When I decided to pursue coaching, I was at a point in my life where I knew I wanted something more.
I'd been laid off from my job, and although I didn't have everything figured out, I knew I didn't want to spend the rest of my working life doing something that didn't light me up. I'd been intentionally searching for my purpose, trying to figure out what I was really meant to do with my life. And when I discovered coaching, something clicked.
It brought together so many things I cared about. Personal growth, helping people, creating meaningful change, and having the freedom to build a life on my own terms. After spending so many years struggling with self-doubt and playing small, I wanted to see what I was actually capable of. And the thought of helping other women break through their own limitations and discover that same possibility? I couldn't imagine anything more rewarding.
I was excited about what I was creating. I believed in it. And naturally, I wanted the people around me to be excited about it too.
But that wasn't exactly how things played out.
When the People Around You Don't See What You See
One of the hardest parts of pursuing my dream was feeling like I didn't have the support I'd hoped for from the people closest to me.
I won't pretend that didn't hurt. It did. Especially because this wasn't just about starting a business. This was about my future, my happiness, and the kind of life I wanted to create for myself.
And when things didn't immediately take off, which, let's face it, is pretty normal when you're building something from scratch, I could feel that lack of confidence from the people around me. Whether they intended it that way or not, their reactions sometimes made me question whether I could really pull this off.
Having struggled with self-esteem for much of my life, those feelings weren't exactly unfamiliar. I'd worked hard to stop doubting myself, but there were still moments when someone else's uncertainty was enough to send me right back into my own.
It threw me off track more times than I'd like to admit. I'd go from feeling excited and inspired about what I was creating to questioning myself and wondering if I was being unrealistic.
But underneath all of that doubt, I still believed in what I was doing. And I knew I wasn't willing to walk away from it.
Not Everyone Is Going to Understand Your Vision
Something I've come to realize is that we sometimes give far too much weight to the opinions of people who have never actually walked the path we're trying to take.
Think about it. If someone has spent their entire life choosing the safe, predictable route, how much can they really tell you about pursuing a dream that requires taking risks, trusting yourself, and doing things differently?
That doesn't mean their opinions are worthless or that they don't care about you. They may genuinely believe they're looking out for your best interests. But their advice is naturally going to be influenced by their own experiences, fears, beliefs, and understanding of what's possible.
And those things don't have to become your limitations.
I've always believed that we're capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for. That if we truly put our minds to something, believe it's possible, and are willing to do the work, we can create things that once seemed completely out of reach.
Not everyone shares that belief. And that's okay.
The mistake is assuming that because someone else can't see what's possible for you, maybe it isn't possible after all.
You Can Want Their Support Without Needing Their Permission
Here's something I want to make clear: there's nothing wrong with wanting the people you love to support your dreams.
Of course you want them to be excited for you. You want someone to celebrate your wins, encourage you when things get hard, and remind you why you started when you're having one of those days when absolutely nothing seems to be working.
I wanted that too.
And I've learned that you can be disappointed by someone's lack of support without allowing that disappointment to determine what you do next.
Because at the end of the day, you're the one who has to live your life. You're the one who has to wake up every morning knowing whether you gave yourself a chance to pursue what mattered to you.
For me, giving up on coaching would have meant giving up on something much bigger than a business. I'd spent so much of my life playing small, and I wasn't willing to spend the rest of it wondering what could have happened if I'd finally gone all in on myself.
I had one option as far as I was concerned: see it through.
Your Dreams Are Yours for a Reason
Looking back, I can see how much energy I wasted allowing other people's reactions to influence how I felt about my own dream.
I wish I'd understood sooner that I didn't need everyone around me to share my vision. I needed to keep believing in it, keep learning, keep taking action, and trust myself enough to continue even when things weren't unfolding as quickly as I'd hoped.
And that's what I want you to understand, too.
The people around you might have opinions about what you should do with your life. They might think you're taking too big a risk, aiming too high, or chasing something that doesn't make sense to them. They may even have perfectly reasonable explanations for why they believe that.
But they aren't you.
They don't have your experiences, your desires, your vision, or that feeling inside you that keeps pulling you toward something more.
Listen to advice. Be willing to learn. Make thoughtful decisions. But don't hand someone else the authority to decide what's possible for your life, especially when they've never traveled the road you're hoping to take.
You don't have to convince everyone else that your dream is worth pursuing.
You just have to believe in it enough to give yourself a chance.
A Question From Your Future Self
If you stopped worrying about whether the people around you believed in your dreams, what would you finally give yourself permission to pursue?
And what would it look like to start believing in that possibility for yourself, even before anyone else does?
