You know your purpose in life.

So you dream of your words connecting with readers. You dream of finishing a story you’re proud to share with the world. You dream of your pages spreading like wildfire across blogs, book clubs, and best-seller lists.

And while those are wonderful dreams, their weight can impact you in wicked ways.

In fact, I believe your writing dreams are suppressing your spirit. And you may not even be aware of it.

How? Why?

These are the 5 reasons your writing dreams are decaying your soul:

1. Your dreams cause you to sleepwalk through everyday life.

People often fall into a nonstop dream state that distances them from the real world.

They constantly fantasize about the stuff they should be doing to reach their dreams when they should be paying attention to their surroundings.

They imagine the next great scene they should be writing when they should be enjoying their kids laughing a few feet away.

They think about the depths of their antagonist in the grocery store line when they should be observing the real-life characters standing nearby.

Your soul lives for more than the dreams you pursue.

Your soul draws from every moment in the waking life to help you keep moving toward your dreams.

But far too many people stop acknowledging today’s smiles, tears, giggles, frowns, fear, love, and so much more.

Be careful because your soul may stop feeding your dreams if you stop feeding your soul.

• Dream a little dream: Become more than a soul sleepwalking through life, and behold the lives thriving at your side.

2. Your dreams make you discount past dreams.

You live in a world of more.

More likes. More readers. More dreams. More everything.

Finishing a draft. Launching a website. Getting mentors.

Those were a few of my past dreams that I’ve reached except I already take them for granted.

Damn me because I’m often a spoiled fool who doesn’t appreciate the dream I’m actually living.

I’m willing to bet you’ve experienced a dream that’s come true?

If so, your soul loathes you for not appreciating what you’ve already actualized.

• Dream a little dream: Remain lucid to the dreams that have come true in your life, and be grateful for every dream you’re living today.

3. Your dreams make you selfish.

Ever seen a writer achieve something you dreamed of accomplishing?

Maybe they wrote something similar to what you were writing. And that made you wonder if they snatched your spot because there were only so many dreams that could be granted?

Your soul hates it when you waste time worrying about other people reaching their dreams.

Because dream banks do not exist. There are no withdrawal limits when it comes to dreams.

That means your dreams can come true even if other people achieve similar dreams before you. So you must create without envy because your soul will resent you for dreaming with a scarcity mentality.

• Dream a little dream: Save your soul some stress. Support and encourage others in their pursuit because there are plenty of dreams to go around.

4. Your dreams snowball into pure mayhem.

Your soul is going to grow and evolve at rates you can’t always keep up with.

One year you’re dreaming of becoming a bestselling author. The next year you’re dreaming of becoming a big-time blogger.

You’re an imaginative person so you’re capable of conjuring up countless dreams. And with all those dreams breeding inside your soul, it becomes chaotic to know which one to focus upon.

So your dreams cause imbalance because they’re all vying for attention.

I’ve experienced this. My website is getting more attention than ever. My novel has never been closer to being published.

Yet new dreams are blossoming all the time.

My soul yearns for me to change my blog to support all writers, and not just storytellers. My soul compels me to offer a course to help other storytellers reach their goals faster. My soul challenges me to publish posts that will be scrutinized by the masses.

My soul barks so loud that it’s burdened by all the new dreams being stacked on top of each other.

Wow, what an exciting set of problems to navigate!

• Dream a little dream: Acknowledge all your dreams because they all deserve attention. Recognize which are most important, focus there, and then persevere.

5. Your dreams drive you to self-sabotage.

Fear can overwhelm you when things start getting too dreamy.

Because it’s one thing to dream about fantasy island, but it’s a whole other thing to live on it.

You wonder if you deserve the dream. You contemplate if you earned it. You’re scared you won’t be able to maintain it.

So just before a dream comes true (or after), you’ll do whatever it takes to ruin your new terrain.

You’ll self-sabotage. You’ll come up with excuses for why your dream shouldn’t be real.

I’ve done this myself. I’m on the cusp of doing some dreamy stuff except I’m doing everything listed above.

I’m writing this so I can overcome my terror and fulfill my dreams. Are you brave enough to come along?

• Dream a little dream: Start telling yourself today that you’re worthy of your dreams because you may need every available affirmation to process and accept that truth.

Never Stop Dreaming

Straight up, I miss the days when my dreams didn’t haunt my soul.

Except there’s no going back because I know what I’m meant to accomplish in the limited time I’ve got left on this rock.

I’m thinking you do, too.

So I know you’ll keep moving toward your writing dreams. I just request you do it without crushing your soul.