I oftentimes find myself so amazed that I’ve done everything I’ve done. I honestly don’t know how I did it, because if you look at my background, I’m not qualified to do most of it. I don’t have any formal creative writing training. I hated the only creative writing class I’ve ever taken.

But somehow, that didn’t stop me from writing over 40 books or selling millions of copies in over a dozen languages. I didn’t do that by myself though. The Universe was right there with me, every single step of the way.

I didn’t need formal creative writing training, because life had immersed me in a master class of storytelling by gifting me a great and devoted love of reading. I learned by osmosis that which you can’t learn in a classroom.

Life has always been my greatest teacher, through the circumstances it has gifted me, the people it has brought into my life, and the experiences I’ve had that filled me with excitement and joy. Those are the signposts I look for when deciding what I’m going to do next. Does it fill me with excitement? Do I feel amazing when I think about it? The thing that does not cross my mind is this: Am I qualified to do it?

Quite frankly, I just don’t care about the answer to that question.

I’ve reached a point in my life where I don’t care what seems reasonable or logical for me to do next. I’m feeling my way through the beauty that life has brought to me and determining what feels the best to my heart and soul. I’m probably not “qualified” for any of those big dreams in my heart, by society’s standards, or those people who believe you need fancy printed papers to tell you that you’re able to do something. I don’t subscribe to those beliefs. I believe that life itself has set me on this unique path, just like all of you, with unique tools in my toolbox that have emerged throughout my years on this planet (and many previous incarnations), and whatever it is I’m meant to be doing is going to organically and naturally bubble up to the surface or be brought into my awareness with an unmistakable knowing.

I felt that excitement and knowing when I dove into self-publishing and it brought me to the greatest love I’ve ever known, and a more beautiful life than I could have ever imagined. I’m so glad I didn’t care that I wasn’t “qualified” for it. I would have missed out on everything I love dearly!

I don’t have to know what’s coming next anymore. I have developed enough trust and faith in life that I know what’s coming is going to be perfect for me and fulfill me on totally new levels because otherwise it wouldn’t be on my path and coming to life in my world.

It doesn’t matter what it is. I’ll have the tools necessary to become who I need to be to handle it if I’m not there already. The Universe will bring me the resources and the people and the experience necessary for me to not only manage these changes but thrive and blossom as a consequence of them.

This belief and certainty didn’t happen overnight. It also didn’t happen without a lot of freak-outs, dark nights of the soul, feeling lost, confused, broken, and like I was never going to find whatever I was looking for. But that was all part of the process of getting here. To this version of me. The one who is ready—and eager—for whatever comes next. I have fallen in love with life in a new way that I never knew existed. And you know what? I didn’t have to be “qualified”. I just had to be myself and capitalize on every opportunity that came into my world and filled me with excitement and joy.

Bottom line: We have no idea what we’re truly capable of. We need life to bring it out of us, hopefully, tenderly, and lovingly, but sometimes it takes the jaws of life to pry us out of our fears, doubts, and uncertainties so that we can step onto a path that is beyond anything we could have ever imagined.

I feel so much more at peace now that I’ve learned to trust in the timing and the events of my life. Am I perfect at it? Absolutely not. But I’m making tons of progress and that absolutely feels like perfection right now.

Just remember: Whatever you are yearning for, deep in your heart of hearts, has been placed there with great care and love by the heart of the Universe. Your big dreams aren’t crazy and outlandish—they just feel that way right now because you’re still growing into them. Someday, you’re going to reach a point where taking that step that seemed so big and so intimidating once upon a time will be as natural as breathing. Let yourself grow into those big dreams. Let yourself believe they’re possible for you and that life is leading you into them, on a path suitable only for you.

I send you my love and my hope for your most beautiful future. I know that it’s possible for you. I hope you know it too.