As spring break came to a close, it occurred to me that I should talk with my 14-year-old daughter, Layla, about her dreams and goals for life after high school. I had jotted down three bullet points as a meeting agenda: • Define dreams. • Help her reach them. • Start now. Sounds simple, right? Just define your dreams and work toward them. “Maybe simple for a kid with no responsibilities!” a voice inside might say. “Achieving your dream is simple and easy when you’re young, full of energy, and have nothing but time. As adults, we have a mortgage, dependents, responsibilities, and retirement to plan for.” That pesky voice can make some valid points, but it always seems to miss half of the story. Enter the coach: • “What’s another way to look at it?” • “What do you have now that you lacked then?” I would point out that: You know yourself better. • You know what lights you up and energizes your life force. • You know what works well for you and what doesn’t. • You know what you’ll stick with and what just sounds fun in the short term. You have more experience. • You’re able to take the long view and look ahead with clarity. • You’ve seen what’s possible and may even know people who have already done it. • You know the peace of being in alignment—and the pain of trying to force it. You may also have resources available to you, such as a spouse who can support you while you go back to school, or savings that could be used to start that business. It’s normal to get hung up on the things that hold us back—or to think it may be easier for someone else—but there are better reasons why you are uniquely qualified to share your gifts, shine your light, and do your thing. Right now. My aim in this message is to help you become aware of the hard-won strengths and tools you now possess. Let’s recognize those strengths and leverage them! What shifted for you as you read that? What came up in your world? What other strengths might we be overlooking? I’d love to hear from you—and I’m looking forward to it. Live the dream, Michael Mendez Certified Professional Coach | ELI-MP