People are often surprised when I tell them how much I love Los Angeles because all they see is smog, Botox, and traffic jams. I see a different side, an inspiring city focused on keeping your dreams alive.
If you are someone with burning goals, dreams or desires, the City of Angels teaches you persistence, the importance of passion, knowing when to let go, how not to get attached to the outcome and go with the flow. Let me take you on a tour of Los Angeles through my eyes and why it inspires me.
Let’s start with something he’s definitely famous for: dreams.
**Following your dreams**
The main thing I love about Los Angeles is that it is a place of creative dreams, as most people are there because they want to become an actor, writer, singer, dancer, producer or the like.
Years ago I met a woman at a West Hollywood gym who told me that her husband had just received a promotion requiring them to move to another country. She said he decided to turn down the opportunity because she had just read for a TV pilot and it looked like her acting career was *finally* about to take off.
She said: “I’ve been waiting for this for over 10 years and I’m lucky to have a man in my life who knows what dreams are made of and supports me in my goals.” I thought, “Wow. Waiting 10 years to achieve your professional passion, that’s persistence.”
And it’s not something we hear often either. I mean, how many times have you heard an accountant, grocer, salesperson, or manager say, “I’ve been waiting for this job for 10 years”? In reality, they usually spend a few years studying and gaining experience and then spend the next 10 years trying to figure out how they can escape the rat race.
Years after that argument, I was running that same rat race and I thought about the time in the gym.
I was frustrated that things weren’t happening fast enough in my career, I wanted to step away from my marketing role and focus on writing and delivering inspiring group programs to help people live fuller lives. I also had a strong desire to control my own destiny and work for myself. And while I enjoyed marketing, I wanted to use my skills on something I was passionate about.
At that stage, I had been actively pursuing my goals for four years and things were moving forward, but I wanted to make it happen *now*. I was at a very impatient stage in my life and was the person who used to yell at the microwave, “Hurry up,” because even quick food destruction wasn’t fast enough for me. I was tired of hard work, working for no reward and was literally chasing a dream instead of living one. And my beautiful dreams were turning into hard work. I thought, ‘Come on, people throw me a bone just to keep me going.
If you have big ambitions, you must also have a lot of hope and faith to support them. That actress believed in herself and anything else was second best, she also had a support system in her husband. And a cheerleading squad is great, but honestly, support can come and go and there will always be naysayers. Or those in your life who are happy to go along with your wishes, until it takes longer than they thought, and they wonder when you’ll bring the money. Or sometimes they just get tired of hearing plans without what they perceive to be any progress.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that support systems are essential and great, but it all comes down to you, YOU have to believe in your dreams because if you don’t, no one else will. dream that makes your heart sing, you can’t give it up after a week, a month, a year or 10 years. And even though I was frustrated, I also had a one-way mind, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. In fact, I thought that if I didn’t realize my dream, it would be like a death inside me and I would go back to being one of the millions of people who walk numb. People who live life in a flat line. And the thought of not following through on my passion was far worse than honing my skills of patience and persistence.
** Letting go **
Another thing I love about Los Angeles is that the people are diverse, since very few are born there. They come from all over the world to make their dreams come true.
They leave behind the comfort of their homes, their family, their friends, their cars, their favorite deli, their soul-inspiring park, their dog, in other words, they leave their comfort zone to create their joy. That may seem like a lot to give up, but in reality, they will never be 100% true unless they do. I know that I would rather live a happy life than an emotionally secure one.
The challenge for most people is that we are afraid. We stick with what is familiar because we know what we are doing. When we move on to something new, there is no guarantee of success. It’s like your first day, at your first job again and we all know how awkward that was. We felt that we would never know everything there is to know to do our new job well. But fast forward 5, 10, 15 years and most people are sitting around bored to tears with a job they know inside out and offer few challenges; no wonder they are living a flat life.
In my situation, it wasn’t about letting go of my surroundings, it was about changing my mind because I had to ‘let go of what I knew’ and create a new identity for myself.
One of the favorite questions people love to ask in order to put you in a box is, “So what do you do?”
There was a stage where he said: “Well, I do a lot of things, I like to read and go to the movies. Traveling is a lot of fun and I like to go down to the beach whenever I can.” Every time she responded like that, people would look at me a little strange and then say, “Oh, so you’re a stay-at-home mom or between jobs right now?”
Oh no. I’m working. They just didn’t get it and thought he was crazy.
At that time I was a well established seller. When you realize how much emphasis society places on what you do for a living, it can be overwhelming when you’re making a career change to follow your dreams. The challenge was that when I discovered my purpose, I had to take a bold step and abandon what I used to do to own what I was getting myself into.
So every time the “What are you doing?” a question arose, I would say that he was a writer and self-improvement mentor. Of course, the next question was: “Oh, have you published any books?” Now I can say yes, but back then I had published articles, just not the coveted book that everyone likes to think is the test and standard of writing success. I have to admit, I was a little uncomfortable saying what I was doing because I was just getting started, whereas if I had stuck to my previous job description, I would have a list of great accomplishments.
But that was no longer who I was, and by clinging to what was, I was not making room for what is and what will be. In addition, I also realized that who I am has very little to do with what I do at work. I know that many people equate their value with the value of their work and if for some reason they lose their job, they also lose their sense of positive self worth.
When in reality, if you create a strong sense of yourself, it stays strong no matter what’s going on around you. The point is that it’s okay to let it go because the essence of what it does to you doesn’t *really* change that. a lot over time.
By letting go of a part of your life, you are still you.
Keeping the dream alive and pursuing your passion is an integral part of a happy and fulfilling life. In Part 2 of your dream tour of Los Angeles, we focus on: believing that you can make money doing what you love and understanding the concept of ‘this or something better’.
