In this vlog, Mary reflects on day 29 of her 30‑day challenge while feeling ill. She outlines the concrete work she managed despite her sickness—French listening practice for an October exam, revisiting "Save the Cat Writes a Novel" for her novel rewrite, updating Insight Timer courses, and solidifying a temporary name for a new project. The central theme is the critical role of surrounding oneself with people who truly understand and support entrepreneurial goals, especially for women. Mary emphasizes that genuine mentors and peer groups provide the stamina needed to persist, while warning against staying in unproductive communities that foster complaint and low‑level assistance. She encourages viewers to seek out high‑caliber, leader‑focused networks, cultivate mentorship, and be willing to leave groups that don’t add value. She hints at a major upcoming transition she will discuss on day 30.
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Hello, bonjour, it's Mary. It's day 29 of 30 Days of Following My Dreams. I honestly can't believe I'm on the second to last day of this challenge. That is just wild. Does not seem like it's been 29 days. And the unfortunate thing is, on this day 29, I am still sick. It is August 5th, 2024. The Saint-Otto de Mille Bancâtres, and I caught some kind of bug when I was in Luxembourg. I came down with it, I guess, a couple of days ago now, and it's still kind of hanging on. So I am staying at home, laying low, and I'm pretty sure by this time tomorrow I will be doing a lot better. Fingers crossed anyway. And so what kind of progress have I, I've been able to make today on my dream projects? My dream projects this whole time I've been working on my French and studying for an exam that I now have scheduled for October, and also working on the rewrite of my novel. Today, because of the way that I've been feeling, I have spent some time doing some listening exercises for the French test, so I am pleased with that. I have not been able to do anything on the novel rewrite, so again I went back to reading some of the Save the Cat Writes a Novel book That's about where my head is. I can concentrate on that. The other thing I've been working on today so far is redoing a couple of my courses that I am offering related to Insight Timer. And when I woke up this morning, I had really been wanting a new name for this new project that I have yet to introduce to people. And I just said, you know, the name I have is fine for right now. It's totally fine. It's probably not what it will be called in the future, but for now it's good, it's clear, and I'm just going to run with it. So I am planning out how I am going to share this with people, and I am thrilled about that. So that's kind of what I've been working on today in between watching a little bit of the gymnastics competition in the Olympics. And the thing that I really wanted to talk to you today about is something that has become very obvious to me in recent years since I've been in this kind of entrepreneurial space. It has to do with being around people who understand what you're trying to do. If I didn't have my husband and my daughter specifically around me understanding what I'm trying to do with this novel, I don't know that I'd be able to do it honestly. And over the years, if I had not been in communities for entrepreneurs, especially for women entrepreneurs, I don't know that I would have stayed with this. I, I really don't know what I would have done. But the fact is, I have this staying power not just because of my own intestinal fortitude, as we say, but also because I have been around people who understand what it's like to be an entrepreneur, who get that there are lots of ups and downs. And sometimes your income can be way up, sometimes it can be down. Sometimes you feel completely confident in what you're doing, other times you don't. And whatever your life situation is I would hope that you have people in your life who get it, who understand what you are trying to do, who support you. And I don't just mean people who kind of say, oh, that's nice, and kind of pat you on the back. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about people who really understand, who are maybe part of whatever world you're in themselves. And so they're like, yeah, I've been there, or yeah, I know how it feels to, you know, fill in the blank. It's really hard for me to overstate how much this has meant to me over the years. And as, as I'm talking to you, I am at a point now where I feel like I am on the precipice of something else with my life, with my business, with my writing. That's something I will talk about in the final video for day 30 in this series. And as I am on this precipice, it has been so important for me to listen to amazing leaders. In my case, I've been listening to some amazing women leaders to share some common experiences with other female entrepreneurs. And so if you feel alone in what you're trying to do, if you feel like nobody understands, if you feel like nobody gets it, you need to find people who do and get with them and start associating yourself with them. Get into some communities, get into some groups, find a mentor, do something to support yourself and your dreams and goals in that way. I think the one caveat I would put here is that some communities are not so great. For example, there are a couple of communities that I am in but not actively participating in, and I'm gonna leave them because I don't feel like the majority of the people in there really are the— I don't want to say caliber of people, that's not exactly what I mean because I don't like to you know, judge people in that way, but they tend to complain. They tend to ask for help with things that they could Google instead. That's not the kind of world that I want to be in. I want to surround myself with people who are leaders. I want to bring that into my life as a leader, and I also want to cultivate leaders as a mentor. So that's where I am aiming for. So you're not obligated to stay in communities or groups that you feel are not at the level you want them to be at. That's all there is to it. So I'd love to hear what you think about this, about surrounding yourself with people who really get you and what you're trying to do. It's so important when we're trying to follow our dreams. I will talk to you tomorrow on what will be the final day of 30 days of following my dreams. Fingers crossed that I will be feeling 100% I'll see you then. Bye. Thank you.
