Last night, our family went to The Grove here in Los Angeles. The Grove is a large retail shopping center that really goes above and beyond decorating for the holidays. They have a beautifully decorated tree larger than the one at Rockefeller Center in New York. They “create” falling snow every evening. For children who live in So. California, this is a delight!
As we strolled through the crowd, I noticed a very long line of children waiting outside a rather large gingerbread house. As my children and I peeked through the windows, we could see old St. Nick sitting inside with a child on his lap. You could see the look of excitement and intent on each child’s face. These children believe that they will meet Santa. They believe that he has come from the North Pole just for them and he will hear each one of their wish lists and make their dreams come true. I sure do remember what that felt like when I was a little girl. This got me thinking about how Smart Women need to believe in their dreams with a lot of excitement and intention in order to make them happen.
The first step to realizing your dream is to Believe that you can and will turn 
it into a reality. Believe in yourself. Believe that you are worthy of the goal. This mindset is the seed that must first be planted before any other plan of action can be taken. Remember: Mindset first, details later. In order for you to accomplish something new in your life, you must first Believe.
Many times, we take some sort of action on a dream or goal. If our first attempt does not work, we can be quick to give up or begin to think that it was not a great idea after all. We “hoped” it might happen. We did not fully “believe” that it would, without a doubt, happen. Rarely does anything work out perfectly the first time–remember your first kiss?
Here are a few examples of “hope” instead of “belief”:
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