When I look back on my life, I’ve accomplished most of my goals. I got into college, moved to New York, used my passport, and after years of being a teacher, I became a full time writer.

Despite this, each of these has been relatively easy for me to attain (here’s why). And while the last one–being a writer–was the scariest to grab hold of, my really, big dreams are still waiting for me to turn into reality.

There is a quote going that says, “If your dreams don’t scare you they aren’t big enough.” And while people have shared and re-shared it on just about every social media network possible, I’d wager that most of them are just like me: still waiting to tackle their big, scary dreams.

Sometimes we find ourselves living mediocre lives because we are afraid of our scary dreams, but more often than not it’s because we don’t set our sights on a large enough target.

Before we even start to think about what we can accomplish, we begin thinking of all of the challenges and obstacles in our way…so we downsize our dreams.

I know I’ve done it. For YEARS I’ve been thinking about traveling more (and for longer periods of time), but I’ve used the fact that I’m a single mom as an excuse. I told myself that I would be able to travel for months at a time if I didn’t have to be a responsible parent, but those were merely excuses I used to not even try.

Over the weekend, I decided to just do it. After years of thinking about living in another country, I decided that next year le kid and I will head abroad and live for at least a month.

Scary? Hell yeah, but I’m excited and I have a goal to work toward.

Instead of merely dreaming about it, I’m going to setting a concrete plan in motion. Between now and next summer I will save money, research locales, and plan our life-changing trip.

Over the last seven years of being a single mom I’ve gone out of my way to make sure my son has not missed out on ANYTHING simply because his dad can’t be around. I’ve put him in private school, taken him on trips, celebrated his birthdays with parties and Disneyland excursions, and now this. We are embarking on the biggest experience of our lives and I cannot wait!

But here’s why I’m telling you guys (and it’s not because I want to brag 🙂 ).

One reason many of us fail to reach our goals is because we don’t have anyone holding us accountable (here’s why you need it). We say we want to do things and then forget (or get discouraged) as time passes.

So this is what I need from you: Ask me about the trip. Send me tweets, hit me up on Facebook, drop blog comments asking how the planning is going, where we are headed, and when we’ll be leaving. Your messages will help keep me accountable because the last thing I want to be is a fraud.

While I love encouraging people to accomplish their goals, I’d be sort of a snake oil saleswoman if I didn’t take my own advice and pursue mine as well. So let’s work together!

Help keep me accountable and I will share this journey (as well as any advice/lessons I’ve learned) with you.

Deal?

##

Are your dreams big enough? What goals have you been putting off? Please leave a comment and let me know what you want to accomplish.

*Need a little support tackling your big, scary goals? Meet us over in the #GOALdiggers Facebook group!