Dreams do come True with the Right Ingredients!

Twenty years ago I began reading Entrepreneur Magazine. I was fascinated about every article that fell across my eyes and mesmerized with the possibilities that so many entrepreneurs had already achieved.  Being a fifth-generation entrepreneur I knew that the need to be an entrepreneur went through my veins but building a business was still a long journey uphill. 

One day as I was sifting through the articles I decided to put 'Writing for Entrepreneur Magazine' on my bucket list. This would be one of my goals before I died. I wanted to write for the magazine that had given me dozens of ideas and inspiration over the years.

There were three things I had to accomplish before I could achieve this bucket list goal. 

Number One: Master Your Art. 
I had to master my knowledge and experience in the field and be recognized as an expert. For some that may take 10,000 hours, 10 years, or a lifetime. It is not the amount of hours that determine if you are an expert but what you do in those hours that define your level of knowledge and expertise and define you as an expert. 

 

Number Two: Master your Customers Needs
 I had to understand my target audience and what was important for them to learn. Having studied the funding cycle for small businesses for a decade I knew a lot about the ins and outs of finding funds and I felt it was necessary to share my knowledge with the entire world.

Number Three: Find your Mentors
I had to have a mentor guide me through the process or provide insight. Every successful entrepreneur has one or more mentors. Nobody succeeds alone. Even if they tell you they succeeded alone that is never the case. They may have been given an opportunity, a door opened for them, someone guided them through the process, or gave them sound advice.

Now the first two are really something I am responsible for-- since I have to develop my craft and I have to understand my audience but the third part of the equation brings in the magic of connecting to the community. It is those rare people that find the time to mentor and shine their wisdom on others. It is those mentors that see the richness you can bring to the world and open a path for you to share that wisdom.

Today all three of these came together and I was able to check off another item from my bucket list. Today Entrepreneur Magazine published my article and I felt like the clouds opened up to share their rain with me. Today I wrote to my mentor and thanked him for making one of my dreams come true. I expressed I am forever grateful for more than he will ever know.




Now some naysayers may say "I was just lucky"!,  "I got a break!, "I was in the right place - right time" and I would say they are absolutely wrong. There was no luck, no break, or no right place right time happening hear. I purposely have been focused on this dream for twenty years.

What is here is persistence, persistence, and persistence with the belief that one day the dream would come to fruition. I didn't waiver from the dream, throw it out of my bucket list after five years or ten years, I just kept focused on the end goal determined to achieve it before I died.  It could have happened when I was 80 I would still be as giddy as I am today.

How many dreams have you put to the wayside?
How many dreams have you given up after some time?
How many dreams did you just justify as a lost cause?
Why have you stopped dreaming? 

 


I am here to tell you that dreams come true. I am here to tell you that if you are trying to find the funds to build your company, or trying to find the doors to new opportunities, or trying to find a way to make your small business dream come true then start finding your mentors and mastering your craft.  There are mentors out there waiting for you to take the first step and ask for help. That is what I did. Thank you to my mentor Stephen. Forever I will be grateful to you for believing in me.