20/07/2024
Don’t put a limit on anything. The more you dream, the further you get,” advised Michael Phelps, a gold-medal swimmer.
As I've always been a dreamer and an idealist in a family of pragmatists and realists, I was told get a proper job but I decided to follow my dreams. I've always delved deep within myself to find the tools from within to apply myself and to achieve my dream of being a travel journalist.
When I decided I wanted to be a travel journalist, I found the self-discipline to achieve when the going was tough and competition was fierce. It's not been an easy road.
I became a journalist because I wanted a way to live my dreams and make them a reality. During the lockdown, I built my travel writing career from scratch, utilising online connections, attending virtual meetings, and using that period as fuel to fulfil my dreams so I was ready to go when the borders reopened. Now, I receive invites to press trips, which led me to meet incredible people who have changed my quality of life – all because I believed in myself and had a dream.
On a recent press trip to Saint Lucia, an incredible opportunity in itself gained through hard work, I met an Olympic athlete with a compelling story and forged a connection with him and his partner. This led to another opportunity for my family and myself to attend the launch of a brand new five-star resort and spend time with them and some of the greatest Olympians in history in the sunshine.
As I found myself mingling with some of the most incredible motivators and achievers in the world of sport, I felt inspired. ‘Success inspires success’ Jamie Baulch, the man who made the wellness retreat happen, told me as he revealed his journey to winning an Olympic medal. After joining an elite club of successful athletes and being coached by Colin Jackson, he became an Olympic medallist within a year. As I got to know them all, I discovered they all had one thing in common: they all had a dream which they made happen and incredible self-belief and self-discipline and talent.
While I am not in the same league by miles, I reflected on those times I felt like giving up on my dream to be a journalist, because we are all human after all and being knocked back sucks. At that moment, I dug deep and found my resilience and when my inner reserves were lacking, my mentor and travel writing coach Glenn Harris from Beau Monde Traveler, spurred me on with the right amount of encouragement and critique so I could grow.
This helped bring out the qualities I had within. Through discipline I have honed my craft and applied a winning mindset and looking back over my travel writing journey, I know ‘I am not the best in the business, far from it, but I am the best I can be - that’s what counts. I don’t quit!
Tell me I can't, I'll prove to you I can.
The Olympic Games bring a sense of togetherness, inspiration, and motivation that no other sporting event can which inspires people to achieve great things. Olympians know a thing or two about resilience, something I have always had when life has thrown me challenges. As Gabby Douglas, a gold medal-winning gymnast said, “Never quit. Never give up.”
