Nearly three years ago, my wife, Yvette, and I decided to let ourselves dream a little. Dreaming was uncomfortable, especially when it involved driving around our favorite town, Lewes, DE, with a real estate agent. We looked at properties that, at the time, were nowhere near our budget. It was disappointing, and honestly, we almost gave up.
But our real estate agent, smart as they come, kept us looking. Instead of saying, “This is impossible,” we started
thinking, “I wonder if…”. We dug deep into our finances, seeing where adjustments could be made. The dream seemed distant, with Lewes being a hot new place for remote work, and homes were snapped up in bidding wars. Offers were way over asking prices, and many buyers waived financing contingencies—something we couldn’t afford to do.
Then, we found a dirt field with a sign for “new luxury homes 2021.” Yvette had a gut feeling about it, even though the price was way above what we could pay. We took a 45-minute drive to see the model, and she loved it. But again, it was out of reach financially, which was frustrating. “Why look if we can’t buy?” I kept asking, possibly to Yvette’s annoyance.
We kept searching for homes within our budget, even putting an offer on one, only to be outbid. Tired of the bidding wars, we revisited the new homes. They were beautiful, and we wanted one badly. We reassessed our finances, and unless we wanted to stretch ourselves thin, it wasn’t feasible. Plus, our real estate agent agreed they were overpriced, so we waited.
Then, life surprised us with unexpected income from various sources. At the same time, the builder offered a fantastic seller credit, bringing our dream within reach. I was, and still am, amazed at how dreaming, trusting, staying curious, and taking consistent steps led us to our dream home in our dream location.
On the morning of April 30, 2021, as we closed on our new home, I reflected:
- Keep dreaming
- Keep trusting
- Keep acting despite fears
- Keep taking steps (doing the footwork)
- Stay open to possibilities
- Keep saying “thank you”
- Remind ourselves, “we can have this.”
Another one of my dreams started shortly after we got into this new home: to learn a second language. While I wanted to learn both Spanish and Italian, I had to start somewhere, and so I chose Italian. I can speak in sentences now and recently even communicated with a pharmacist in Italy to get what I needed for my feet—entirely in Italian! 
I’m also aiming to deliver a second TED Talk and expand my speaking and coaching practice.
As Zig Ziglar said, “It’s the hurricanes and the tornadoes that get all the publicity, but did you know it’s the termites that do the most damage?” It’s those countless little bites (steps) that push our dreams into reality.
#dreambigger #faith
Let this be a reminder: keep taking those small steps because they lead to big dreams.
Here’s to your greatness,
Misti Burmeister
Misti Burmeister helps leaders and their team have conversations they keep avoiding but need to have. For nearly 20 years, she has facilitated communication that results in trust, increasing engagement and productivity across generations. Make sure your communication is coming across the way you intend, visit https://www.MistiBurmeister.com