Once a year I give a week of my professional time to mentoring young women in Phnom Penh who are supported by Harpswell Foundation whose mission is to empower a new generation of women leaders in Cambodia. Focusing on a small number of bright young girls, Harspwell provides the opportunity to receive a university education and leadership training.

The girls’ dreams are big, and I just love that!

One of the challenges however that they can face is that, unwittingly, family and friends can sometimes try to talk them out of their dreams. They fear they might fail, they think they need to be protected.

We can’t change how others think or speak; we do have the power to choose how to respond to what they say.

Bubble poppers, if we let them, can take our power away. They can have us questioning our self, talking our self out of things. Don’t let them influence your decisions!

The solution I’ve found is to listen to what they say, understand what they say, accept what they say, and know that you have a different view. Stand strong in who you are.

To nourish our potential we need to respect our self. We can set boundaries around what we discuss or will not discuss with whom, and make sure that we have people around us who do support us. It is possible for family and friends to support us in one area, not in another, and in this case we need to learn how to manage our relationships.

Of course, when we have a dream, we need a plan…and to take action…

And sometimes we will walk the path without family and friends.