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I have seen and heard lot of people giving excuses for their inability to act out their dreams. The truth of the matter is that there is hardly anybody existing on this earth that does not have a dream or an object of desire. But the unfortunate thing is that majority put up reasons why they couldn't or wouldn't live their dreams.

When a dream comes to the mind of so many people, the first thing they do is to ask themselves, where the resources to achieve the dream will come from. Some people even doubt if they have the abilities to carry out such a dream. Another crippling question most ask is, 'What if I fail?' This is the most debilitating of all the reasons people don't achieve much in life. They tend to focus more on the impeding failure than success! Once this question comes to mind, you will start thinking of people who will mock you when you fail and this will stop you from even taking a step.

How many times have we heard the word, 'No pain, No gain?' What meaning does this word bring up in your mind? It is always frightening to take risks and try new things but those who try are those who succeed. If the Wright brothers have been crippled by the fear of failure, we will not have had the aeroplane today and we will be spending days, if not months, to get to our various destinations, for a journey of a few hours by the aeroplane. Other technological advancements also wouldn't have been possible if the thought of failure has predominated the mind of their architects.

One truth about failure/mistake is that we will keep making one as long as we are still humans. Your decision not to act may even be a GREATER mistake because you never can tell what you would have become if you have acted on your dreams. Mistakes make one grow in wisdom, experience and character. In order words, you will become wiser for just having tried.

Rick Warren, the author of 'Purpose Driven Life', writes: 'I could have taken a hundred gift and ability tests as a young man and would NEVER have discovered that I was gifted at teaching, because I had never done it! It was only after I began accepting opportunities to speak that I saw the results, received confirmation from others and realised God has gifted me to do this.' The same is applicable to every one of us; we never can tell what we can do unless we try.

So anytime a dream comes to your mind, instead of asking what if you fail, the question should be: 'What if I don't try?' Will you be able to imagine all the opportunities you will lose? Unless you are willing to risk getting involved, you are not going to know what you are good at.

The road to success is never mistake-free, but then neither is road to failure. So my dear, the choice is yours. I don't know what it will be like for you when you are on your death bead and you looked back at how you spent your life and it says: 'When it came time to die, I had not lived!' This is my greatest fear and it should be your only fear. Will you look back at your life and be happy or will it be full of regret?

Remember: THE CHOICE IS YOURS!

It is my greatest desire that this will be a year of great fulfilment for you.

This is to your success this year,

Adebola A. Oni