Do what you love, I mean it.

"Do what you love, and you won't work a day in your life." It took me too many years to realize the value of this message. But, as another cliché goes, better late than never.

I was ten years old when I first told my parents that I wanted to be a doctor. TEN. I knew then that I wanted to dedicate my life to helping people, but what the hell did I know about the medical field at ten years old? Well, apparently enough, because I spent the next 12 years relentlessly pursuing the dream of becoming Dr. Peña.

At 12 years old, I learned about college. At 17, I applied to the highest-ranking, public universities in California. At 18, I enrolled in my first year at UC Irvine. At 19,  I knew I no longer wanted to be a doctor. Science had become my passion, but medicine was no longer my dream. 

I was enrolled in a biology program that was notoriously known for pumping out stellar pre-med candidates. 'Competitive' was every student's middle name. I sacrificed every bit of money, time, and energy to stay in the med school race. I spent four years chasing down a dream I knew I no longer wanted, because I felt that I had given up too much to go back. As unhappy as I was, I couldn't bear the idea of starting over. 

I graduated in 2014, accepted a job offer as a research assistant, and forced myself to take the MCAT. Shortly after, I took a new job as a medical lab technician. I was in a dark place for most of my post-grad year. I spent many nights crying myself to sleep, wishing that morning wouldn't come. I would be instantly filled with dread as soon as I heard my alarm go off. I lost touch with a lot of friends and family because I couldn't face the conversation and questions about 'what was next.' These behaviors weren't healthy, and they were starting to take a toll on my relationship.

At 22, I discovered fitness. I fell in love with iron, exercise physiology, and nutrition--I found my dream. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life empowering other women to chase strength, health, and self-love. 

At 23, I quit my job. I left my position in July 2015, with no real plan other than a promise to myself that I would never again do anything that I didn't love. Experiences taught me that life is too short, and our days are too precious to be wasted doing something we aren't absolutely and irrevocably passionate about.  In August 2014, with the little savings I had, and Michael's incredible support, I took the leap and became a certified personal trainer. One month later, I became part of the Personal Training Team at Gold's Gym.

I know this is only the beginning of a life-long journey. I know the future isn't guaranteed, and the opportunities may be scarce. But, I can't even begin to describe how happy I am to finally be in pursuit of something I truly love. My passion in life is to help others mold their health, lives, and bodies into everything they've ever wanted.  Everybody deserves to feel confident, healthy, and strong. Every day, I work on building the knowledge and tools to help as many people as I can get there. 

Honestly, do what you love. Stop chasing a dream that was never yours. Stop giving into jobs and opportunities for the salary. Stop settling for comfortable. Find what you love, and go do it. I promise, you won't regret it.