#InspireMonday’s: Follow your Dreams

I woke up this morning and realized that yesterday was possibly one of the best days of my life. I didn’t get married yesterday, I didn’t meet the man of my dreams and I didn’t make a dime. Infact if anything, I am possibly the poorest I have ever been, this year. Yet, as my eyes opened this morning and the rays of light from the curtain streamed into my room, I felt something a stir inside me. A newness. An overwhelming feeling of excitement and renewed energy. And I knew exactly why.

Yesterday was the first Inspire Series event, #redefiningbeauty. By any account of how events are measured in the activity filled city that is Lagos, this wouldn’t have been termed a successful event. The event didn’t have any major corporate sponsors. There was no red carpet or major TV network covering the event and I didn’t have Tiwa savage perform.

Instead I had a room packed full with women (and men) who shared openly about their struggles and perceptions of beauty. As we discussed our voices somehow became one. We saw ourselves as essentially the same. Women of different shapes and sizes yet tied together with cords of shared experiences of self doubt and struggles of self acceptance. Women who wanted to create a firm footing not only for themselves but also for the generation after them. We laughed together and even cried as we shared our most deepest and darkest perceptions of self and how we are daily trying to accept who we are in this world were everyone is telling us that we aren’t enough.

But it wasn’t only this shared commonality with these women that made me giddy with excitement. I wasn’t just about how the conversation flowed, the excellent speakers or performances and the new friendships that were made. It was just one thing. I did it.

An idea that I had rehearsed in my mind for months. A dream that had kept me awake, a desire that had tugged at my heart, unfolded right in front of me. And like a mother handed her first child wrapped in swaddling cloth, I couldn’t believe it was mine.

But I didn’t do it by myself. I had an amazing set of partners. Friends and first time acquaintances who bought into my dream and in some way, hopefully, are fulfilling their ambitions by standing with and by me. I learnt a long time ago that to do anything of worth, you cannot do it alone. You must stand with others and others must stand with you.

So if you are reading this and wondering where and how to fulfill or live out your dreams amidst the challenges and your own feelings of inadequacy, here me now……YOU CAN DO IT. This isn’t some cliché or motivational speak….it is coming from someone who has NO background in media or production. Before the Inspire Series I had never hosted anything! I didn’t know anything about camera’s much less about hosting a live event! Yet here I am. With an online talk show, a website and a live event under my belt. So if little ole me, who studied Geography in Delta State University can do this, then you can do ANYTHING!

Here are my top tips for living out your dream

1. Pray: There is no other way to say this. But without God, nothing is possible and we are limp lifeless mannequins floating in this big and bad world without bearing. Ask God who He created you to be, what He wants you to do and ask for the strength to do it.
2. Think about it: Eat it, drink it, talk about it, read it. Do not stop fine tuning and refining the idea. It will never be perfect but you must have an idea of what you are aiming to achieve.
3. Start small: Never despise the days of little beginnings. You know what they say about tiny drops and the ocean?
4. Find partners: You cannot go alone. Yes, there is a time where you must take ownership and responsibility, but you will need partners to fulfil your dream.
5. Go Nike: Following your dream isn’t a one day thing. It is a constant reiterative process of peaks and troughs. But you must do it. Every day, take a step towards it, no matter how small. Yes you will make mistakes…but you will learn from them.