The Truth About Living The Dream

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I read a post recently where a friend commented on how people often say he’s “living the dream”. He laughed at the disparity between the reality of his day-to-day life and the perception of his life to others. It made me think about what “living the dream” can look like for different people.

The reality of “living the dream” isn’t always as it appears. And it often involves an incredible amount of hard work done behind the scenes.

If you’re “living the dream” in the eyes of others, it likely means that you’ve achieved some type of extraordinary and enviable success.

People see your unique lifestyle but not all the gruelling work that lead it. And they may end up thinking that you’re simply lucky or that you achieved your dream by merely dreaming it.

But that’s never the case. People achieve a dream life from setting goals and then working day in and day out to hit those targets.

Are You Drooling Over Someone Else’s Dream Life?

Are you envious of someone you think is living a dream life?

If you are, you need to take a look at what seems to be the pros/cons of that lifestyle and line it up to your own goals. Be honest about your gifts, talents and your limitations.

Try to imagine the sacrifices and work that’s going into that “dream life”.

It may be their dream life could actually be a nightmare for you.

How To Create Your Own Dream Life

Your current life may not be as far as your think from your ideal life. Before you start making any drastic changes, take inventory of everything you love and hate about your daily life and the path you’re on.

Determine how you want to spend each day. Be honest about what’s important to you and how you measure success. That might be very different from everyone else.

One thing that’s usually true about “living the dream” is that it’s a unique life. It usually means you have pushed aside the rat race and forged a new path different from the crowd.

It’s great to be inspired by lifestyles, businesses and choices other people make, but ultimately you need to plan what your ideal life looks like based on your goals.

And then you start working. Hard. Every day, and then every day after that.

Until finally, you are living your dream.

Am I Living The Dream?

Yes, I’m living my dream. Or at least a realistic version of my dream.

It’s not an easy life. It’s not a perfect life. I’m not a millionaire.

But my dream was to work at home so I can spend as much time as possible with my daughters. My girls are now 10 and 12 years old and I’ve been able to work at home with them ever since they were born. And I’ve even done so as a single mother.

I was blessed to have started blogging back in 2006, and thanks to my sister Janice, our mom and our team of assistants and writers over the years, we’ve managed to build a business that lets Janice and me work from home while raising our kids.

I work incredibly hard and I’m single mom, so not everything is as I would dream a perfect life to be. But I achieved my most important goals and I work hard every day to continue meeting them.

It’s Messy And Boring Behind The Scenes

I hate to think that some people might be jealous of me because it looks like I have an easy life blogging and staying home with my kids.

These days I don’t reveal as many insights into my private life as I did in the early days of blogging, when mom blogs were more casual and my children were small. Now that my girls are older, I’m extra careful about pictures and stories I share to respect their privacy.

But another reason I don’t blog much about life behind the scenes is that it’s often messy and boring. (At least I get to spend my days comfy in my Lularoe leggings.)

Would I Recommend A Pro Bloggers Life?

People often ask me if I would recommend blogging as a way to work at home.

The short answer is probably not.

Blogging is definitely not for everyone! It is a hard way to make your living. But it is possible and it’s been an immeasurable blessing for my family.

One of my favourite parts of blogging is all the amazing people that I’ve met and become virtual friends with over the years.

If You Go Your Own Way, Be Ready For Ridicule

Living the dream also means not giving up when people make fun of you or silently judge you as crazy.

In our early days of blogging (back in 2006), a few of Janice’s friends literally made fun of her for our blog and told her that she’d never make any money doing it.

At the time, a couple of those friends were writing a novel in hopes of getting it published. They acted like that traditional form of creative writing was all that deserved respect.

So while they invested their time in drafting a manuscript that never did get published, they made fun of Janice for writing a blog.

Janice didn’t bother fighting back, she just let them laugh and she kept working.

Now 12 years later, we’re still supporting our families thanks to this blog.

So if your dream includes an idea slightly ahead of its time, you need to be prepared to have your friends make fun of you.

If you want to build a unique life, you need to be ready for criticism and push right through it. Each day, block out the mockery, and keep working and working… even when it’s boring and messy.

And one day you will be living your dream.

What About You?

Are you living your dream? Are you in the planning stage? Deep in the mud? Or have you reached your goals?

Please leave us a comment and share your story. Go ahead and include your website link, social channels or other ways we can support you in your journey.

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Written by Susan Carraretto, co-founder of 5 Minutes for Mom
Talk with me: @5minutesformom and Facebook.com/5minutesformom
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