Fiction.  I am a firm believer that you can turn any dream into a reality just like you can turn any passion into a full time career.  What do you often find yourself daydreaming about?  If money wasn’t an issue, what would you devote your time and energy to?  Whatever your answer is to those two questions, is your daydream, and it is something I believe you can turn into a reality.  Like anything in life, if you are passionate about something, you will always make time for it.  Whether it is going to the gym daily, eating healthier, reading a new book each month, or volunteering more of your time at your kid’s school – you will make sure to carve out enough time in your day to accomplish it.  You should be doing the same thing for your daydreams.

Case in point: I have always wanted to write a novel.  It was something I was always passionate about, dreamt about, but kept putting off.  Until one day I had had enough and began putting pen to paper.  Now, it wasn’t always easy, and more often then not I doubted my ability to truly create a work of art anyone would want to read, but I was determined to bring my daydream to life.  So I started writing a few hours a day and little by little the dream became a reality.  After months of writing, deleting, writing, and deleting, I had a completed my first manuscript.  From there, I reached out to my cousin who is an editor and had her edit my novel.  Rewrite after rewrite, I finally had a finished work of fiction.  The daydream was almost a reality, but I wanted more!  I wanted people to actually be able to read a hard copy of my book.  So I began researching how to publish my book and realized that the most conventional way was to secure a literary agent who saw the book’s potential and would work on my behalf to have it published.  I quickly realized that not everyone thought my book was awesome.  Rejection letter after rejection letter came my way and I soon realized that my daydream may not actually become a reality.  But I wouldn’t give up, and neither should anyone else who is going after their dreams.  I was fueled by the rejection and was determined to bring my book to life.  Instead of giving up, waiving my white flag, I looked into other ways to publish my book and that’s where the light bulb went off.  I would self-publish.  Millions of other people had done it, so why not me?  Why not take a chance on myself and make my work of art available to the masses?  So, I took a leap of faith and self-published my book on Amazon.  And guess what?  It didn’t sell overnight, but it was a dream come true.  And it didn’t end there.  I took it upon myself to reach out to family and friends and informed them of my book.  I was scared to say the least.  I wasn’t sure I was ready for people to like, let alone hate, my work of art.  But I knew the fire inside of me to share my work with others would not die down.  I knew that I wanted to make my novel available to the masses, but if I didn’t spread word of its existence, then no one would be able to read it. I took a deep breath and began thinking of ways to market my book.  I shared the website to my Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat and Facebook pages, I reached out to local newspapers with a blurb about my book, and I emailed friends and family asking them to spread the word.  And you know what?  My book still hasn’t reached the masses but it has sold 24 copies.  That’s 24 more copies then it would have sold had I not taken a chance on myself and put myself out there.  It’s 24 more copies then I would have gotten had I listened to those agents saying no, no, no on a daily basis.  I wanted my daydream to become a reality and so I took the initiative to do just that.

Now it’s your chance to turn your daydream into a reality.  Whatever your dream, goal, or passion may be, take the time to plan out how to make it come to fruition.  Find ways to implement your dream into your daily existence so that you can turn your passion into your day job.  It takes time, dedication, self belief, and overcoming failure but it is truly possible. However, you have to BELIEVE that it is possible.  You have to BELIEVE that you are capable of achieving your dreams.  But you also have to be willing to sacrifice – sacrifice time spent with family and friends, sacrifice the ability to go out of town for the weekend, sacrifice your desire to just watch TV.  It will be the most difficult in the beginning and you will doubt your decision often, even possibly giving up at times.  And it is at that moment that you must persevere, must push through the mental and physical exhaustion.  Because when you do, when you cross the finish line and realize your dream becoming your reality, all the countless hours of sleepless nights and the lack of a social life will all be worth it.  You will have become everything you ever dreamed of and you will be able to sit back and I “I did it.” And it will all be worth it in the end.

I challenge you to sit back and contemplate what it is that you want to make a reality.  I challenge you to build out a plan of how to accomplish whatever it is that drives you.  And I challenge you to stick it out, overcome the obstacles and barriers, and bank on yourself.  I know you can do it and I hope to cheer you on along the way.  So please let me know what it is that you are dreaming of turning into a reality so that I can encourage you along the way!