Can you believe the school holidays are over?
It’s already the second half of the year and there are only 175 days left in 2019.
It’s got me thinking of how far I have managed to get with all those things I promised myself when the year started.
And then I was reminded about how it is never too late.
On my radio show last week, I asked people about those milestones they achieved late in life; those things that their peers did early on, but that they only got to much later.
It turns out, Capetonians are often inspired to live their dreams and to create better realities for themselves, despite the odds.
Some people called to say that they only learnt to drive at the age of 45, while others are finally finishing their studies or travelling overseas for the first time.
So I thought I would try to inspire you to consider the things that are going to improve your life and to think about how you can put certain things in place now already to achieve that.
I like the idea of 2020 being a year of clear vision. (Can somebody please work that into a marketing campaign for some brand?)
One of the callers into the show told a story about how he had always dreamed about starting his own business, but how he was always a little scared.
Never too old to learn how to drive.
At the age of 53, he decided to give it a shot and he never looked back; a woman in her forties is attending a matric ball next month, after she finally completed Grade 12 this year; the stories are as endless as they are inspiring.
It reminded me of the many stories I have heard over the years from people who have given up on their dreams, because they are scared of failing.
Covering stories about entrepreneurs over the years, I have learnt that repeated failure is part of the eventual success story.
They call it “failing forward”.
It takes a stubborn resilience to keep getting up and trying again, but it is so much better than giving up because you fear failing.
So, with 25 weeks of 2019 left, start planning how you can begin working on your dreams next year.
Slowly start putting a few of the pieces in place that will make it a little easier.
If it’s studies, make inquiries, fill in forms and start putting away money.
If it’s a business, start researching suppliers, budgets and markets.
The most important thing is to keep working at it.
Work smartly towards success, but don’t be discouraged by failure.
And live the dream every day; spend all free time practising it.
I find many people give up after their first major setback. This is where the most learning happens, so grieve the failure and find a way to pick yourself up so you can move forward.
The point is to stop talking and dreaming and to start doing.
I loved how happy and inspired those people sounded on the phone when they were talking about working on their dreams.
It’s almost as if achieving it didn’t matter anymore.
All that mattered was that they had finally worked up the courage to do something about it.