Iย have a dream. I believe all writers share this same dream โ€“ which is to someday publish their own book (all the better if it turns into a bestseller!).

But never in my imagination had I thought that this dream would materialize any time soon, at least not this year, not in the way it had happened.

It all started with a conversation with my friend. I can’t recall what we were talking about, but I casually mentioned to her that I hope to write a book on mompreneurship, a subject Iโ€™m passionate about.

To my surprise, she shared that a publisher had approached her to write about work life balance but given her commitments she didnโ€™t feel she could take it up at that point (sheโ€™s founder of Mums@Work, a social enterprise in Singapore that helps moms find better balance between being moms and workers through flexi-work or starting their own business). Through my sharing, she saw the possibility of us working together and shortly after, an appointment with the publisher was set up. Things went well at the first meeting and soon we found ourselves signing an agreement with the publisher to work on the book.

Over the next few months, I poured my heart into the project. I especially love interviewing the mompreneurs; their stories inspire me. It was an amazing experience to see something going from an idea, to taking on form and shape, and finally transforming itself into a solid book. It was truly my labour of love, and no words could describe the joy I felt when I held the book in my hands for the first time.

As a writer, this is definitely a milestone. But more than that, itโ€™s a solid symbol of the fact that dreams can come true. Itโ€™s something I want to share with my kids in encouraging them to pursue their own dreams.

Dear moms, do you also have a dream? What are you doing about it? Do you feel as if itโ€™s too big to be achieved? Stop telling yourself itโ€™s too difficult or impossible. Stop the judgment now.

I love what Steven Pressfield said in his book, Do the Work!: โ€œA child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Itโ€™s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitateโ€.

He also said, “The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications, and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do”.

As moms, we often feel like we are too busy and have too little time to nurture our own dreams but sometimes these, as Pressfield wrote, could be just excuses.

Let me share three lessons Iโ€™ve learned from my experience:

1. Share with people who are supportive of you. You never know who might be able to help you in achieving your goals.

2. Find a partner. As moms, we are all busy with 101 things. So instead of going it alone, how about finding someone who shares your dream and do it together? It can also be more fun doing it with someone else. Just make sure you do it with someone trustworthy, especially if your dream is about setting up a business. There are too many stories of people being betrayed by their business partners.

3. Hold on to your dreams and goals, they give your life purpose and meaning. Donโ€™t let failures discourage you. If you keep working on it, sooner or later your dream will come true. Along the way you will gain greater courage, determination and self-confidence, which will empower you to achieve even more goals.

A new year is coming. What is one dream or goal you would like to work on in the coming year? Letโ€™s support one another in this journey!

This is an original post by Ruth Wong from Singapore. She’s a work-at-home-mom who also blogs at Mommy Cafe. She has recently co-authored and published a book titled Successful Work-Life Balance.

Photo credits to Sujin Jetkasettakorn, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Ruth

Ruth lives in Singapore, a tiny island 137 kilometres north of the equator. After graduating from university, she worked as a medical social worker for a few years before making a switch to HR and worked in various industries such as retail, banking and manufacturing. In spite of the invaluable skills and experiences she had gained during those years, she never felt truly happy or satisfied. It was only when she embarked on a journey to rediscover her strengths and passion that this part of her life was transformed. Today, Ruth is living her dreams as a writer. Ironically, she loves what she does so much that at one point, she even thought that becoming a mom would hinder her career. Thanks to her husbandโ€™s gentle persuasions, she now realises what joy she would have missed out had she not changed her mind. She is now a happy WAHM. Ruth launched MomME Circle, a resource site to support and inspire moms to create a life and business they love. She has a personal blog Mommy Cafรฉ where she writes about her son's growing up and shares her interests such as food and photography.

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