Make Your Dreams Come True!

Happy Friday. Good morning. It is, I think, the last day of June, right? Yeah. Tomorrow is July 1, which is so wild. I cannot believe we are halfway through the year. How did that even happen? What is going on? Where has 2023 gone? It's just like a dandelion in the wind. It's like a little puff of air, just, like, swept away the first six months of this year. But I actually really like this time of year. I mean, it's summertime, but it's a great chance to just sort of, like, reset for the second half of the year.

And I just. I love it. I love kind of going into that second half. Just get warmed up in the first half of the year. So. Okay, today, a couple of things. I'm going to talk to you. I'm going to tell you a quick story, and then we're going to get into the top ten things that I am doing right now. So, the ten things that I'm doing right now to make my big dreams come true. And if you didn't notice, I'm sporting my princess Diana, like, vintage Harvard style. I had to bring it for you guys. I have been living in vintage lately and just loving discovering some really cool things.

And this was. What's up, Luke? This was one of my. This is one of my recent finds, and I'm, like, really obsessed with it. Okay, so, first things first. I'm going to tell you a quick story, and then I'm going to rip through the ten things that I'm doing right now to make my big dreams come true. As always, I have my notes, so I'm. If you see me looking down, it's just that I'm checking my notes to make sure that I don't miss anything. Okay, so, first things first. Little story. My grandmother and I don't know if I've told this before, but if I did, you're gonna hear it again.

My grandmother used to sing this little song. You know, find a penny, pick it up all the day. You'll have good luck. And she always was picking up pennies off the ground, and she usually picked up the heads up pennies, but it just always reminded me of her. After she passed, I started seeing pennies in the weirdest places, like at a gas station. Of course, there's change everywhere, but you could pull up to any pump, and I would, like, pull up to the one pump that had a penny on the ground, or I would be walking into a photo shoot, and I would park my car in the street, and I would get out of my car, and I would look down, and there would be a penny there.

And the other day, I met my dream celebrity, Patrick Dempsey, in. It was the greatest moment of my life. I'm still. I still haven't, like, really registered that that happened. I saw him doing a talk with Robin Roberts from Good Morning America. And as we were walking up the steps to the music hall to take our seats, I looked down and there was a penny. And I have been collecting these pennies over the years. My grandmother passed away in 2017, and I have a little cup full of all of these, like, pennies from heaven, I call them.

And it's just my grandmother sort of, like, letting me know I think that she's with me. And I don't know, I just feel like it's just been a really cool thing to think about her every time I see one. So yesterday, I saw this Instagram post about these super valuable 1982 pennies. And I don't know if you've heard of this, but I guess in the year 1982, they were making copper pennies before they switched to. To zinc. The copper pennies weigh a little bit more, and they're more valuable. And in 1982, they switched mid year from copper to zinc.

And there are still some 1982, what they're calling small date pennies. So the date is a little bit smaller. It's closer to Lincoln on the penny. And you can tell if you get, like, up really close to the magnifying glass or if you have really good vision, you can tell which pennies are the 1982 small date pennies. Apparently, small date pennies are selling for as much as $18,000. So when I saw this article yesterday, I was like, that's why my grandmother's sending me pennies. Like, I don't know.

I went down the rabbit hole. I learned all the history about the 1982 penny and all the other pennies that might be of value. I take out my food scale, I start going through all my pennies from heaven and seeing if I have any 1982 date stamped pennies. And it has to have the little D for Denver, which is where they were being made in the mint. And turns out I have 219 82 D pennies. However, they are not the small date pennies from what I can tell. And then I looked up the other pennies that, like I said, were valuable, and there's a 1990 D penny that apparently is worth a lot of money.

That one is sold for, like, $20,000. Now, I don't know if this is true or not, but, like, I did a lot of research yesterday and spent a lot of time going down the penny rabbit hole. I do have one of those 1990, 219, 90 pennies, just FYI. So anyway, all of that to say that I want you to remember when you are going about your day and when you are thinking about your big dreams and just, like, living your best life, to really, like, think about finding value in the small things and looking for value and hidden gems and hidden secrets and exciting possibilities in the things that you would least expect.

Pennies are what's tossed in the penny jar. Pennies are what's given away at convenience stores and gas stations. Meanwhile, the 1982 penny is, like, sneaky, sneaking up in here and given us all this value. And I have been saving them. So that is your reminder to look for the value in the really small things and the things that other people might overlook. I just wanted to share that message. Okay, top ten things I'm doing right now to make my big dreams come true. Number one, no alcohol. I just celebrated six months of no alcohol, and I have never felt more productive, more clear, better about my decision making, and just healthier on the whole.

So, number one, I cut alcohol. So, whatever your vices that you feel might be holding you back, it might be alcohol, it might be something else. Like, I don't know, too much tv. Whatever your vices that you think is causing you to be unproductive and waste time, kick it to the curb. Number two, I'm always being mindful of my inputs. I have done an entire video on this. If you head to the library here on Cadre, I have an acronym for inputs. It's ingest new, positive, useful tools, and you could change the new to necessary.

But really think about what's necessary for you? What are you taking in? What's up, Alec? What are you taking in? What are you ingesting? What are you watching? What are you reading? What are you doing? Hearing that people are saying to you, really be mindful of your inputs. So, number one, no alcohol. Number two, being mindful of your inputs. Number three, setting boundaries. I have had to have some really tough friend conversations lately where I've basically told people that they're being too much for me, for lack of a better phrase, and I'm a lot nicer when I say it, but I have to ask for a lot of space with people who are demanding too much of me that I just cannot give.

What are you keeping in your life? What aren't you saying to people that could free you? And how are you not setting boundaries that could potentially save your life, really, and save your time, your energy, your effort. I mean, we have to be so mindful about who gets our energy, and I can guarantee you that if you set that boundary, it's like having rules with little kids. People will respond because they don't want you to leave them in the lurches. They don't want you to leave their life. So if you speak your truth and tell people what you need, I think you're actually going to gain a lot more respect in the end.

So no alcohol. Be mindful of your inputs and set your boundaries. Number four, get up earlier. I have now been getting up at 530 instead of six. m. It's getting really hot here in Arizona, so I still get the walk in with him. He's passed out, not woofing in the window, and I'm getting some movement in first thing in the morning. So if I don't get a workout in that day, I already know that I've moved my body, I've listened to something mindful, my inputs, my podcast. That's my time to listen to podcasts.

And then I've gotten some time with my dog and I've exercised him so I can go on with my day. So no alcohol. Be mindful of your input. Set your boundaries and get up earlier if you can to stretch out and maximize your day. Number five, I have been putting myself out there in a much bigger way. I am going right to the top, and I'm advising my friends who are also entrepreneurs and also want to make their big dreams come true to do the same. Go right to the top. You want to have a deal with Target?

Go right to Target. Find that person on LinkedIn. Find a connection. You're only one email, phone call, DM, text message away from the person that you want to connect with. Go bigger. Go bigger. Your opportunities could be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. Go right to the top. Don't waste your time with the middle people. Go right to the person that you want to connect with. If you have a big dream, don't think that it's going to take you 8 million steps to get there. You can make it happen a lot faster.

So put yourself out there in a bigger way and you never know who's going to respond. Number six, journaling. I have been really good about my journaling lately, even if it's just listing the. The top 20 things that have happened to me in the last two weeks. If I miss some days, I just did that after coming home from my vacation. I brought my journal on my vacation. Didn't touch it, but I just recapped everything that happened in a list form and was able to really list out all the cool things that happened while I was gone.

Fun fact and funny story for you. I was with my best friend from forever ago. Like, we're like, we've been best friends for 2025 years. And I told her husband that I journal every day, and he totally pooh poohed me and was like, why do you do that? And I was like, really? You're like, you're knocking my healthy habits? Wow. You have zero growth mindset. And it was this moment where I just, like, stood on my ground and I. And I talked my truth and I was like, journaling is, like, my. The best way for me to look back and remember.

And I still read my journals from years ago. I couldn't believe that he was knocking my healthy habit. And I just realized, wow, I really need to, like, exit that person while I'm in a growth phase and just maybe forever. Like, you're going to outgrow these people. I hadn't seen him in five years. He was so disgruntled and living in the past and doesn't have a growth mindset. And I know that my best friend feels a disconnection from him lately, too. I can see why. Because he's knocking healthy things.

I was like, it. Okay, I obviously can't have, like, a personal growth conversation with you at all. So I will put up a boundary there and I won't tell you all the big things that I'm working on, the things that I'm excited about. I can still love you, but you're definitely not in my inner, like, excitement circle. Okay, number seven, asking for help. We are not meant to do life alone. A lot of my friends had known lately that I'm in, like, a hustle and grind mode, and they've been offering help to me.

Typically, I would turn that down because I'm such a solopreneur and I love being able to just take everything on and handle it myself. I have been gladly accepting people's help and actually really feeling freedom around that. And doesn't mean I'm asking left, right and center. It just means that when opportunities present themselves, that might free me up a little bit and give me a little bit more time, space, and clarity. I'm accepting the help or I'm asking for it where I really need it, and then I'm allowing it to, like, go and be, and I'm not overthinking it.

So definitely ask for help or accept help when and if you need it. Okay. Number eight, looking ahead. I have been looking ahead. Now, normally people will advise you to stay in the moment and all these things, but I have been looking forward to plan the rest of my year. And I don't usually do this like, I do plan certain activities and big things that are on my calendar, but I've actually been looking ahead with some work stuff and thinking about the future in a bigger way. So, for instance, I reached out to wedding planners with my available dates that I wanted to work a wedding.

So manifesting, asking for what I want and then letting people know what I need and what dates I wanted to be booked. And it actually resulted in three potential booked weddings. And it just reminded me that, like, I do need to do that a lot more and really need to, like, think to the future and look to the future, because then I can plan everything else around that. But if there's certain things that I'm looking for in work, I just need to look to the future and try to get it on the calendar so I know that I have some income coming in and I can rest easy.

And then I sort of know what to plan in my personal life as well. So I know that a lot of times you want to plan your personal life first and then plan work around it. But I've been looking to the future with work, and I think it's actually helping me have a little bit more clarity and just knowing that that work is going to be there for me. If you're a solopreneur. Okay, number nine. And I'll rip through all of them again at the end. Number nine. I've been evaluating my h*** yeses versus my h*** nos.

So what are the things that I absolutely want to do and making sure that I say yes. Yes. Yes. Unequivocally, I will do that. I absolutely need to do this. Yes. And then also, like, what are my absolute nos? And really making sure that I'm mindful about those things. So the absolute yeses and the absolute nos. And I always take, like, 24 hours to pause on something if I'm not sure if it's gonna be a yes or a no. I know sometimes straight away, like, what my yeses are gonna be, but, like, sometimes saying a no, you really have to evaluate that and make sure that you, for sure.

I mean, it can go either way with both the yeses and the nos. But for me, I don't wanna just be quick to say no just because I'm setting up a firm boundary and a wall. So I really like to process it. Is this right for me? Is this gonna serve me? Will I feel the same way tomorrow? Not making, like, quick, heated decisions? And you can do that. Practice 24 hours for both your yeses and your nose. Okay, last one. Number ten. If you've seen all my past lives, you've heard this term before, but number ten.

And I think one of the most important things about making your dreams come true is to stay in a state of dream stasis. Stay right in the land of big ideas. Always stay there. Always tell yourself that these dreams are happening. They will happen. I see them. I visualize them. Don't ever get out of that dream stasis state. So staying right in that big dream mode, like, if you find yourself dropping off of that, do what you can to start visualizing your future and get back into that, like, happy dream stasis.

And that is my. I call it dream stasis because it's the zone where you stay where you always believe that you're one step away from your biggest dreams happening. I never want to get in this place of doubt, and I do believe that if you stay in a place where you really see it and feel it, it will happen for you. So stay right in that dream stasis. Okay. Ripping back through one through ten. Number one, no alcohol. Number two, being mindful of your input. So what are you ingesting? Number three, set your boundaries.

You know how I feel about boundaries. Number four, get up earlier, stretch out your day. Really maximize the time that you have. Number five, put yourself out there in a bigger way. What aren't you doing to show up and to ask for what you need? Number six, journaling. Write things down, even if it's in a list or a bullet form. You'll be so glad that you did, and it's a form of manifestation. Number seven, ask for help. We are not meant to do this life alone, so ask for it when and if you should need it.

Number eight, look ahead, get some things on your calendar. Plan. Look to the future and know that, like, those opportunities are there for you. You can plan them, you can get them on your calendar, just speak them into existence and book them, and then you can plan all your other things around it. But if you are somebody who needs to know that you have work on the schedule, like I do. I've really been looking ahead to try to ask for that. And number nine, evaluate your h*** yeses versus your h*** nos.

And number ten, always stay in a state of dream stasis. So I hope that this helps you guys and inspires you and really makes you think about what are your top ten things that you're doing to stay in that place of seeing your big dreams come to fruition. I encourage you to make a list and share it in our community feed. And I finally caught up after being on vacation to the community feed and it's so inspiring. I just went in and kind of like breezed through everybody's posts, saw a lot of new faces in there.

So Cadre is growing and that's all thanks to you spreading the good word and engaging in this community. So I love you guys. I hope you have an amazing 4 July. I hope that you're safe. You know, it's the anniversary of my car accident on July 2. So I used to live in this space of, oh, I hate this weekend. It's the worst memories and all those things, but I have flipped the script on that and I've really looked at it with a different lens. That accident does not define me. It's something that happened in my past that helped shaped my future and I don't even see it that way anymore.

I see it as like a rebirth for me every year and this time of year. I used to load this time of year and now I love this time of year. So if there's something you want to flip the script on, I hope that you find courage to do it today. I love you guys.