You have a dream. For most women with a dream, that dream is clear and specific … you might have even had the dream for a while.
But, something’s keeping your from acting on it … not enough money, not enough time, fear …
What if you stopped telling yourself the “it’s not a good time right now” story? What if you got curious about how to afford to fund your dream? What if you looked fear in the eye and decided to leap?
I’ve told you my story before, and I’ll keep sharing it as I follow new dreams. Today I wanted to share three stories of women with a dream. Clients who imagined something big for themselves — and did it.
They had different dreams, different starting points, but they all went through the same process that I use with all women with a dream to move from dreamer to dreamer and doer.
Woman with A Dream: To Write a Book
Kristin Johnson has know she wanted to write since she was 8 years old. She had written over the years, but after college, her writing dwindled. Then she got inspired.
Her daughter inspired a children’s book … and she felt called to do something with that inspiration.
Like most of us, she felt held back by time, family and work commitments, life in general — along with a healthy dose of self-doubt.
But she had sketched out a rough idea for a manuscript — and more importantly the need to tap into her dreams:
“I had finally decided that I needed to remember who I am and what my dreams are. After we started working together, the manuscript came together really quickly. The extra nudge of accountability and support was what I needed.”
Kristin had taken some of my online photography classes and took part in one of my group retreats. Working together on this project was pretty natural:
“When I started feeling pulled towards writing again, I thought I could use some help to rediscover that part of myself, and Beryl immediately came to mind.”
I’m so proud of and excited for Kristin for following this dream and writing her book!
Her book story isn’t over. Now she’s considering publishing options, but it started with taking the first step to believe in her dream and get support. But beyond that she took this away from my Imagined method:
“If I don’t actively make time for creativity, it doesn’t happen. It’s easy to imagine all of the creative projects you want to do, but going from dreaming to doing is the hardest step.
Daily life puts enough obstacles in your path and you have to make your creative life a priority.
Even a commitment as small as 15 minutes a day can go a long way towards making your creative dreams a reality. Some days it’s more difficult to find those 15 minutes than others, but I always feel recharged after putting in that creative time.”
Woman With A Dream: To do something “more”
Carrie Scheetz has always loved taking pictures, but started with memories, not technical stuff.
She says, “My mom always had a camera when I was growing up and always took pictures of everything, birthdays, sporting events, etc. One of the most treasured things I have is a photo album she put together while I was a baby. It’s fun to look back on those memories and see what life was like before I could really remember. I feel like I’ve gotten that from her so I can continue on preserving the memories of the things I’ve seen, and the people I’ve met.”
Carrie picked up a camera too. “I loved how Momtography ignited my love for photography and made me want to keep learning. I have taken 3 other classes that Beryl offered since Momtography. I thought teaching would be a great way to teach other moms how to use their cameras and take pictures. I enjoyed the whole process of Momtography and truly believe in the program and what Beryl offers.”
She wanted do something “more” but never really knew what that meant. She had a full-time job that she loves but when people would ask her about her hobbies, she never really had a story to tell. Once she started learning photography, it opened up a lot of conversations.
But Carrie was never been much of a risk taker. She liked to take the safe and comfortable route with big decisions.
Something happened when the Momtography teacher class came up. Carrie says,
“I’m not quite sure what made this decision different, but I guess that little voice in the back of my head was louder than the others and told me I’d really regret it if I didn’t at least take a peek at what this opportunity could hold.
I also talked to my mom who I use as a sounding board on a LOT. She’s always been my biggest cheerleader and encouraged me to do it.”
Carrie still wasn’t quite sure, so we hopped on the phone. Once we had that initial call, Carrie felt so much better about taking the risk. And she’s glad she did.
She’s now a licensed Momtography teacher, but she also learned unexpected lessons too, “I now look at things in many different ways. Some of the people I have met throughout this process think so differently than I would have that it helps give me a different perspective in how I take photos too. I find myself trying different techniques to get a photo to come out in a different way, or try a different composition style to get a different look that I may not have tried before.”
Woman With A Dream: Create an E-course
Marina had had her Flash Bugs Studio blog for 3 years when we started working together. During that time, she worked on building up her online presence and taught private art classes from home.
She was spending more much time and energy than she wanted to teaching art from home. With her children needing more time from her and afterschool life ever busier, she couldn’t sustain teaching in the evenings.
She dreamed of increasing her income while staying inline with her core value system.
When I asked what kept her from her goal, she said, “My biggest challenge was ME.” She needed to get over her fears of trying something new—and over the fear of selling herself and her product to women who I thought could be interested. That required learning the nuances of digging deeper and following through with an idea or task.
Here’s why Marina decided to work with me:
“When I contacted Beryl, I felt stuck and couldn’t move forward.
I could see a bigger picture of the kind of creative brand I wanted to create, but finding the path seemed daunting.
I knew Beryl worked to help creatives with their goals. We also had very similar backgrounds with photography and working in the public education system. I connected with Beryl’s messages and her desire to inspire creative women achieve their goals. It was the best decision I ever made! I love having her as my cheerleader.”
We all need a cheerleader sometimes—along with a mentor or coach who can help us get past those sticking points. Marina created an e-course to cut back on the at-home courses she was teaching, so that she could have more time for the rest of her life.
And along the way to becoming a doer, not just a dreamer, she came away with this:
“The biggest thing I’ve learned is to slow down and set an intention everyday. I’ve also learned to surrender and enjoy the present moment.”
Your dream may look very different from Kristin’s or Carrie’s or Marina’s. But like each of them, there is some part of you that imagines a different life. You may want to fulfill a childhood dream or create more ease while doing what you love. You may want something “more” or a chance to reconnect with yourself.
Are you a woman with a dream?
What I love is helping women work toward and achieve their goals. Along the way they find they get so much more—new perspectives, practice in making time for their dreams consistently, setting intentions … and facing down those fears and barriers.
Carrie commented on the little voice telling her to look at the opportunity in front of her. If the little voice in your is telling you to even think about your dream, let’s talk.
I want to hear about it and talk about how you can make them happen.
