One of My Biggest Dreams Has Come True – And Yours Can Too

Do you have dreams that you never tell anyone?

Not the kind that happen when you sleep, but the kind that tug on your heart. Those deep wishes you have for your life. Those things that you sometimes try to push away because they seem too stupid, too unrealistic, something for someone else – not you.

I used to do that all the time. I’ll never forget in 9^th grade when we had to write – using all our senses – what our life would look like in 10 years. 

I remember the white flowy curtains, the condo overlooking the bright blue ocean and sky, the line between them almost indistinguishable. And I remember writing a book at my desk. I was an author.

Aside from turning that assignment in I never talked about my dream of writing a book. It just seemed silly.  And so I never thought about it again.

Until one day in a College Success class at my community college. We were asked to write down declarative goals for our life.

All of a sudden I remembered that 9^th grade assignment.

So I wrote it down: I will write a book.

And then last year, I wrote it down for the third time. This time, I printed it out and taped it all over my apartment. Now my walls were keeping me accountable and it was time to move forward.  The goal was all over the place on little yellow post-its:

Have book published by August 2011.

And on August 30^th exactly – I got the e-mail from my agent saying a publisher wanted my community college success book and would be sending the contract over shortly.

The reality of this still hasn’t fully hit me. The image of that young woman in her beachside condo writing a book has always been so vivid to me – and deep down it’s always seemed like someone else. And now I can hardly believe it’s actually me.

While I don’t live on the beach (yet) I’m writing you right now starting at the pond outside my window (close enough…for now) and realizing that I wrote that “what will your life be like in 10 years” assignment when I was 14. My book is being published at age 24.

If you do the math correctly, this will tell you that writing your goals down actually works. And more than that, believing in yourself  (even when you feel doubtful) is key.

How do you picture your life in a few years? What do you see? What do you smell? How do you feel?

What do you want?

Picture it. Taste it. Feel like it’s already your life.

Write it down.

And then believe you can do it. And go.  

College can be starting off point for your dreams. If it is anything less then why bother?

Making your dreams a reality is so easy it’s almost scary. The problem is so many of us get hung up in our own heads, our own negative thinking. The first and most important step is truly believing you are capable of reaching that goal.

Step 1 - Imagine what you want your life to be. How do you feel? What is around you? How are you contributing to the world?

Step 2 – Write it down. All of it.

Step 3 – Start talking about your dreams to other people. And like Yoda says, stop yourself from using the word “try.”

Step 4 - Start doing something today that moves you towards that goal.

Step 5 – Remember that failure is a good sign - it means you’re trying.

Step 6 – Keep going. Every day.

If you'd like to be a part of my book dream and be the first to know when my book will be available, what it's all about, and learn about ways you can get involved - join my mailing list in the top right-hand corner =) Thanks!