Why You Should Follow Your Dreams (at any age)

Why You Should Follow Your Dreams

Why You Should Follow Your Dreams

When I was a little girl I wanted to be a broadcast journalist. I would create news segments all the time with my sister and my next door neighbor and then play them for my parents. We would pretend all sorts of things were “going on” in our neighborhood and be right on the scene to get the exclusive story! My parents still have all those VHS tapes somewhere at home, I actually should find them and dust them off! That dream of becoming a broadcast journalist stayed with me in middle school (where I won a fake “Emmy” for a news story I created for a contest), in high school (where I interviewed the co-hosts of our local NBC news affiliate for a special project) and in college (where I interned at ABC’s The View and our local ABC affiliate). That need to tell a story to people, it just never went away, it always stayed within me.

After I graduated from college and moved to NYC, it became VERY apparent to me that hard news was something I didn’t want to tell. I found that every single time I saw a “hard story” news, it really effected me. I realized that if I was going to go into this profession of telling stories and communication, it needed to be light and fluffier stories… stories that inspired and motivated people. One other thing happened when I moved to NYC, I realized that getting a job in NYC in the news world was going to be REALLY, REALLY tough – not to mention, I needed to be able to play my bills! I ended up taking a job in another field that I loved, the fashion industry. I worked for Donna Karan (as her personal assistant) as my very first job.

But my dreams… my dreams never went away. Why You Should Follow Your Dreams – I’ve always been a big believer in dreaming in the biggest dreams possible. Sky is the limit and anything is possible, it’s the way my parents raised me and it’s the way I’m trying to raise my own children.

In 2006 the world of social media was opening up to me. Blogging was on the scene and it was something that really intrigued me. Here I was, a new mom of 2 little boys (William was 14 months and Alex was 2 months)… and this big wide world of the internet just called me. I started reading blogs (although, they were called online journals) and I started connecting with other moms all over the country on chat forums. It was fascinating to me. Here I was sharing my own personal story about being a new mom with other moms… I loved it! I saw an opportunity here… could this be the way that I could fulfill my dream of sharing stories?

Yes. I’m totally going to fast forward 11 years here! But, yes… this world of social media became my passion fulfilled. I was telling stories on my own terms. I was creating content on my own terms. I was sharing what I wanted to share in many different forms… written, video, small bites on Twitter, FB, Instagram, etc. Social media – to me – became MY WORLD.

This all happened for me when I became a mom.

The stakes for me got higher when I became a mom to follow my passion because I wanted my children to see a mother doing something that she loved.

I was terrified at the beginning about making money at this “new media” job, but – as we all do in this world who have that entrepreneur blood racing through us – you figure it out through trial and error. You tweak it. You fix it. You change direction. You find out what works. It’s that simple.

It’s important to follow your dreams at any age because you owe it to yourself.

You owe it to yourself to live a life that you want to live.

Is it always easy? No.

Are there going to be days you want to hang it up? Yes.

Should you keep going? If you feel it in every fiber in your being that this is what you were meant to do , then yes… you need to keep going.

Why You Should Follow Your Dreams

Give yourself the PERMISSION TO HUSTLE (and while you’re at it, head over and join our Permission to Hustle Facebook group!).

Give yourself the KEYS to hustle hard for YOU.

I don’t care if you’re 12, 25, 40 or 70 — HUSTLE.

Do it for YOU.

Do it because you have to do it.

Follow your dreams.

About Audrey

Audrey McClelland has been a digital influencer since 2005. She’s a mom of 5 and shares tips on her three favorite things: parenting, fashion and beauty. She’s also a Contemporary Romance Author.

Sign Up To The Ultimate Style Newsletter for Moms

Categories

ShopStyle “List” Of all Things I Like and Blog About

Pinterest