL”
-Suzy Kassem
"I have wonderful dreams and plans. Well-defined goals. And they often look amazing on paper, but I battle to realise them! I find myself in a minefield of insecurities and an overwhelming urge to give up. As the pressure is building up, I wake up in the middle of the night, unable to breathe properly and with terrible pain on my chest. I went to the doctor, but he said it was panic attacks. Therapy is my last resort!"
The 30 something man sitting in my consulting room appears to be highly successful. He is a manager at an engineering firm. He was a top student. Why does he feel so insecure? Why does he battle to realise his dreams?
Some of my clients do not get panic attacks, but they have a constant fear that something might go wrong. That they will not perform according to a boss' standards, or that they will disappoint their family, or that they might lose their job ... or ... or.
How do we explain extreme anxiety? We often say that it is due to "stress" and that we should take a break more often. Take by all means more breaks and have relaxing weekends and holidays with your family. But that is often not the core issue.
Jeff Bezos (currently the world’s richest man), said something to the effect of the following: Hard work does not create stress. You will be invigorated by hard work if you love your job. Procrastinating to address an important issue creates enormous stress. Address that issue, and you will be able to relax and perform optimally.
We often doubt our ability to be successful. Our thoughts go back to failures and disappointments, and we ask questions like, Why? What did I do wrong? Am I going to make the same mistakes again? And what then?
But we shy away from addressing it.
I want to quote Jeff Bezos again. He talks about projecting yourself forward to age 80, saying, ‘Okay, now I'm looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have."
What do you need to do to minimise the regrets that you might have at age 80? Do you have to get rid of your insecurities? Do you need to figure out how you got here and how to get to a better place? A place that you truly want to be. A place that could open doors to success, fulfillment and happiness?
It might be surprisingly easy to find your way to your best hopes once you have committed yourself to therapy.
A client says the following:
I was completely stuck when I went for therapy. My life was in shambles. I used too much alcohol, my boss called me in and slapped me on the wrist, and my wife threatened to leave me. Therapy was a step by step process. I have expected a lot of fluff, but I appreciated Cizelle's rational approach. She asked sensible questions about things that I never thought of, and I was surprised by the results. I am now focused, much more relaxed, and I have managed to scale down on the alcohol.
©Cizelle Louw 2021
-Suzy Kassem
"I have wonderful dreams and plans. Well-defined goals. And they often look amazing on paper, but I battle to realise them! I find myself in a minefield of insecurities and an overwhelming urge to give up. As the pressure is building up, I wake up in the middle of the night, unable to breathe properly and with terrible pain on my chest. I went to the doctor, but he said it was panic attacks. Therapy is my last resort!"
The 30 something man sitting in my consulting room appears to be highly successful. He is a manager at an engineering firm. He was a top student. Why does he feel so insecure? Why does he battle to realise his dreams?
Some of my clients do not get panic attacks, but they have a constant fear that something might go wrong. That they will not perform according to a boss' standards, or that they will disappoint their family, or that they might lose their job ... or ... or.
How do we explain extreme anxiety? We often say that it is due to "stress" and that we should take a break more often. Take by all means more breaks and have relaxing weekends and holidays with your family. But that is often not the core issue.
Jeff Bezos (currently the world’s richest man), said something to the effect of the following: Hard work does not create stress. You will be invigorated by hard work if you love your job. Procrastinating to address an important issue creates enormous stress. Address that issue, and you will be able to relax and perform optimally.
We often doubt our ability to be successful. Our thoughts go back to failures and disappointments, and we ask questions like, Why? What did I do wrong? Am I going to make the same mistakes again? And what then?
But we shy away from addressing it.
I want to quote Jeff Bezos again. He talks about projecting yourself forward to age 80, saying, ‘Okay, now I'm looking back on my life. I want to have minimized the number of regrets I have."
What do you need to do to minimise the regrets that you might have at age 80? Do you have to get rid of your insecurities? Do you need to figure out how you got here and how to get to a better place? A place that you truly want to be. A place that could open doors to success, fulfillment and happiness?
It might be surprisingly easy to find your way to your best hopes once you have committed yourself to therapy.
A client says the following:
I was completely stuck when I went for therapy. My life was in shambles. I used too much alcohol, my boss called me in and slapped me on the wrist, and my wife threatened to leave me. Therapy was a step by step process. I have expected a lot of fluff, but I appreciated Cizelle's rational approach. She asked sensible questions about things that I never thought of, and I was surprised by the results. I am now focused, much more relaxed, and I have managed to scale down on the alcohol.
©Cizelle Louw 2021
