Yesterday I was sitting on the patio at a restaurant in Florida. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It wasn’t hot but the sun felt so nice. It was Friday afternoon and I was there discussing business. I was in the moment and appreciated how happy I was to be there. I realized that this is my life, this is my business and years ago this was only a dream.

Since I started working 19 years ago, I never liked the idea of sitting at a desk all day. It’s not that I didn’t want to do the work, it’s that I wanted to do it my way. I would get the work done but I wanted to have flexibility in my schedule. I wanted to be able to take a Friday off and I would stay late another day or work on the weekend. I wanted to travel. I knew what I wanted. It took me many years to get it. But I have it now. I am truly living the dream, my dream.

There are people who question whether or not I actually work. I assure you I work! There are days when I work 14 hours. I am often in the office on Sundays. Most of what I do I can do from anywhere if I have my computer, wifi and my phone. And so, I often work remotely.

People have dreams about how they want to live their life. They probably have different dreams than me, not everyone wants to be away as much as I do. But everyone has dreams, even if they are deep inside and they don’t necessarily realize what they are yet. I encourage you to think about what you truly want your life to be like. What is your definition of “living the dream”? It might seem overwhelming to you right now. It probably seems impossible. But you CAN make it happen. I did.

For a long time I didn’t believe that it would ever be real, but here we are.

I extend trips and enjoy a couple of extra days seeing sights or having a relaxing day at the beach or the pool (my two favourite places). I work all morning from a hotel lobby and visit friends in the afternoon. I go to visit clients and spend the evening exploring a new town. I make opportunities out of the work that I do.

I think the idea that these dreams could become reality, first occurred to me 12 years ago when I wanted to travel around the world. It seemed like a lofty idea. I had a job. How was I going to travel around the world for 4 months? Many people told me it wasn’t possible. Well, I asked! I asked my employer if I could take a four month leave of absence… and they said yes. I got to travel around the world, see interesting places, have amazing experiences and when I returned home I had a job to go back to. Now, I shouldn’t say it was as simple as just asking. I did some prep work. I chose a time that would be beneficial for the company. I determined how all of the work would be covered. I had the answers to their questions before I proposed the idea. Being able to take this adventure made me realize that dreaming big is awesome and living your dream is not impossible.

Don’t dream your life, live your dream!