The 3 Biggest Mistakes I Made While Going After My Dreams

Mistake #1: I Believed That Only People With Money Could Succeed.

And that thinking sidetracked THE FUCK out of me.
I would constantly tell myself…”Well,I’d love to dedicate time for my dreams, but I’m too busy spending 50 hours in a dumb job making the rent.”

I got stuck in the soul crushing Loop of Lack.

You know what I’m talking about?

It’s a poison.

Churning that thought in my mind, I nearly slayed my ability to imagine a bigger or better life than the one I was living.
I nearly gave up on trying to make my dream happen because I didn’t see how it could possibly work.
To make dreams happen, I needed precious time – and in order to keep a roof over my head, my time was sucked away by my corporate job.
Cycle.
Repeat.

The REAL Truth: Having a Brain for the “Hustle” Can Be Worth More Than ANYTHING.

I started the hustle small.
I knew I needed to get out of the 8-6 and to do so – as crazy as it seems – I worked harder first doing “side jobs” that I enjoyed and were on my own terms that would eventually replace the office job and be my main source of income.

It looked something like this:

Office Job + Side Hustle = A Few Short Months of Insanity

As I got better and better at side hustle:
Side Hustle – Office Job = A happier me in charge of my own schedule.

Side Hustle + In Charge Of Own Schedule = Time for Dreams

I decided that I was creative enough to come up with something else to make money that wouldn’t take my time up as much and were also things I really enjoyed doing!

♦ I scoured thrift stores, took pictures of my awesome finds and sold them on Ebay.

♦ I approached someone who’s work I really believed in and proposed working for her as an assistant in off hours. This helped me learn, make money and enjoy what I was doing.

♦ I threw down a blanket on the sidewalk and did tarot readings. (Hell, I threw down a blanket with Contessa last Summer on a sidewalk in Woodstock and we put together a kickass Tarot Reading/Essential Oils healing center!)

Get creative!
What are things you love to do?
My love for finding vintage gems at thrift stores and my passion for reading tarot cards both helped me with the abundance to get out of my corporate job and start having time to focus on my burlesque!

Yes, it took a little time, but it was so worth it.

Need help?
Brainstorm with a friend about what you’re good at! Sometimes it’s hard to see ourselves what others see easily! Feel free to brainstorm in the comments with the Danger Community.

Mistake #2: I Felt Like I Was Absolutely Alone In My Struggle To “Make It”.

Oh hell no. HELL NO.

The right friends, meaning your true co-conspirators, want you to succeed and will encourage you and support you to the end.
Pssssst – read Wednesday’s post about this in detail!
They are your Dream Team – with you on your journey, as you are with them on theirs!

My first burlesque gig?
World Famous BOB‘s New Revue.
After months of sitting in the audience, I told her I wanted to do burlesque.

“Great!” she said. “I’ve got a slot for April and you’re in it.“

“Wait! I’m actually not ready yet, it’s going to take me longer than that. Maybe June?”

She looked me in the eye and said, “You’re going on in April. Get it together. I’m putting your name on the flyer, so be there. See you at the show!”

And she walked away before I could find another excuse.

Co-Conspirators don’t have time for your bullshit excuses of why not.
They throw you in the deep end.
And you will thank them for it some day.

Thanks, *BOB*!

World Famous BOB. Photo by Amy Touchette.

The REAL Truth: Co-Conspirators are EVERYWHERE if you look! Time for Your Badass Gang!

Easy Breezy Co-Conspirator Test: Are They or Aren’t They?

You tell your friend something incredible that happened to you for your dream. They freak the fuck out with you with excitement.

Yes?
Co-Conspirator.

No?
Yeah. Just, no.

Mistake #3: I Told Myself It Was Just Too Hard.

Last night, backstage at a burlesque show, among the glitter, the crystals, the g-strings and the mirrors, Rosabelle Selavy and I drank lattes with hearts steamed in the foam before going on stage. I scrawled into my little planner notes for this post, and I asked Rosabelle what the biggest “thought” mistake she made while she was going for her dreams.

“That it was just too hard. That what I wanted to do was just too hard or too impossible.”

We looked around surrounded by our trunks of costumes, both of us in glitter red lipstick, sitting in our crystalled g-strings, sipping lattes and we laughed.

“It was all about breaking it down into small steps, and then it didn’t seem so hard. I knew that if I could imagine it, somehow I could do it.”

And I looked over at this lovely showgirl across from me, grateful that she kept going for her dream, grateful that she kept imagining, grateful that she kept doing, and fucking grateful that I was also there…. in that backstage, sipping a latte with her and getting ready to do what we were born to do.

Photo by instagram.com/thecleverguy84

What “thought mistakes” have kept you from doing something, and when you kept pressing forward, they revealed themselves as untruths?

PLEASE SHARE because someone right now…someone right this moment is believing that thing and you have the power to destroy someone else’s thought obstacle.

I love you guys.

Keep kicking ass.