The year is 1615. Nicolas Fouquet was not born into royalty.  He descended from a family of textile merchants who had risen through hard work to ministerial offices in the French court.  From the years of 1653 to 1661 he held the position of Superintendent of Finance for France, and saved France from certain economic crisis.

Yet the real jewel of his career was a vision he had of erecting a castle out of swampy marshland, now known as Vaux-le-Vicomte.  Crowds don't flood to this castle less than an hour from Versailles- and yet many would argue that it was Vaux that inspired Louis XIV to turn the hunting lodge at Versailles to what it is today.  So much so, that Louis jealously took art, furnishings, contracted the chief decorator and even the head gardener and put them to work at his own pad!

What does any of this have to do with business?  A lot.  Nicolas was a man with vision.  A vision that even inspired a King.  A vision that continues to inspire many today.

Nobody gave him permission to dream.  Nobody needs to give us permission to build the life we desire either.  I took a stroll in the magnificent grounds of this palace earlier this week.  I turned around from the furtherest part of the garden and took it all in, imagining what it must have looked like to Nicolas when it was nothing but swamp land, and I thought to myself: am I dreaming big enough?

We live in a world of abundance, but sometimes we confine ourselves to our own world of limitations.  I struggled to buy groceries only a few years ago, and sometimes our painful history leaves scars.  But I don't want to carry scars, I want to make memories.

Every day is one day further away from the past, and a step into an untouched future.  How bright, beautiful and inspiring could yours be?