“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt had her hands in a lot of things. She served as the first lady for twelve years, she was an author, and she was a passionate human rights activist. That list could seriously go on and on. Eleanor was well respected during her life, and she is still admired over fifty years after her death.

At 23, I am still figuring out what I’m good at. I have a resume full of experiences and skill sets, but I’m realizing that’s not what this journey is about. You’re always told to follow your dreams, but even that sounds daunting. Some people have career goals that look like a particular job in a certain field, and some people have monetary goals. But my goals don’t look like that.

I want flexibility.

I don’t want to be confined by office walls or a boss telling me that I can’t have Christmas Eve off this year. I don’t want to show up to work at 9am and turn my brain on for the next eight hours. Some mornings, I want to wake up before the sun and work, and I don’t want anyone to tell me that I can’t.

We live in a world where (almost) anything can be done from (almost) anywhere. You can instantly communicate through emails or text messages. You can access hosts of information through online storage programs. You can hold face-to-face meetings with people that are in different locations. I don’t need to sit in a 20×20 foot office for nine hours a day to get things done.I want to enjoy spontaneous vacations and working from different countries. My laptop will be my office, whether it’s sitting on a picnic table in Denver or a coffee shop counter in Barcelona.

follow your dreams

Zach sent me this image one day while I was sitting at the office… It was game over.

I want passion.

I want to be fully invested in and committed to my business ventures. My head is full of good ideas to help people and make their lives better. I don’t want my toil to be meaningless.

I realize that you need money to get by, and that’s fine, but I don’t care about the numbers. I never really have. I have survived on Ramen before, and I’ve been happy. I don’t need money for that. I will always work as hard as I know how to, and if I’m lucky, I’ll be able to eat sushi regularly. Sushi does make me happy.

And last, I want variety.

I don’t want to be limited to a field or a company. Some days I’d like to write, and some days I’d like to sing, and some days… you see where I’m going with this. I realize that this piece will take years to develop because, like I said earlier, I’m still learning what I’m good at.

It is time to start taking steps toward these goals. All of my experiences have been invaluable to get where I am now. I believe that these goals are attainable, and I believe they will make for a beautiful life full of adventure and fulfillment.

Eleanor, now that I believe in the beauty of my dreams, I believe it’s time to begin. So despite the recently popular advice to not quit your day job… Voilà. I quit my day job. I’ll let you know how it goes.