I Had A Dream.

From the time I was 16 years old, I wanted to be a personal trainer and fitness model.

If you read May’s blog post, The Man, The Legion, you know that Jack Lalanne was a huge inspiration for me. He’s where it all began for me.

Then I discovered Jane Fonda, and more recently Ernestine Shepherd, and my dream continued to take shape.

Now, as a shy, insecure kid, working out felt like the ticket to confidence, the path to be more like these fit, smiling example.

I’d imagine myself training people and sharing these tools with them.

I’d imagine working out and reaching my goals and then becoming a model for what was possible for everyone who put in the work.

As early as 16 years old, this dream was clear to me.

But it took a long time before I started living it.

The thing is, a lot of people told me that dream was impossible.

They told me I wasn’t good enough.

They told me it was impossible to make a living training people.

They told me to give this dream up and go to college.

So I did. Sort of.

Well, I did go to college.

But I got my degree in corporate fitness because somewhere in me, that dream wouldn’t die.

I got my personal trainer certification before I was 20 years old, even while I was both a full-time student and had a job.

Because…let me say it again…somewhere in me, that dream wouldn’t die.

I listened to the advice the world gave me and I put my dream on hold for another 15 years.

15 years.

Despite that I loved to work out. Despite that I loved training others.

Despite that that dream wasn’t dead even if I’d let everyone convince me it should be.

It was buried. It was sleeping. But it was there.

I let it be something I “played” with.

Something I could do on the side, “just for fun” even though it was the thing I was most passionate about.

And then I signed up for my first yoga teacher training.

I learned about vision boards and I made one.

The instructor told us to think about what our dream life included, to really think about what we wanted our lives to look like, who we wanted to become.

And that old dream burst back to life in one gigantic “aha!" moment.

I had always known the answer to this.

I had always known what I wanted to do. Who I wanted to be.

But I let others convince me otherwise.

I let my own self-doubt be fed by other people’s doubts and fears.

I let my dream be pushed aside because others didn’t understand or believe in what I wanted, in my goals.

Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since those days.

Plenty of people in my life still think this choice is crazy.

They don’t understand why I would give up the security of my 9-5 job in order to own my own business.

They roll their eyes when I tell them this is what I’m passionate about.

And you know what?

I don’t mind at all.

When we step into the work we’re meant to do, we know it.

It feels right.

It feels powerful and authentic.

It feels undeniable.

We stop needing approval because we know, down to our bones, that this is what we love, what we’re meant for.

Even when it’s hard and self-doubt creeps in.

Even when it seems we don’t have a single ally and we’re in this struggle alone.

That shy, insecure kid I used to be is still here.

She still quakes a little at stepping into this work.

I just stopped letting her make my decisions.

This is the mental toughness I work to cultivate every single day.

You have gifts to share.

Gifts that whisper to you, that call to you, even when they feel farfetched in some way or everyone in your life thinks your dream is too big.

Your dream is NOT too big.

You don’t need anyone else to believe in your dreams.

You need YOU to believe in your dreams.

It won’t always be easy or comfortable, but you can do it.

Here are 3 things I do that have been huge in helping me stay the course:

• I create a yearly vision board and put ALL of my goals on it, no matter how crazy or farfetched they might feel. I cut out pictures that represent what I want, I cram it with inspirational words and people who have done what I want to do.

• I spend 10 minutes every morning actively visualizing my dreams as reality, getting as detailed as possible, seeing myself having accomplished my goals.

• I take some kind of action toward my goals every single day, even if it’s tiny.

Maybe this sounds weird or foreign to you, but just try it.

See what happens.

Give yourself the opportunity to add these to your arsenal of tools that will get you the life you want.

Dream it.

Put it on your vision board.

Spend 10 minutes daily imagining it.

Take some daily action towards it.

That’s how we change our lives.

Bonus: go read my blog post on critical tasks… it’s a game changer.

I believe in you.

Now go make sure YOU believe in you.

I can’t wait to see you share your gifts with the world.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.