Your Dream Life May Not Be For Everyone (...and that's okay)
My purpose in life is to help others discover their passions and design lives around these passions. For some of my clients, this means creating a business, for others this means finding a partner to share their life with or defining a healthier lifestyle and for others this means changing careers or finding a way to supplement their income in order for them to live a more purposeful life. Whatever their passion is, I wholeheartedly believe that they deserve to live a bold, passion-filled and purposeful life. Do you believe that you deserve this? (Say it: “I deserve to live a bold, passion-filled and purposeful life.” Can you feel your power yet?)
Designing your dream life is totally possible, I did it and so can you. I worked with top-notch business coaches, leaders and trainers to start my own company and grow it to the point where I was able to leave my old job and have the life and business that I wanted. By doing this, I also became so much happier and so much more in tune with who I was. I started loving myself and also fell in love in the process; living out my passion allowed everything in my life to come full circle.
I’m not sharing this with you to boast of my accomplishments, I am sharing this with you in service of YOU creating your own dream life. What does your dream life look like? Spend some time with this question. Think deeply on this, meditate on it, journal on it and don’t let this opportunity to visualize your future pass you by.
Now that you have a good idea of what your dream life looks like, consider what it feels like. How free will you feel when you are making the money you yearn to make? How comforting does it feel to have the partner and family you desire by your side? Can you breath easier knowing that you no longer have to live or work in a place that causes you anxiety or stress? I know how bad you want it and as I said before, you deserve it.
Here’s the tricky part though, do the people in your life think you deserve it, too? Are the people in your life supporting your dream? One of the first things my coach advised me of when we first got started building my dream life was to be mindful of who I was sharing my story with. Many of the people in my life are fabulous and successful and inspiring, however, none of them had what I wanted nor had done what I was planning to do. Most of my friends and family were happy and content with their lives, however none of them had quit their jobs to go off on their own and create their dream business. Would it be in service of my dream to share what I was up to with these people?
Well, of course at first when my vulnerability was high and my self-confidence was relatively low, I was seeking everyone’s approval and support. Most of them just thought this was “a phase” and that I would go back to my teaching job within a year. Needless to say, I didn’t get much support and I definitely didn’t get the approval I was seeking.
Nothing was wrong with the reactions that I received from many friends and family members. In their defense, they were being cautious and protective. They feared I would fail and be unhappy and I think my parents mostly feared that I would end up back under their roof. Their responses to me were rooted in fear and their own negative thought patterns and as much as they tried to be encouraging, there was always a question like: “What if it doesn’t work out?” or “You can always go back to teaching, right?”
For the sake of my business and myself I had to make a commitment to stop sharing what I was up to with most of the people in my inner circle. Of course they wanted the best for me and they wanted me to succeed, but their fears were clouding their support and negatively affecting the dream life I was creating.
Whenever we are creating something, whether it is a new career, a new lifestyle, a passion project or love, we are naturally vulnerable. Therefore, seeking out support is often part of the process. We share what we are up to with people in our lives and hope for their support and approval to keep us going when we may be in doubt. Unfortunately, some of the people in our lives we share our dreams with, tend to bring us more doubt than the loving support we crave.
If you are on a path towards creating your dream life, whom are you sharing your story with? Are they supportive of you? Are the friends and family that you are enrolling in your dream life capable of fearlessly standing by you? Be aware of the outside support you are seeking and ask yourself if it is truly serving you and your purpose. If your gut is telling you to design your dream life and someone else in your life is cautioning you, whose voice is louder? Not everyone shares your dream or your vision and not everyone is equipped to stand for you in that space, and that’s okay.
I challenge you to think about the dream life that you want to create and think about who you are sharing this with. On my path, I have been guided to many groups of female entrepreneurs, coaches, and supportive communities of like-minded people and I would welcome you to do the same. Seek out a coach or a supportive group of people going after what you are going after or who have already gotten it. People who have you are creating are out there, people who believe in success, love and abundance are out there; seek and you will find (or email me and I’ll hook you up).
If your gut is telling you to go for it and the people in your life aren’t, go with your gut and trust me, you are not alone.
