Top 10 Things I Learned in Pursuing My Dream in 2014

Happy New Year WGL readers! It’s 2015 and I’m hyped and  like many of you reinvigorated and recommitting to my goals.

Dream pursuits—be it completing a degree, starting a business, losing weight or some other goal, has a way of encountering the rest of your life and getting derailed. You know how it goes day 1 you declare, “self we’re going to do this, we won’t let anything stop us, it’s our turn!” You say it, you mean it, you commit to it on your vision board, you tell everyone and then day 45 (probably sooner) life happens and you’re so busy outing a fire that you forget about that goal.

As much as I hated doing year end reviews as a manager, they really served a purpose. I had to consider what I did right and what the people under me did right, but more importantly what didn’t we do right. Rather than looking at them as failures it was an “area of growth.” It meant understanding why something didn’t work and adjusting to ensure changes were made to improve underperformance.

So, why not apply the same concept of performance reviews to your goals? 


Take time to evaluate your strategy and decide what you’ve learned, what can you tweak and what needs to be eliminated. There are several ways to evaluate yourself, but I want to focus on the journaling method for this post.

I LIVE for a beautiful journal (affiliate link)! It’s as though the pages of the journal open up and begs my words to adorn them, so that each page can fulfill it’s purpose. Ok the writer in me got a little carried away, but you get it—I heart my journals.

Whether, you choose to use a journal, a notebook or a computer take time to ask yourself some critical questions. I recommend these as a starter:

What did I accomplish? What did I learn? What can I improve on? What can I let go of? Do I need to shift some things? How can I alter my strategy? Have I been effective?

This list is not exhaustive, but it is a great place to start as you evaluate your goals annually.

I’ll share with you my top 10 list of things I learned in pursuing my dream to be a blogger/writer and speaker in 2014.

10. Well meaning people can speak against the way I choose to pursue my dream and it rattled my confidence.

9. I can move forward even if I’m afraid. I had to push pass my fear and start.

8. Always assess and make changes as necessary.

7. Be true to my voice and my way…just because I read that’s how an expert did it doesn’t mean it’s how I need to do it.  

6. Divine connections happen at the least expected moments, so be friendly and open with everyone I meet.

5. It’s ok to talk to myself. I need to encourage myself, when things aren’t going the way I want them to go.

4. Pick back up the pieces, when things fall apart. The creative process can be halted by unexpected life moments.

3. I can’t do it all. Decide what I’ll delegate.

2. I can’t work 24 hours, rest is necessary, fun in necessary it is not wasting time it’s being healthy mentally and physically to ensure I live to enjoy the dream come true.


1. The dream shifts and changes and I will flow with it because ultimately a better me and a better dream emerges.