EVERY JOURNEY STARTS WITH A SINGLE STEP— 3 TIPS FOR GETTING READY

I’m here to tell you that your life dreams matter. Why? Simple. If you don’t have the courage to acknowledge them and set yourself goals in order to achieve them, no one will do it for you.

Oh illustration by me btw, "One Lily Pad At A Time".

I know, I know. Dreams are beautiful but they can also feel daunting, larger-than-life, and sometimes simply unattainable. So you put them off one day, one month, one year, until they get forgotten in a little drawer in your mind, sealed tight in case anyone finds out and makes fun of them. Believe me, I know.

All my life I’ve been struggling to find the courage to follow my dreams. I love drawing. In fact, I’ve loved drawing since I can remember. I would watch cartoons and read comics during my free time and try to create imaginary worlds.

But no matter how passionate I was, when the time came to pick a school, my family stirred me away from my dream of becoming an artist. They liked me drawing as a hobby, but they felt it wouldn’t be a suitable career choice. I pushed back at first, but they made me believe that even if I were to go to art school, everyone else would be as good if not better than me. And that was it for me. I was scared.

However, time and time again in the following years I’d go back to it (giving it no serious thought). I have practiced my illustrations on and off for ages, but recently I’ve realised there is no way out: I’m obsessed and in love with drawing. That’s why I convinced myself that, as daunting as it may feel at first, I must follow my creative calling.

So what if you started questioning the mainstream views on career and life? What if I told you that your dreams are more important than ticking all the boxes society has pre-filled for you?

You only need to remember that every journey, no matter how long, starts with a single step. And let’s face it, sometimes that first step can be the scariest of them all. But hey, you should still dare to dream big.

Here are three simple tips I found useful to get me ready and set to follow my dreams:

VISUALISE YOUR DREAM: try to vividly picture with your mind’s eye what you want. Where are you, who’s there with you, what have you accomplished, and most importantly, how does it feel? Visualising yourself achieving your goals and actually feeling the sense of accomplishment and gratitude that comes with it is a way to boost your motivation and let go of the fear of failure.

YOU ARE ENOUGH: in order to start the journey towards achieving your dreams you really need to believe in yourself. It’s crazy when you think about it, but we tend to self-sabotage all the time. You may tell yourself: “I’m not creative enough” or “I don’t think I can do it”. Often these statements come from our early life experiences and so we believe them to be a fact. This is crap. The truth is that you are enough the way you are and what you don’t yet know, you can learn.

SET SHORT-TERM GOALS: Your first short term-goal is also your first step towards achieving what you want. It really doesn’t need to be big and scary, quite the opposite. In my case I decided I’d draw at least one thing every day. Now I’ve moved onto creating this blog and online portfolio. It differs for all of us because we’re all starting from different points in life, it doesn’t matter. Set small achievable tasks and hey, creating your dream life won’t feel as daunting. It doesn’t happen all at once, it’s a journey.

Your life is happening as you read this, don’t forget that. It’s up to you to have the courage to be who you truly are and turn your dreams into reality.

Take that first step!

Love,

Vero x