Are You Following Your Dream or Someone Else’s?

Are you living in a marriage where you have had to change who you are, or have lost sight of yourself completely, just to avoid conflict and minimize fear? Are you working in a particular job or industry because your parents or spouse told you it was the responsible choice?

Are you a woman who would rather be at home with your kids but other women say your leadership role is an inspiration to many and you would be letting them down if you chose to stay at home? Or a man who would prefer to stay at home and you believe society – and your friends – would judge you negatively?

Are you leading your team down a path you don’t believe in because the executive suite said it was the only path allowed? Are you in a role that you’re not really passionate about, and you feel like there is so much more out there for you?

Then whose life are you living?

​We all have responsibilities to our families that of course must be respected and fulfilled, and it is important to be sensitive to the needs of others. But at what point do we realize how easy it is to use these responsibilities as an excuse for why we are not choosing – on purpose and with our whole hearts – to live true to who we are and what we really want for ourselves? To choose to be all of who we were created to be, knowing that we are meant to evolve and grow over the course of our lives?
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In my current roles I come across so many people who are simply not fulfilled, feeling as though they are missing out on something important but not really sure what that might be. Others know that they are not living a life aligned with their true self, but are unsure of how to make the (sometimes) difficult transition to the life they are meant to be living.

​What I advise each person is usually so personal, but begins with:

• Light a candle (if you have one), find a quiet place where you are at peace and connect with your soul. Think about it as a beautiful light inside you that is bursting forth from within, and that has all the answers you are seeking.
• Ask yourself the questions that come immediately to your mind and listen to what bubbles up from within you. You will be astounded to know how easily the answers come when you call them forward. Often these are answers that you intuitively knew all along.
• Write down what you asked and what you received. Then write down what stands in the way for you, be it fears, old belief systems, or aspects of your life you need to address.
• Think of three ways you can immediately begin working toward moving those blocks so that you are more aligned in your life with what you want – with your truest wishes. Write down these three steps and commit to them wholeheartedly.
• Rinse and repeat

And watch as changes in your life begin to unfold in a beautiful and profound way. Changes that, at the end of each day, empower you to say, “Today I lived every second true to who I am.”

​Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash