Let's play a game. If I walked up to you right now and wanted to invest 10 million dollars in your dream, where would you start?
Could you provide me with a business plan? Have you crunched the numbers and made plans of exactly where the money should go? What percentage of your business will you give me for my investment? Have you done the market research that can indicate how you should value your products/services?
Some of us gripe and moan about not having enough when it comes to living the life of our dreams, but the real question is, have you really done everything you can with what you have?
Often, success lies right at our fingertips but we refuse to become flexible enough to reach it. Star of the new film,The Intruder(in theaters May 3), Meagan Good recently dropped some gems about the secret to pursuing the career that you love and living the life of your dreams. According to Meagan, you have to have the courage to do everything you can, but the strength to let go of what you cannot.
"For the things that I'm wanting and believing, I just have to do everything possible that's within my power. And there's some things that aren't within my power, and that's when I trust God."
Meagan Good on Impact Theory
The Bible says faith without work is dead, and yes, that goes for you, too. So you want to own a hair salon, but have you actually researched and priced locations? You say your dream is to open your own clothing boutique, but have you looked into getting a wholesale license? Stop worrying about how you'll find the money or the opportunity, and prepare for yourself for when it does come. Meagan continued:
"But what is it within my power, whether it's getting the proper sleep, whether it's learning your lines, or eating healthy or you know whatever it is that you need that's gonna make you better at what you want to do; it's doing every single bit of that that you can possibly do and going above, not just doing just enough to get by, but going above."
In other words, stay ready so you won't have to get ready.
"After that, it's like if it's supposed to happen it will happen and chances are if you do the work it likely will happen."
In layman's terms, do the work and the rest will come. Meagan explained that even when she didn't quite see an opportunity on the horizon, she spoke, worked, and prayed one into existence.
"Even with 'Shazam', I decided two years prior that I wanted to be a superhero. I was like I want to be a superhero, I want that to happen so I'm just gonna start training for it. So I started training. I started learning Taekwondo, I started learning capoeira and I just started training with the trainer like five sometimes six days a week for like two years straight and then it just happened. And it was interesting because I fully expected it to happen, but I think sometimes we are more comfortable hoping and praying than when it actually happens."
We are our own worst critics, and sometimes our self-doubt can cause more internal conflict than our actual circumstances. If you're anything like me, the thought of having someone even trust me with $10 million to pursue my dream gives you anxiety. You start to doubt if you're smart, talented, or worthy enough to be entrusted with so much, but Meagan stressed the importance of trusting your instincts because they won't lead you astray. She shared that she felt so nervous that she was nauseous upon arriving on-set to direct her first movie,If Not Now, When?, last May. Soon after, her instincts kicked in and she was able to walk in her own power.
"For me, courage is not not being afraid, it's being petrified and doing it anyway. And so that's really how I try to live my life is just keep pressing forward and trusting my instincts because what I do know is my instincts are unique and they're mine and nobody else has them. So the more I trust what I put into the world, the more I know I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing."
She explained that all of us are blessed with a hidden superpower that we don't even know exists until we feel that we've given everything that we can.
"When you've done everything that you can do and you really have put in the work there's another gear that kicks in where when you push yourself beyond what you think is capable. you suddenly realize how capable you are and you're able to just keep pushing and cranking and something magic happens. it's almost like, in your brain something happens that just takes you to another level of what you thought was even possible for you. Whether it's physically, emotionally, spiritually, whatever it is, there's another gear that we can tap into when we push ourselves."
Life is a journey, one that's even more challenging for those brave enough to pursue their dreams. Do the work, and have faith that you'll have the life you deserve because there is no other option.
"You just have to keep fighting to get on the other side of it. And that has to be the only option there is no other option."
Check out the full interview below!
If You Want Something & Believe You Can Have It, Do This | Meagan Good on Impact Theorywww.youtube.com
Featured image by Getty / Jon Kopaloff.
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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