Don’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.

Seriously, you’ve got what it takes. It will take everything you have, but you’ve got it. Don’t be afraid to dream. Big.

I think we all feel inadequate. We feel like we’re not good enough for our dreams. Dreams are what other people achieve, not me.

Sound familiar?

It won’t be until you take some big hairy audacious action towards your goal that you’ll start to feel like maybe, just maybe, you CAN do this. You have to take those first scary tentative steps into the unknown and trust you’re up to the task before you’ll know you are.

So how, exactly, does one go about taking that big hairy audacious action when you feel smaller than small? You believe in your dream. Then you step over the cliff.

There is no magic pill to give you the courage to overcome those fears and feelings of inadequacy. There is nothing anybody else can give you that will make it disappear. It’s within you, and only you can discover it.

Is it scary? Oh yeah. It’s scary. It’s perhaps the scariest thing you’ll ever do. Many, many thoughts will be racing around your head.

Am I good enough? Will I fail? What if it turns out I don’t like it? Will it be good for my kids?  Do I have enough money? How much time will it take? Am I prepared?

All those questions are perfectly normal. Go anyway. Take a deep breath and step over the cliff.

I think you’ll discover a pleasant surprise. I think you’ll learn quickly that you CAN do it. You are more capable than you thought.
Yes, you might fail. You might not like it and you’ll turn around and go back home. You might run out of money or not have enough time. It’s possible.

But more likely is that none of that will happen. More likely is that you’ll discover, like countless others who have gone before you, that you’ll succeed. You’ll realize you are more capable than you thought; that you can push on long after you thought you couldn’t.

What are you waiting for? Go. Discover. Learn.

Nancy Sathre-Vogel, a long-time classroom teacher, made the decision to quit her teaching job and join the ever-burgeoning ranks of homeschoolers. Together with her husband and children, she cycled the length of the Americas from Alaska to Argentina.  She blogs at www.familyonbikes.org