He Gave Up His Dream. I Nearly Gave Up Mine Too.

The moment I realised I didn’t have to stay stuck

I used to think digital products were complicated. Then I made $3,752 in 10 days from one I created in a weekend. In my free masterclass next week, I’ll show you how I did it — step-by-step. Want in? Grab your seat now.

---

Most people don’t regret their mistakes. They regret the dreams they never chased.

Meet Joe. He had a dream. Not a vague, one-day sort of dream. A real one.He wanted to fish in all 52 US states. To feel the tug of the line. To stand in the stillness. To live slow. Free. Present. And then he got the chance.

A remote job came up. He could travel. Work from anywhere. He could do it. But he didn’t.

Because fear is sneaky.

It doesn’t show up waving red flags. It shows up sounding responsible:

• That’s not practical.

• What if you run out of money?

• You’re 36. Shouldn’t you own a house by now?

So he stayed.

Same job. Same routine. Dream? Quietly shelved. He didn’t say no.
He just didn’t say yes. And every time he drove past the tackle shop on his way to the office, something inside him winced.

His dream didn’t die. It just drifted out of reach.

I think about Joe a lot.

Because honestly? I could’ve been him. A couple of years ago, I found myself in a rut. I liked my job well enough. I had a mortgage. A decent car. Nothing dramatic was wrong. But it felt like I was living on autopilot.

And underneath it all, there was this persistent nudge:

You should be writing.

Not someday. Not when it made more sense. Now. So I made a quiet promise to myself. I’d get up at 6:00 a.m. Before the house woke up. Before emails and meetings and life kicked in.

And I’d write.

Just 90 minutes a day. That was the deal. No one knew I was doing it. It wasn’t glamorous. Just me, a latte in my favourite mug, and the quiet silence of the early morning.

At first, it felt pointless. No audience. No feedback. No likes. Just a whole lot of showing up for… what exactly? But something shifted. Slowly.

Not outside — inside. That morning time became sacred. Peaceful.Mine. And somewhere along the way, without realising it, I started becoming a writer.

Six months in, people began to notice.

An email here. A comment there. Hey, I loved that piece you wrote. Then more came. Shares. Followers. DMs from strangers saying, This is exactly what I needed today.

Twelve months later, I’d accidentally built a writing business. And I quit my full-time job.

But the biggest win?

I stopped waiting for permission. I realised something most people never do. You don’t need to be chosen. You just need to start.

The truth is, Joe’s story and mine aren’t that different. He had a dream. So did I. We both felt the pull.But I said yes. And that made all the difference.

I know how easy it is to stay stuck.

You’ve got bills. A routine. People who expect certain things from you. It feels safer to stay where you are. But safe and fulfilled? They rarely live in the same house.

If you’ve been feeling the itch. To write, to create, to do something that feels like you again. I want to tell you something I wish someone had told me:

You don’t need a full plan. You just need a start.

Here’s what helped me move:

1. Name what you love

Forget what sounds impressive. What would you do if no one was watching?

That’s the thing to follow.

2. Start small and scared

You don’t need to quit your job tomorrow.

But can you carve out 30 minutes a day? Or one hour a week? Make it doable. Then start.

3. Be OK building in the quiet

Growth often looks like nothing at all. Until suddenly, it doesn’t. You’ll write and feel like it’s going nowhere. Keep going anyway.

That’s where the magic is.

4. Let go of the need to impress

You weren’t made to win other people’s approval. You were made to do work that makes you proud.

You don’t need that Mercedes. You need meaning.

I think Joe still dreams about those rivers. He might even tell himself he’ll go “someday.” But dreams don’t wait forever. And deep down, you know this.

That thing you’ve been putting off? The one that keeps tugging at your attention? That’s your version of fishing in all 52 states. It might not make sense on paper. But it makes sense in your soul.

And that’s more than enough.

Start with what you’ve got. Start when it’s awkward. Start when it’s inconvenient. But start. Because fulfillment? It’s not something you find. It’s something you build. And you build it by saying yes.

One small, brave, ordinary morning at a time.

Derek

PS. I have 545 subscribers when I created my first digital product. Next Wednesday, in my free masterclass. I’m sharing my 3 secrets with you. Book your spot here.