What Is The American Dream To You?

I just watched ABC’s Toy Box for the first time and can’t help but to be inspired to write this blog. Basically 10 kids between the ages of 6-12 are the judges that decide the fate of toy inventors. The kids play with the toys presented, then eliminate a toy at each round until they choose a winner that will win $100,000 from Mattel, and will have their toy sold exclusively at Toys R ‘Us. Of course, I’m hooked. What is it about some, or a lot, of us that we are willing to sacrifice our everything for what we think is our American Dream? The success of Shark Tank, The Profit, Project Runway, Billion Dollar Buyer, America’s Got Talent, Cleveland Hustles and Adventure Capitalists is testimony that a lot of us have big dreams...and some of us will make it, some will keep trying, while some of us go back to a not so bad normal life, but never exactly the same again. The question is, what is the American Dream to you? Is it owning a business? Is it owning a home? Is it building a multi-million dollar brand or corporation? Is it about leaving a legacy? Or is it simply about being married, raising children that will graduate from college and have great jobs and become responsible human beings? The latter doesn’t sound so bad, right? Most people would be happy with that. In my opinion, if that makes you happy, then that’s a successful story. Only you can measure your own success. We all have different paths and different dreams. Your definition of success is not mine and vice versa. Me....I’m not done yet. The marriage, check. The college kids, check. The home, check. The career, check. The business/brand...did it twice. About lost my shirt because of it, but on the path to recovering, thanks to a career I can fall back on, and the exhibits & events industry that I love where I built my reputation since 1999. Which brings me to Tradeshowlife®, a brand I created 3yrs ago that enables me to work with inspiring entrepreneurs who use experiential events as a platform to grow their business. My dream is for Tradeshowlife® to continue to grow and become the go to online media site that start up entrepreneurs can refer to for encouragement, community, tips and tidbits in the industry. Whatever your dream is, go for it. You’ll never know unless you try. It’s okay to fail, and fail again, but it’s how you move forward that counts. Don’t be one of those that blame everyone else for their failures. Own up to it, live with it, move on and grow from it! Successful entrepreneurs come in all shapes, sizes and background. Don’t let them tell you otherwise, and don’t ever let anyone make you feel bad for trying...because if you don’t learn and live, what will you do? Thanks for reading. Thanks for subscribing to Tradeshowlife.tv and I’ll see you on the show floor! Learn and Live, Li