Dream List Media

Here's an extraodinary story about a man who truly knows what it means to overcome obstacles and to live your dreams.  Patrick Henry Hughes was born with a genetic disorder that left him physically disabled and without eyes.  He has since gone on to become an accomplished pianist, singer and trumpeter, who is currently a member of his college marching band. 

He recently wrote a book, I Am Potential: Eight Lessons on Living, Loving, and Reaching Your Dreams, along with Bryant Stamford and his father, Patrick John Hughes.  From his book description: "In I Am Potential, Hughes recounts the eight critical lessons he has learned that are at the heart of his success, including “When Life Gives You Lemons, Accept Them and Be Grateful” and “Do All You Can to Change What You Can.” Uplifting and revealing, I Am Potential is remarkably inspirational for anyone facing challenges in their own life." 

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
~Milton Berle

Janet Evanovich is a beloved author by many.  She has written over fifteen novels, including the Stephanie Plum series that consistently makes the New York Times Best Seller List. 

Want to know the secrets to her success? Pick up a copy of her book, How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author, where she, along with Ina Yalof and Alex Evanovich, discuss how she comes up with characters, sets up plots and finds insider details.  You’ll learn about the publishing industry and what the life of a full-time writer is all about.

On her website, the Writing Q&A is also a great place to find more advice and even post a question for Janet.

If you dream of publishing your first novel, then you must read the story of Stephenie Meyer.

It was only five years ago that she began her journey from housewife to New York Times best-selling author of the Twilight series.  This is a story of an ordinary person who achieved extraordinary feats that will inspire writers around the globe. 

Follow the link to read all about Stephenie Meyer. 

“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
                        ~Walt Disney

This is my all-time favorite quote.  Walt Disney is a great example of an everyday, ordinary person, who achieved his grand dreams and still leaves his legacy today.   If you ever receive an email from me, my signature always ends with this quote–because I live by it.  We all have grand dreams just like Walt, but the first step to achieving your dreams is believing in yourself.  You truly can do anything that you dream of. 

If you’re interested in reading more about Walt Disney and how he went from ordinary to extraordinary, you should check out the book, How to Be Like Walt:  Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life, by Pat Williams. 

This book actually inspired me to follow my own dreams and take the big leap into starting a business.  We’ll see where it takes me!  This was a great book, with just the right amount of details on Walt’s life and vision to inspire a dreamer to follow in his footsteps.  The book was sprinkled with many valuable lessons like, Lesson 1: Live the Adventure, and Lesson 3: Dare to Do the Impossible.  The combination of lessons followed by stories of Walt using these lessons in his life, made it engaging, easy-to-follow and very inspiring.  Although this book is a biography, I feel that it is far more.  It’s an inspirational and motivational book that makes you feel like you can do anything that your heart desires.

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” ~George Eliot

Recently, I watched one of Oprah’s episodes that featured Louise Hay, Martha Beck and Cheryl Richardson. Quite a few topics on the show really resonated with me. Instead of discussing them all now, I’ll focus on my favorite–the story of Louise Hay.

At age 50, Louise Hay wrote and published her first book, Heal Your Body.  She continued to teach workshops, but she realized “if I could put this workshop on paper, I could help many more people.”  So she took six months to write the book, You Can Heal Your Life, and then in 1984, started the publishing company, Hay House, to self-publish her book.  Her book quickly became an international best-seller and today, Hay House is a prosperous publishing company that has sold millions of books by over 130 well-known authors.

This is an inspiring success story for woman over 50, or anyone else that feels it’s too late to fulfill their dreams. It’s never too late! There are thousands of success stories that started later on in life. What will your success story be?

I just came across a great article in the Seattle Times about a 12 year old girl, Kris Ludwig, who wanted to become an oceanographer.  So in 1989, she wrote a letter to Robert Ballard, famous for his discovery of the Titanic in 1985, asking him what she needed to do and to her surprise he wrote back advising her to “get good grades in math and science and to study oceanography in graduate school.” Years later, in 1993, she ended up joining Ballard’s team for an expedition and continues to work in the field today.

This is a great example of the old saying–it never hurts to try.  Many would just assume that someone of Robert Ballard’s status would be too busy to answer a letter, so they wouldn’t bother trying, and their quest would end there.  But those that send a letter with the attitude of, it never hurts to try, may end up pleasantly surprised.  Just think of how this little girl’s dream came true, all because she tried.

Stop and think about what you really want to do.  What is your dream?  If you catch yourself saying, I can’t do this because…, stop and remember this story.  Ask yourself, what’s the worst that can happen if I try?