I can remember growing up, I would often get side-eyed for dreaming too big. Not the polite kind of side-eye either, it was the full-on Caribbean Elder level of, “you’ll learn soon enough” type.
I’d talk about wanting to do meaningful work, build something that mattered, and leave the world better than I found it. To some, I was naive. “Life isn’t a fairytale,” they’d say. “You’ll see.”
Well, I did see. And what I found is this: the fairytale’s not the problem. It’s forgetting that we were born to write our own.
What changed everything for me wasn’t just proving them wrong. It was discovering the quiet force behind every sustained success story, love driven accountability. But not the sterile, performative kind corporate enjoys putting on a slide deck. I’m talking about real, raw, principle-based, community-backed accountability.
The Myth of Going lt Alone
You really don’t have to do this thing called life alone.
Every hero, every creator, every entrepreneur worth their salt has a constellation of people around them; mentors, peers, truth-tellers, and energy protectors, keeping their head on straight and their soul intact. The wild part? Sometimes these people believe in you more than you do.
They don’t need to compete. They’re not here for the clout. They hold a different frequency, one built on vision, integrity, and the quiet confidence of people who’ve been through storms and still choose to build.
However, while every hero has a team, every great story has a threshold moment: the point where the protagonist accepts the call, steps into the fire, and says, “I’m in.”
That moment matters more than the montage that follows. Because until you get honest about your values, your vision, and the kind of life you’re really trying to build… you’re just rehearsing.
And if you’re not accountable to your own dream, how can you expect others to invest their energy into it?
Assembling and Reassembling Your Council
I wouldn’t be here, writing this, building what I’m building, without the people who’ve held me down, called me out on my doubts and fears; and encouraged me throughout the years. Not just cheerleaders, but character checkers. People who saw my potential and weren’t afraid to challenge my excuses.
Who you have around you is just as important if not more than what you have around you.
In the vein of keeping things real, you can be brilliant and still make dumb choices. Intelligence doesn’t immunize you from blind spots. That’s where your council comes in.
And no shade, but if the five people around you are always nodding, laughing at your mid tier ideas, and never holding the mirror up; you don’t have a council, you’ve got a glorified echo chamber with snacks.
Choose people who walk with integrity, who make courageous decisions even when it’s uncomfortable. Not because they’re trying to be saints, but because they understand what’s at stake. The dream, the vision, the legacy. Yours and theirs..
And understand this: your council is dynamic. It evolves as you do, because life shifts, people grow and sometimes you outgrow each other. Stop always counting it as betrayal, sometimes that’s the rhythm of alignment.
Personal Governance Without the Bureaucracy
Let’s demystify a word that for some reason makes individuals break out in hives: governance.
Sounds like something that belongs in a government handbook or a corporate compliance manual, right? But zoom out for a second, governance is really just a fancy term for how you choose to live and lead yourself.
Think of it as your personal operating system. Your OS for values, decisions, and growth. The principles that shape how you show up when no one’s watching. It’s not about rigidity. It’s about rhythm.
Want an example? Think of a healthy lifestyle. No one gets fit from one workout or a crash cleanse. It’s in the daily preparations, the walks in nature, and the daily choices. That’s governance, and when it’s done right, it doesn’t feel like a chore, it will feel like freedom.
The same applies to dreams. It’s the consistent little choices, the time blocks, the boundaries and promises you keep to yourself, the occasional late-night work sprints, that create focus not on perfection, but excellence.
The Lovable Path, Powered by Community
At the heart of it all is this truth: who you have around you will shape the quality of your journey more than almost anything else.
Not the metrics, not the Instagram highlights; the people and the way you treat them.
Your Accountability Council isn’t there to run your life, it’s there to remind you who you said you wanted to become.
Appreciate them, celebrate them, try to evolve with them. And when it’s time, be that council member for someone else. Pay it forward like your growth depends on it, because it does.
In the end, personal governance isn’t about control. It’s about liberation.
It’s not about looking polished. It’s about staying aligned. Even when the path gets murky. Even when the world tells you to settle, shrink, or silence yourself.
Because at some point, the world doesn’t need another expert or influencer.
It needs someone who stood up, stood firm, and stayed lovable, flaws, fire, and all.