Dreams Begin with Self-Love

In speaking with some incredible business women this week, I’ve been reminded of one of my all-time favorite parts of living: I adore listening to people’s dreams. I love how it makes them light up inside and you can see the little girl or boy inside them. You can see in their eyes the possibilities, the opportunities, and in that moment, time stops. The vision is real. And it’s waiting…

My neighbors have 2 children: Tyler, an 11-year-old, and Elizabeth, a 7-year-old. They are fantastic kids.

Spending time around Tyler and Elizabeth reminds me of the excitement, imagination, and  possibilities of childhood. Every time they see me they shout, “JACKIE!” And sprint to give me a hug and say hello. They hold nothing back. When they run, they run as fast as they can. When they dream, they dream BIG. And when they speak, they are completely honest.

As we grow up, we can be talked out of our possibilities. Maybe it’s our parents or our teachers, what we see on TV, or even from our friends, but the TRUE deciding factor of whether we believe it or not, is if we decide to buy into it.

I’ve been told so many times all the reasons I wouldn’t be able to achieve my goals. Why I wouldn’t get into my dream school. Why I wouldn’t be able to skip JV in 10th grade to go directly to Varsity. Why no one would pay my rates when I first started my business, just to name a few.

And I know that in many of these situations, people were trying to help me by preparing me for the worst case scenario. They wanted to prepare me to fail, so that I could manage my disappointment if it didn’t work out. But I didn’t buy it.

I had a choice. Believe all the reasons I couldn’t or believe all the reasons I could.

Most people struggle with self-love in some capacity at one time or another in their life. Some people fight with it all of their lives–all the reasons they’re not good enough or worthy enough for their dreams. When you love, value, and respect who you are, you vote for your dreams!

All dreams start with self-love. They start with saying yes to a heartfelt desire you have.

They start with believing that your dreams are worthy and surrounding yourself with people that can see, support, and help you make it a reality, so that when you hit life’s bumps, you forge on, knowing you made a choice to honor your heart.

What have been your experiences in creating your dreams?