Start.

If there was one thing you’d love to do in your life, that you haven’t done, what would it be? Big, small, seemingly impossible…it doesn’t matter. What is it?

For me, it’s to write a novel. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved stories. Movies, books, poems, jokes, a tale told around a table. I’ve always been overwhelmed by the power of story-telling and I remember the exact moment I realised that storytelling was my one true love.

I was 8 years old and I was at home with my parents. It was 1989. The decided to watch The Pied Piper - a film with Peter O’Toole in it. Looking back on it, there was no way I should have been watching it at that age but I caught the beginning and couldn’t stop watching. By the end of the film, I was sobbing and to this day I remember deeply what that felt like. I was shocked and stunned by this visceral physical and emotional response I had to the story. It took me weeks to get over it.

And so, I’m writing a novel. I’m not writing it to get it published; I’m writing it because I always wanted to write a novel and one day I had an idea that made me excited to think about. So, now, when I’ve got some down time (not very often!) I try to avoid the reality tv and instead, put some music on, pour a glass of wine or make myself a hot tea, and I write.

I realised that if I didn’t sit down and actually decide to write a novel because I wanted to, that I’d never do it and there was something in that that made me infinitely sad. No one was stopping me. For years I’d yearned to write a book and yet, I still wasn’t doing it? Why not? Oh, well I had all the excuses: I couldn't think of an idea, I was too busy, the kids wouldn’t let me write, I needed to spend my free time making money or exercising…the list goes on and on. But the reality was, that my big dream was actually a small act of decision.

We put off a lot of things in our life for many, many reasons. Some are valid, some aren’t but mostly we don’t do stuff because we, on some deep level, feel like we don’t deserve it or we’re not good enough for it. Starting my dream was relatively easy - I just had to sit down and write. Yours may take a little more planning but there’s absolutely nothing stopping you from starting today. Maybe it’s opening a bank account to start saving, or ordering some prospectuses from universities, or starting research on a new country to live in, or picking up the phone and making a call that could start a whole new journey.

Whatever it is - promise me one thing. Take some time today to think about the things that you really, really want to do with your life. Small, big, seemingly impossible. It doesn’t matter. Write a list and pick one. Get going on it and when that’s done, pick another.

You do deserve that.