“Far away there in the sunshine are my aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they lead.” That quote by Louisa May Alcott was an integral part of the first website I had created three years ago.

I had been laid off in November of 2005 after 16 years at a major Canadian utility and the modest severance was my ticket to pursuing some dreams I had been nurturing for many years. Already a yoga teacher, I wanted to take that experience to another level and achieve a certification as a Life Coach. So with my quickly dwindling payout I contracted a young fellow to craft me a website. Oh god, it was beautiful to look at. All pink and aqua, it was my very first venue as a blogger and writer.

What I remember most about that first year is the reaction to my blogs. Never a quiet woman, in fact quite bold with a laugh that I’ve been assured can rupture eardrums, I had never really spoken what was in my heart. Nobody really knew what made me, me.  So it came as a “mostly” pleasant shock to my family and friends that I was capable of weaving words into thinly disguised morality tales. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes poignant, my blogs were written to engage, provoke and teach.

Just this year, I retired my beloved website in favour of a DIY site where I can do more “stuff.”  It’s still www.lindakaban.com but much more of a workhorse than my pretty “showcase” ever was. And my blogs/articles  became such a blast since I started adding video/podcasting.

The certification as a Life Skills Coach and Facilitator came in 2007 and the formal establishment of myself as the sole proprietor of a coaching business followed a year after that. My readership was growing by leaps and bounds and clients were beginning to sign up.

In June of 2008, I was asked for an interview on Liquid Lunch on thatchannel.com. Shortly afterwards I began thinking I can do this, and after a meeting with the founder of the station, signed up to produce and host my own internet TV show called Dare to Dream. Besides putting my marketing dollars to work, the show was a a venue for entrepreneurs and dreamers alike. Networking galore!

Because of that show, because of my constant attention to moving myself up the google food chain, I was contacted by CBC television on New Year’s Eve to be part of a short piece on resolutions because they wanted a Life Coach’s take.

I’ve been interviewed, published, quoted, approached to write a small book on success techniques and NONE of this would have happened if I hadn’t had a dream. And more importantly, if I hadn’t taken the steps to make those dreams a reality.

Every single one of you reading this has a dream. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t.  There’s something in you, a small tug at your heart or a big burning need to BE who you were meant to be.

You know, in that short biographical intro to me, it all rhymed off chronologically, nice and neat. Let me assure you the journey was anything but. For as many times as I touched the sunshine where my dreams live, there were all too many times I was practically buried beneath fear and despair.

Here, in this blog, my wish is to not only to inspire you to take the steps to achieve your highest aspirations, to give you some tools you’ll need to navigate your path, but to assure you, on those days when it all seems too much, that everything you do, every action you take will bring you that much closer to your dream.

Peace,

Linda