Within 24 hours, my amazing nine-year-old cousin taught me one very big lesson—we should never stop believing in ourselves. It all started when I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up, and she proudly answered, “a writer!” However, “proud” would be an understatement to describe how she professed her future occupation. She was confident, glowing, ecstatic and undoubtedly sure of herself. In that moment, I realized that I need to be just like her.

The fact of the matter is that everyone has dreams. Big ones, small ones, dreams that no one could ever understand wanting, and things that seem completely crazy. However, the large majority of us don’t follow through on them, either because we are afraid to take the leap or risk, think we might fail, or simply because of the opinions of others.

I myself am a huge dreamer. Anyone that knows me would know that I have big dreamy goals. My list ranges from being president, owning a record label, traveling around the world and even being an author. At times I find myself cutting these dreams in half due to the criticism people give me. However, I have come to realize that people will critique anything, it does not matter who or what it is.

As many people (much wiser than me) probably already know it is not easy to put yourself out there and go after what you want. However, if everyone with a dream stopped chasing it simply because of fear, or outside opinions, our world would not be nearly as successful as it is.

So the next time someone tells you that your dream is too “crazy,” or that its “just not going to happen,” ask yourself if the nine-year-old version of yourself would take “no” as an answer. My bet is that you wouldn’t. So make the child in you proud, and confidently keep on chasing your dreams.