I fully believe that anyone can achieve whatever life they want if they just get out of their own way.
During the twelve years that I worked as a flight attendant I began to believe that I had chosen my path and I was stuck with it --even though I didn't love the job and I fell into it in a very unintentional way.
For a while, I kept making half-hearted attempts to find my dream life. I would have vague, "someday" plans to do something else, but for years nothing stuck. The longer I stayed at the airline the more I believed that this was my life now, and that I would have to live my life between trips. The longer I flew the more the job took a toll on my body. I had no energy --ever. I had to drag myself through workouts (something that used to give me great energy and enjoyment). The job gave me equilibrium problems, severe foot pain, thyroid issues, and I was tired ALL THE TIME. My time between trips became failed attempts to feel good and very little "living my life" took place.
It took a few serendipitous events and one enormous tragedy to wake me up enough to realize that I had to (and could) change something. Just like Dorothy, I had the power all along, but couldn't use it until I believed it. (BTW after about a year and a half off the plane, my thyroid is back to normal, my feet are almost all the way better, I am never tired anymore, and I love to exercise again -- I've even lost an inch off my waist as a result.)
The serendipitous events and the tragedy:
(You can read more about it in my blog post: Quitting my Flight Attendant Job.)
Serendipity number one: a flight attendant I worked with once told me about publishing books. I had always wanted to write and illustrate children's books and she had worked for Amazon books in the past. She laid it out so simply that she made me BELIEVE I could -- so I could. That was first sign that my beliefs were limiting me unnecessarily. I sold some books and it was great (FYI, I am still selling them and will have a new one out soon.) The light of possibility began to dawn a little, but I still didn't believe that the work that paid my bills and let me fill my time my way could actually be something I loved.
Serendipity number two: I was so sick of feeling so bad from flying all the time, that I decided to learn how to invest. I thought that if I had even a little success with it I could at least fly fewer trips. I had no idea where to start, but I had a friend who listened to a few money podcasts and directed me to the InvestEd podcast. I went to the host's (Phil Town) live 3 day workshop in Atlanta and got super excited about the way he invests. I saw the potential to make so much more money than I ever could flying. However, I still thought that I had to keep flying for a while before I could invest full time.
Enormous Tragedy: There's no way to ease you in -- my father died on one of the planes that I worked regularly. He was on vacation with his wife and died on the way home from Europe. His heart just stopped beating. The plane diverted to Ireland where my step-mother, in complete shock and grief, was left to manage getting his body back to the States. I flew out there to help her (my airline called to tell me what happened). After the loss of my father, I began to see that I was sacrificing life for a job that wasn't my calling or my passion. Something about my Dad's death on the plane made me realize I was wasting my one and only life on that same plane. The funny thing is that he had wanted me to quit for years -- he saw the toll it was taking. He finally convinced me.
Life is short but it can be beautiful and purposeful. Don't wait for tragedy to make it the way you want it to be.
Now I spend my days working on projects that I love. I make enough money to give to causes that I love. I taught two of my nieces about personal finance and investing so they can do the job they want not the one they think they have to do. I can feel my father looking down at us, happy that I can help empower his granddaughters to live the life they want -- even though it took me until my forties to realize it myself.
*BTW, investing doesn't take that much time, as it turns out. I am able to write, run an Etsy store (so fun, try it), take Spanish lessons and learn to embroider in addition to investing. I love it!
I see my family and friends as much as possible and spend every evening with my husband and pets. I now I have surpassed the annual income I made flying with investing alone -- It took some work and I still study it as I go, but it made me realize that I limited my income, quality of life, and my time completely needlessly just because I believed that I had to.
What do you believe that is limiting you?
You can be healthy. You can have love. You can have abundance. You can have freedom. Change your beliefs and take bold action on your new belief and you will change your life.
*Daniella Bozzone is a habit and mindset writer and a private investor. She has written several children's books available on Amazon, and runs the Etsy store, DesigningDandelion.
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Books that helped me figure out how to find and change my self-limiting beliefs.
*The following are paid affiliate links. However, I did read them and I heartily recommend them.