Pursuit of the dream

By Daniel Vassen

Changing the trajectory of my life was something I have wanted for the longest time. Yet, wanting something and doing it is not always the same thing. It took an avalanche of adversity and heartache as well as reaching a breaking point for me to realize the life I was living is not the life I wanted. I had to pick myself up from my point of despair and reset my life. I needed a plan of action that I could execute, but it needs to be something that was simplistic in nature and still keep me focused on moving forward. In keeping with the line of thinking I unlocked a path that was doable and turns out teachable to others just a step or two behind me in this journey, we call life.

 

In this book, I lay out the simplistic path I followed in achieving my desire of living a life I cannot wait to wake up to. And no, money is not the by-product of happiness, so if you looking for some get the rich quick book then you would be better off giving this one a hard pass. This book focuses on practical skills you can apply to help make that paradigm shift in terms of your thinking and help elevate you out of what I call the valley experience and move you up the mountain to where the life you dream of lays and waits. In this book, you will find simplistic guides and teachings as to how to overcome everyday challenges in terms of your thinking which if left unchecked can derail you and keep you bound in a mundane existence. And hey, you are fearfully wonderfully created. You were not called to live a life of mediocrity. Now, there is a plethora of self-help books out there and many written by experts and legends in the field so why on earth would you want to read this book.

 

I simply believe that those books; as good as they are; do not connect with you on the level you currently find yourself in. A lot of them are speaking from a more elevated point of view and are describing the path for people a few steps ahead on this journey. The approach of this book is to bring it back to a ground level as the author makes this journey with you through share experiences and teachings of challenges you face in your everyday life. There is no superficial fluff being thrust upon you and you can feel the personality that comes through in the approach. It helps remind you that in a word of imperfect souls that you have value and that the key to unlocking your desires lies within you.

 

So, you can brush this off as another self-help book to be tossed on the bookshelf ready to collect dust or you can use it as a guide to direct your thinking through some of the principels shared and unlock the path to life you dream of. If you are ready to change the trajectory of your life from where you are to where you want to be, then reading this book is where you start.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Daniel Vassen
• Release date: Sep 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9780620960687

Book preview

Chapter 1:  Dealing with the situation

Looking back now my journey started the night I broke down and was ready to take my own life. For me to help guide you through the valley and walk with you into the promised land to the life you dream of living, we need to go to the darkest point first. In that, my darkest hour ever, taking my own life seemed like the only logical thing that I could do. I had lost that which meant more to me than life itself and there was just no point to continue. All I saw and could think of at that moment was how my marriage had fallen apart and how much it hurt not to have my wife sharing this life with me any longer. To compound matters, my business had failed and I was living at my sister’s place which for me was a huge step backwards. I have since learned in my journey that adversity is a phenomenal teacher and the lessons it teaches are far more valuable than any formal education ever could provide. See adversity does not come to break you down or to compound the misery that has already befallen you. No. And when – as I did – you change your view of adversity you start to see the opportunity that it brings. This is what puts you on the path to growth and working towards living the life you have always dreamed of living. As much as I was looking to convince myself that life as I knew it was over and that suicide was the only path left, life was not done with me yet. Yes, I was sulking asking myself how my life had imploded so quickly and so spectacularly. When you are shrouded in emotional darkness there is this relentless battle in your heart with an enemy who has no regard for residual damage and it can be very scary as well as very overwhelming. Your thoughts suddenly become your greatest enemy and your reasoning becomes your motivation to quit. In that moment of weakness, the darkest outcome seems to be the only logical step left for you to take. This is where the journey to turning my life around began and I will always be grateful for that night. I know that it might sound like a strange statement to make, but I am taking you there as I suspect some of you reading this book are probably headed down that path or a similar path of self-destruction. Do you think it is a coincidence that you are reading this book? Your life has a purpose and as much as it isn’t the attempt of this book to help you find your purpose, I want to remind you that you do matter. I know first-hand how quickly you can be overtaken by the darkness and how you can succumb to that feeling of hopelessness and despair. At the time of writing this book looking back, it was just two short years ago that I was there. When I say that the hurt and pain of that despair is still embedded very much in the forefront of my mind, I mean it. Except, instead of succumbing to the hurt of that moment of weakness I use it as motivation to push forward. I realized that the real turning point for me that night was why. WHY? Yes, why. I looked deep into my own heart and amid the darkness, I found two strong reasons to get up despite the overwhelming pain in my heart. I have two amazing daughters and the thought of them living a life without me was far more unbearable than the pain I was in due to living without my wife. These are the first two pearls of wisdom I want to impart to you as we make our way through this valley of darkness. If you missed them, don't worry. The goal is not to make the teachings of this book an enigma that only a select few can pick up on. We will delve into those two pearls soon.

Coming to terms with the reality that is

I like to think in life there are predominantly two main experiences we go through and it relates to all aspects of our lives. We have the top of the mountain experience where everything you do just seems to go according to plan and every part of your life just feels like it is in sync. Then you have the valley experience where you feel like everything and everyone is out to get to you. This is where we experience our greatest challenges and hardest battles. You are in a valley experience right now. You are not living the life you had previously dreamed of and the only way you can move forward is to start accepting that this is not the life you want. Right now, it is the life you have and only you can change the trajectory of your life. There is no magic formula or tablet you can take for a quick fix solution. There are many voices out there claiming they can show you the way and possibly some of them can lead you on a path that can take you closer to your goal. Regardless of what solutions they offer at the end of the day you still need to act. Besides, there are so many voices out there that you can lose your thoughts in the noise of their opinions. It is for this reason that I try to keep the information shared as grounded as possible. I want the context of this book to speak to you on a level that you can feel comfortable with and not feel like you are being schooled by some all-knowing guru who has been there and done that. Let’s be honest, we live in an information age where we are so privileged to have a myriad of information at our fingertips – quite literally speaking. Different people seem to be experts on just about any topic you can think of and they all seem to have some blog or advice column on how to adapt to or overcome the challenges you face. It can be easy to lose yourself in the information overload and for this reason I have chosen the simplistic route. Now as you go through this book you will find that I link back to a few thoughts. This is because of the magnitude of the role that these thoughts played in my development and the fact that they have been key in getting me on this path and I really want you to grasp them. Okay, that said let’s go back and visit the two pearls of wisdom I dropped