I took this selfie right before going to get photos for my website - My first step toward following my dream.... I had no idea what I was in for ;)
The Dream – my dream – is to transition from my current career into a full time Yoga teaching gig and start my own Yoga program. A bit of background on that dream… I have been teaching part time, a couple classes a week, for a few years now after getting my 200 hour certification in 2012, and I love it! Now, that’s not to say that every day that I teach I am feeling the same level of passion or inspiration – this is real life - however, the way that teaching, practising, and taking Yoga off my mat makes me feel has shown me that this is something I want more of. When I look forward 10 years, I see my life as a Yoga teacher, creating classes and workshops, building community and moving my body every day as part of my career. So how do I get there? Some social media, books, articles etc. would have you believe that it is as easy as visualizing the goal, quitting your job, making the leap, and riding off in to the sunset. Well, in my experience, in real life it takes a lot more work. Continue reading to see just some of what it takes to follow your dreams - in real life.
It takes… Planning, baby steps, and safety nets.
It takes… Long and longer days of work at your day job so you can bank the time you need to take off to teach, because this is real life and in real life you have real bills.
It takes… Learning as you go and not having a hot clue what you’re doing for a while. (But then you figure out how to get that pay pal button set up on the webpage and you feel like you could conquer the world!)
It takes… Computer skills.
It takes… Hitting the pavement with the flyers you spent hours formatting so that you can promote your classes.
It takes… Networking skills.
It takes… Signatures on rental contracts before having enough people signed up for your classes to even cover the cost of rent.
It takes… Feeling like you are failing, a lot, and not letting that discourage or disappoint you. (Edit: This is real life – in real life we get discouraged and disappointed, so it’s about feeling that and moving forward anyways)
It takes… Amazing support from your loved ones, especially when you want to quit and they won’t let you.
It takes… Being vulnerable and sharing your deepest wants, passions, fears, and failures with others, because this is real life and in real life we fail some, we want a lot, and we must go after what we are passionate about.
It takes… Guts. Courage. Cojones. Whatever you call it, it takes a lot of it.
In the end, (or should I say beginning - because that is where I am), it’s worth it. You can look at what you have done and are doing and feel really accomplished. You can redefine success in your own terms and no matter what the outcome is, you can always look back and say you tried your best, because this is real life, and in real life that’s all anyone can do.