I just arrived home from New York City where I celebrated with a number of you at a Women on Fire Tea and appeared on Janette Barber’s radio show on Sirius XM.
The trip was filled with many delicious surprises.
Women on Fire Tea in New York City on Friday — Front row: Lara Licharowicz, Jolie Solomon, Renee Schmidt; second row: Darlene Wade, Ann Graham, Janette Barber, Mary Ann Donatelli-Reilly, Holly Getty, Ellen Wingard, Debbie Phillips, Jenifer Madson, Kim Anderson, Sandra Carlson, Heike Vogel, Janina Sebesky and Muffy Vrana (Photos by Rob Berkley)
My birthday is June 25 so my husband came along to New York and treated me to an early birthday dinner with friends and a spa afternoon with Woman on Fire Holly Getty!
And, Woman on Fire Sarah Elizabeth Greer hosted an extraordinary brunch complete with a handsome bassist playing some of my favorite tunes.
So sliding into my actual birthday (a day I share with Woman on Fire Sandra Carlson!) I already feel very loved and blessed!
I love having the same birthday as Sandra Carlson of Washington, DC. Happy birthday to us on June 25! Do you share a birthday with anyone you know?
During my many discussions in New York, we talked a lot about going for our dreams. And, one of you asked me: how do I even figure out my dreams?
Great question!
So before we talk about that today …
I want to welcome many of you who are here for the very first time.
Quite a few of you found us when you heard Janette Barber interviewing me on her radio show about the power of Women on Fire — women supporting and cheering each other to go for our dreams.
On the air with the fabulous Janette Barber, talking about the inspiration, strategies and support that make Women on Fire such an uplifting community!
As the American writer, editor and poet Carl Sandburg said: “Nothing happens unless first a dream.”
Fascinating to consider, isn’t it?
Here are some of the questions I’ve personally used and asked of many coaching clients over the years to help them figure out dreams worth pursuing.
Answer with as much candor as you can and this is also a good exercise to journal:
1) Who do you enjoy helping and what problems can you solve for them?
2) What wrong in the world do you want to make right?
3) When you were a child or teen-ager, what did you dream of doing?
4) What do people come to you for?
5) If money or making a living were not a consideration, what would you do with your precious life?
Your answers to one or more of these questions will give you clues to dreams you may want to follow. Your answers also can unearth long-held dreams that you’ve forgotten.
In my own life, my answer to Question #1 led me to my dream that eventually became Women on Fire!
The people I wanted to help were my women coaching clients. Successful in many ways, they were often isolated and feeling alone in their struggles.
My dream was to connect them in a fun and inspiring way so they could have the experience of being surrounded and empowered by other women cheering on their successes.
It was started out with a handful of women at a tea party — and voila nearly a decade later we are more than 3,000 women strong!
Cheering each other on — here I am at last week’s tea party in New York City with Janina Sebesky, Mary Ann Donatelli-Reilly and Janette Barber — amazing, supportive Women on Fire.
Indeed, nothing happens unless first a dream!
May your life be filled with inspiring dreams and the inspiration, strategies and support to pursue them.
