Close your eyes and imagine the person you want to be. Maybe you see an award-winning actress, a Pulitzer Prize winner, or maybe, you just see a more confident and positive person. Whatever you see, that’s the ultimate goal, your dream; well, I’m here to tell you that your dreams are not just for your pillow at night. Growing up all I ever wanted to do was make a name for myself, reach for the stars. I watched my favorite celebrities in movies, interviews, on magazine covers, and red carpets and thought, that’s who I want to be. I even made a strong attempt to get there; I signed with an agency, walked runways, posed for photoshoots, and went on auditions. Somewhere along the lines, I gave in to the noise. A voice telling me you look stupid, everyone at school is going to judge you, what makes you so special? So, I paused my dream and focused on my education.
As my college career is slowly coming to an end, I’m thinking about the future and what will make me happy. My parents both tell my brothers and me that they’re stuck in a job that they never dreamed of doing. Now that I am older, and the real world is getting closer in view, I am preparing myself for the corporate world. But why? Why am I limiting myself to a “safe job?” What happened to that confident four-year-old who performed in front of her family and practiced her Oscar acceptance speech in the shower? Truth is, she never left, the version of me that wanted to be a follower and not a leader suppressed that little dreamer.
I don’t know if this is the social distance from reality talking, but I do know that you shouldn’t let the toxic opinions of jealous spectators suppress the dreamer inside. I used to think posting a headshot from a photoshoot would be narcissistic and that my friends would think I was bragging or that I would collapse from the weight of my big head. Then, I decided to embrace my confidence and flaunt it. Why should we care about hater’s opinions? The only opinion that should matter is yours: are you happy? Does writing for your own blog give you joy? Are you confident walking that runway? Are you proud of your theatre performance on that big university stage?
I recently saw this amazing quote from motivational speaker Robert G Allen. He said,
“Everything you want is just outside your comfort zone.”
Do yourself a favor and start going after your dreams and stop hiding from them. Don’t worry about those toxic judgments, they’re just jealous that you have the confidence to go for it. So when your book is published, when you make a revolutionary discovery in the medical field, or you accept that Grammy, all I ask is that you remember who wrote this article – but also, remember that little kid who thought this was just a dream.
