millennials fear and chasing dreamsLife as a Millennial can feel unpromisingly complex at times.

We wrestle through questions about work and what we’re supposed to with our lives. We struggle with the challenges of adulthood, trying to overcome the fears that with relationships, mortgages, and trying to make it on our own. We start our twenties sprinting toward the idea that we can change the world only to reach a point where we feel like we’re stumbling through life most days.

Despite the frustration, I’m starting to realize that these challenges and questions can be a good thing if we leverage them in the right way. My friend, Paul Angone captures this idea perfectly in his new book All Grown Up.

What Millennials Should Know About Success, Fear, and Chasing Your Dreams

Throughout the book, Paul weaves together personal stories from his twenties with incredible insights he learned along the way. Here are just a few of the brilliant truths I gained from Paul when it comes to success, failure, and chasing our dream:

  •  “Success looks so sexy, until you’re slushing through the muck and mundane to make it happen.” Overnight success is a seductive lie. In fact, a true overnight success is someone who has carried bucket after bucket of water to fill up a well. All people see and celebrate is a full well, but they didn’t see the countless hours, and tens-of-thousands of steps it took to get there.
  • “Fear is a liar that makes life seem impossible… and it will never go away.” Fear makes self-preservation a top priority. It tells us, “This is far enough,” when we’re still a long way from reaching the destination we set out for. We shouldn’t ignore our fear. Instead, we should embrace it. There will always be new fears we have to face in life. The better we can get at fighting it today, the more skilled we’ll be at facing it in the future.
  • “Don’t let a paycheck and comfort of life keep you from chasing your dream.” A lot of Millennials believe we were created to use our unique abilities and passions to do something significant in this world. However, once we enter the “real world” it can seem as if those dreams were for days spent playing in the sandbox. Instead, we trade in our dreams for a steady paycheck and a cubicle. In the book, Paul reminds us that we have dreams that are still worth chasing. Don’t let fear or comfort prevents you from pursuing the small whisper in your head calling you to do something significant.

As Millennials, the challenges of life force us to stretch ourselves. The questions we wrestle through require us to learn about ourselves. The disappointments we face help us realize that life goes on. This is part of the beautiful frustration of our twenties that Paul illuminates in All Grown Up.

What are you learning about success, fear, and chasing your dreams?