I could have chosen to stay small and dependent.
I could have decided that because my husband could provide financially, I didn't need to build anything of my own.
I could have accepted that if I wanted more for my 2 girls - a better education, a safer environment, more experiences, more freedom, a completely different lifestyle in a different country - safer and better – somebody else would have to create it and maintain it for us.
Or I could have gone back to what I knew before meeting my husband >>> waitressing.
Working 10h a day a 9–5, put my children in school every day and letting be educated and raised by other adults and exchanged most of my time with them for... a salary.
I could.
BUT neither was the life I wanted.
I didn't want to be a burden for anyone.
Now. And then.
So I built another option.
And THAT'S why I get so empowered when I watch other people move.
Not because they make £10K or £30K/month online.
Because I KNOW.
I know they could have stayed exactly where they were.
They could have said 'We're okay'
They could have waited for their husband (or wife) to earn more.
They could have complained about what they couldn't afford.
They could have convinced themselves that wanting more was unrealistic.
But when they don't and when they actually decide: this isn't enough for the life I want to create. So I'm going to do something about it.
They learn new things.
They build.
They test.
They fail.
They try again.
They expand what they could offer themselves, their children and their family – without having to give up being there to raise and educate them.
THAT is what I admire.
Not because changing it is easy - because it isn't.
But because they were scared and moved anyway.
1 sale.
Another.
And another.
I admire these people because I know what it takes within to decide to do what feels new, difficult, uncomfortable.... and to change identity.
And how it feels like to grow up wishing the adults around you would push harder.
Beyond the fear.
Beyond the comfort.
Beyond the excuses.
Beyond what they already knew
I know what it feels like to think: Why aren't you doing something for us? Why aren't you fighting for more?
So when I see people refusing to stay somewhere they don't want to be?
I will always celebrate the hell out of them
Especially when the people around them don't understand it.
Especially when their ambition is treated like a problem because everyone else has already decided that what they have should be 'enough.'
Because sometimes, when you start trying to build something different, you don't just change your own life.
You disturb an entire definition of what is normal.
Especially when people project their own limits onto them because watching somebody else attempt something difficult and new makes staying comfortable harder to justify.
So they laugh at the laptop.
They make little comments.
They ask why you're always working and why for.
They tell you to stop wanting more and call you 'greedy'.
They tell you you're doing too much.
But too much compared to who? To them?
They question why you need your own money when your husband already earns.
They will also imply that all this ambition is taking you away from being a good mother as though wanting to build financial capacity FOR your children somehow means caring less about them....
Those are my people.
Not because they're rich.
Not because everybody needs to want to make £30K/month.
Not because needing help makes somebody weak.
But because when they want something to change, their first instinct is to MOVE.
They don't sit around ENTITLED.
WEAK.
IN A VICTIM MINDSET.
And don't sit around waiting for somebody else to build their life for them.
I will probably spend the rest of my life cheering for those people.
So they know it's worth it. And they are seen.
I see people expanding their choices.
I see people changing what their children can experience.
I see people becoming capable of helping instead of always needing help.
Because I know their decision to move won't only change their life.
It changes life for everyone connected to them.
They spill onto other people.
And I know exactly what this costs.
A husband can decide >>>> 'I'm okay earning this much.'
It's all ok but if his wife then has to carry more of the family's financial ambitions, his choice affects HER.
A wife can decide 'I'm comfortable depending entirely on my husband financially.' That may be a perfectly agreed arrangement BUT if the relationship changes or the income disappears and she has built no financial capacity, other people in the couple circle may suddenly have to carry her. And THAT was never their choice.
Your financial choices rarely affect only you.
Your financial choices affect your kids.
Your husband.
Your wife.
Your parents.
Your adult children.
And their partners.
Your... entire family.
So if you're trying to create more while everyone keeps telling you that what you already have is 'enough'...
If you're learning a skill nobody around you takes seriously yet..
If you're building while other people are laughing or making small comments..
If you're trying to become financially independent online when depending on somebody else would be easier.
If you're trying to create a present and better life for your children instead of accepting that 'this is just how life is.'
I see you.
And I don't need to wait until you succeed to respect you.
I respect you NOW.
Before the money.
Before the proof.
Before the lifestyle.
Before everyone suddenly understands why you worked so fucking hard.
Because the world celebrates people once they've made it.
While they need to be celebrated NOW.