 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate to do. The above is the lamentation of Apostle Paul in the book of Romans chapter 7, verse 15. Humans have always found themselves talking and wishing from time immemorial, sometimes hoping that something changes in their lives, countries, or even the world. But why do we love talking? Why are there so little actions in the world? Why do we do what we hate and avoid the things that can change our lives? I'll attempt in this video to share with you three reasons why you might always dream and wish instead of fighting for your dreams and how to start taking actions right now. If you're new here, consider subscribing. 1. Actions Bring Pain About five years ago, one of my good friends visited my home. I was so broke that I had to get money from him to entertain him. I was married then, but my wife and I lived in an uncompleted building without electricity or even a toilet. And some of you wouldn't believe that, but I am saying the truth. You see, this friend that visited me happened to be one of the guys we always dreamed together about how we would build a successful company and make a lot of money. But what happened at this point in my life was I had been in the business world for more than seven years without a single success, so I was probably the poorest person among my friends since many of them had jobs. Now, think about that. Who in the world will want to live his life in such suffering I subjected myself into? Who in the world wants to suffer for many years when his mates are having the good life? This is why we only dream. We dream, we wish and we want. We avoid actions because it brings pains. But look at life from this angle. Pain brings pleasure. For example, consider the story I told you about myself. As God would have it, I had my breakthrough just a year after my friend visited. In a few months, I started making more money than almost everyone I knew. Today, I make more money in a single month than most people I know can make in a year. Cross and crown don't start with the letter C for nothing. Pain and pleasure don't start with the letter P for nothing. People who wear crowns today are those who carried a cross yesterday. People who know true pleasure today are those who willingly endured pains yesterday. Though humans want to avoid pain, pain is the door that leads to true pleasure. So embrace pains. 2. We're not sure of success Another reason why we only dream and wish is that we're not sure of success. You see, humans are skeptical by nature. Where is God? That's the question in the mind of millions of people. If we can't see God, why do you say He exists? Where is the coronavirus? That was the question for many minds for many months in the year 2020. Even when hundreds of thousands of people were dying in front of the TV cameras, millions of people still asked, where is it? Would I ever succeed? That's the question in the minds of everyone who wants to take action. Unfortunately, there is never a guarantee. We're never sure we'll succeed and we can never really be sure. People who succeed eventually are those who dear their dreams with all tenacity, even when they're not sure they can ever succeed. When I started out as an entrepreneur, everyone in my family was against my decision. These people love me and they knew that nobody in my family had ever done what I told them I would do. They are all older than me and they have experiences about failing. They knew one or two people who had tried things in the past and failed, so logically they wanted to prevent me from destroying my life. I had no certainty, but I was driven by the fact that poverty is worse than death. I know some of you don't like me to make such a desperate statement, but that's my conviction. I grew up in a Nigerian village where poverty is real. I knew what it felt like when my father could not take me to the hospital even though I was born with a sickle cell disease. I knew what it felt like when we had to wait for Christmas to drink tea. I know. Don't tell me what I already know. I know that poverty is worse than death, so when I decided to build a company, even though I was not 100% sure of my success, a part of me wanted to be rich or die trying to build a legitimate business. That's why Eric Thummer said, when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful. And what you want to achieve is truly important if your life seems meaningless without it. If it is as important to you as oxygen, you'll fight with your last breath. 3. A part of us wish there was a magical way to succeed. Humans will forever believe in magic and quick riches. The reason for that is those are part of us that cannot understand why life is as difficult as it is. This even becomes more complex when some of us claim that there's a God in heaven. How on earth does that make sense to anyone? How can there be a love in God yet He abandoned us in this terrible place where achieving anything is almost impossible? Well, I believe there's God and I don't have answers to your questions, but there's one thing I do know. You'll never have it easy, no matter how much you secretly wish to have it easy. Life is difficult. It is a battleground. It's about conflicts and confrontations. It's about persistence and perspiration. I don't know why that is the case, but I want to appeal to you to stop expecting it the other way. Beat up the lazy part of you who wishes to get rich tomorrow. Shut up the ignorant part of your brain that thinks that other people who succeeded were lucky. Lock up the innocent part of you that exaggerates every pain as though it happens to you only. We're all in the same mess. We're all in the same prison. None of us has it easy. So share up and face the fight. Stop wishing that things come to you easily. Be proactive. That's the advice of Stephen Covey. Fight the good fight of fate. That's what Apostle Paul advised. Let me stop my rant here and hope that this video helped someone. My name is Steve Courage. I'm a Nigerian entrepreneur based in Lagos. If you wish to know more about me, see my ugly face or consume videos I specifically make for Africans, check the description box and join my new channel where I show my face and teach Africans how to build successful businesses. I love you.