First, the basics:

I’m a life coach, digital nomad, bestselling author, professional speaker, made-up word lover, amateur salsa dancer, and blanket hog who often wonders out loud if I should call myself a Self-Actualization Coach because my true north and the driving force behind all my work is the belief that dream acceleration is REALLY about self-actualization.

Here’s a bit of my story and why I’ve been musing on such things:

On a good day, I felt restless. On a bad day, I felt like a caged animal.

Exasperated, I came home from work to my dark, musty, basement apartment – a glaring reminder that I was not just figuratively, but literally, underground. Drowning in student loan debt, I rarely answered my phone because collection agencies were calling me daily. Trying to find my way in the world wasn’t easy. All the emotional and practical baggage of difficult family dynamics and estrangement seemed to all be hitting me at once. Much of it not my fault, I felt like a victim of circumstances who was dealt an unfortunate hand. I felt profoundly alone in my struggles.

The job I begrudgingly got at an Ivy League university to establish some stability, looked good on paper, but my soul was dying, a little more every day. If I had to sit through one more hour-long meeting that could have been communicated by an email, I was going to lose it! Things were done in inefficient ways for no reason other than it’s the way they’d always done it. This felt archaic to me, but rethinking conventions wasn’t welcomed or encouraged. Waiting for that clock on the wall to say 5:00 felt like an insult to my personal integrity and pride, not to mention that I had finished my work hours earlier. The starched button down shirt I wore, because I thought I should, felt like a straight-jacket, a costume that belonged to someone else – but not me.

I knew I couldn’t stay.

While going through the motions on all the things I thought I was supposed to do, I was losing myself. On autopilot, I’d drive to work, or the grocery store, or the gym (when I could get myself to go) feeling more and more disconnected from who I was. I wasn’t challenged. I wasn’t inspired. I felt contained, micro-managed, and caught in status quo games that I didn’t want to play. I felt like I was drowning, and I knew no one was coming to save me.

Underneath my restlessness and frustration, was a growing sense that I was meant for MORE, that this couldn’t possibly be all I was meant to do, be, or have.

I knew I needed to take the reins and reshape my life, to reshape my reality, to figure out how to not live in a basement forever, to create a life that was my own, that reflected the truth of who I was.

It was from that dark musty basement apartment, that I gazed out that teeny-tiny window with a view of the sidewalk and the tires of cars passing by … and I’d dream.

I dreamed of having the freedom to travel when and where I please. I dreamed of having my own location-independent company so that I could work from anywhere. I dreamed of a home with lots of natural light. I dreamed of becoming a bestselling author. I dreamed of wealth on my own terms. I dreamed of finding love. I dreamed of having time and energy for creativity and play. I dreamed of making a positive impact, serving others in meaningful ways that made their life better. I dreamed of being myself without boundaries.

The voice of my soul and seeds of my own self-actualization were surfacing. 

Naming my dreams felt so powerful. I acknowledged the dreams in my heart and imagined what my life could be – despite having absolutely no idea how to make ANY of it happen at the time.

People said my dreams were impossible, that I should “settle down,” stay at my job, just be more grateful. They were wrong.

Not only have I achieved my “impossible” dreams and the freedom I so craved, I’ve built a business around helping YOU chart your own course, live your dreams, and create the life you think you cannot have. I have coached thousands to go beyond striving, wishing, and “someday-ing,” to experience the true freedom life has to offer. Rethinking conventions and challenging status quo “have tos,” while helping people rediscover themselves and realize what’s possible, has made for a profoundly fulfilling, decades-long career. Looking to the horizon, I am expanding my impact daily, determined to reach millions of people with my writing, coaching, and speaking.

Your dreams, like mine, are fuel on your path to self-actualization.

Regardless of the specifics of what your dreams are, I stand for them as by-products and bonus results of your becoming. Who you become in the process is the real win, and how you grow and stretch into being the person who would have them is the real work. (It’s also where the biggest rewards are found.)

I help you create the life you think you cannot have while becoming the person you are meant to be.

What is the life YOU think you cannot have ? Who do you need to become in order to create it?

Love,

PS – If you are ready for self-actualization with a side of dream realization, I am opening up 5 spots for my FREE Top Shelf Session with Tara Assessment, a 1:1 conversation where you will gain clarity on your dreams and how they reflect and empower the person you are becoming, insight into what’s been holding you back, and a renewed sense of hope about how to courageously break free of obstacles to achieve what you want with a customized strategic plan for your desired future.