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? 

Shonda Rhimes’ Practical Advice Women Dreamers Can Use

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Shonda Rhimes’ Scandal rules my life. Everyone knows—no calls, no texts, no meetings and no business. Curled up on my couch, my Twitter sees the most action it gets all week, as I tweet #Scandal’s most shocking moments. I am drawn in not only by the shockers, but by Kerry Washington’s "go getter" character, Olivia Pope. Her war cry ignites her team, the Gladiators, to find a solution to messy scandals. 

As the woman behind the Shondaland brand, delivered the commencement address at her alma mater. She channeled her inner Olivia Pope by galvanizing the Dartmouth graduates with a "no task too hard" Gladiator speech. In listening, I thought all my fellow dreamers could use some of Shonda's wisdom. 

5 Steps To Making Your Dreams Your Reality

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Women can spend so much time in nurturing mode that we hit pause on our own dreams. We’re running kids to practice, volunteering when no one else will, cooking for the family, supporting friends through breakups…you name it we’re doing it. All except building the world we really want for ourselves. We have dreams that persistently haunt us, but our schedules don’t give us space to pursue them. Instead, we write stickies, add items to to-do lists, send emails to ourselves or if you’re like me you jot a note down in your Evernote, but they get stuck in the “some day” plans.

The universe will eventually begin to wake up our dreams. Our inner voice will start to point out people who connect with our dreams. It can be a forced period of rest through an illness. Or maybe like me you find yourself crying in the parking lot unable to drag yourself into your office for a paycheck that has nothing to do with your passion. Whatever your dream this post is meant to be the alarm clock that will let you know it's time to wake up and MAKE IT HAPPEN!

The first step to dream building is recognizing that “perfect” timing is an elusive myth. You just have to decide I’m ready to sacrifice my comfort and the comfort of others to ensure I reach my dream. Start on your dream building path by following these simple strategies: