Camilla Sacre-Dallerup - Dream, Believe, Succeed

Camilla is an amazing, inspiring individual who has made bold, brave decisions to live the life she desires and achieve huge results. A beautiful lady whose book I know will inspire many.

Kim Ingleby, life fitness global award-winning trainer, team GB sports therapist & NLP master practitioner

There is a serene calmness about Camilla and I am so pleased that she has decided to write this book to share with others her approach to life.

Lesley Joseph, actress

Camilla has a great way of getting you to love what you are doing and just enjoy it. That kind of motivation is priceless and everyone and anyone can benefit from it.

Mark Foster, six times World Champion & Olympic swimmer

This book will fascinate and motivate you instantly.

Lisa Riley, actress

First published as Strictly Inspirational in 2015

This edition first published in the UK and USA in 2020 by Watkins, an imprint of Watkins Media Limited

Unit 11, Shepperton House

8993 Shepperton Road

London

N1 3DF

Design and typography copyright Watkins Media Limited 2020

Text copyright Camilla Sacre-Dallerup 2015, 2020

The author has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the Publishers.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Designed and typeset by JCS Publishing Services Ltd

Printed and bound in the UK

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-78678-416-2

www.watkinspublishing.com

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I believe we all come into each others lives for a reason and as I look back to the day when this book was just an idea, a dream of mine, it is with such gratitude I acknowledge the people who have helped me turn this dream into reality and ultimately share my story with you.

The biggest thank you has to go out to my Mor and Far for giving me the belief early in life that anything is possible when we work toward and believe in it; for giving me opportunities in life and letting me know that I always have a place to come home to, which has helped me feel brave and take chances in life. Thank you to my sister, Jeanet, for being a constant in my life, an intelligent sounding board and the best friend one could wish for.

And to my husband, Kevin, who believed in this project before I even started writing and when even I had my doubts that I could do it. Kevin is the most unselfish person I could have ever chosen to share my life with. His support, knowledge and ability to live fully in the now is an inspiration to me every day and I feel so grateful for the love we share.

Thank you to Maria and Dawn Slough, two wonderful ladies who helped build my brand and believed in me when the idea of a book was first discussed eight years ago. You will always have a special place in my heart and I am forever grateful for all that you have done for me to help bring me to this point. My dear friend Andrea Nash for always being there for me and always giving me an honest answer. Kim Ingleby for being my angel always.

Naomi Abeykoon, my first editor at Bodyfit magazine, who gave me the opportunity to share my thoughts through writing when she gave me my first column learning to meet a deadline and creating concepts has helped spur me on to writing this book. Thank you so much for guiding me toward the right editor and publisher I shall never forget.

Thank you to commissioning editor Jo Lal, a lady who knows her stuff and who I hit it off with immediately, your guidance has been invaluable. Thank you to my editor Karen Evennett for all your hard work. I could not have asked for a better teammate, you understood every step of the way what I wanted to achieve with my writing and ultimately the book. And to Michael Johnstone for his fantastic copy-editing and to the whole team at Watkins for believing in my dream and helping me make it happen, with all of my heart, thank you.

Lastly, thank you to three strong and inspiring women who went before me and shone the light for others to follow Oprah Winfrey, Marianne Williamson and Louise Hay, you are my inspiration.

FOREWORD

H i, and thank you for picking up my book. Its about living a life we enjoy, making dreams comes true, and the fact that youre about to read my story is one of my dreams come true. As a little girl I loved reading and having stories read to me, and I dreamed of one day writing a book of my own; but, of course, to do that, I had to have something to write about, and although I didnt know it at the time, my own life, which is based on making my dreams come true, turned out to be the perfect subject.

My first dream was to be on the stage. I wanted to dance or act, and with years of hard work practising dance every night after school, earning my own money to help with the huge cost of training, and leaving home at 16 to improve my chances I eventually became one of the worlds top professional ballroom dancers. That dream coming true then led to my big break on the UKs Strictly Come Dancing (the British version of the US Dancing with the Stars ) and a second career as a TV personality, and then a third as an actor.

Along the way I suffered every kind of hardship. I lived on next to no money, coped with a major public heartbreak, and almost had my career as a professional dancer pulled apart, but I never stopped believing that as long as I carried on working toward my goal, my dreams of success would eventually come true.

In my darkest times, I needed professional help and turned to a life coach to keep me on track and, inspired by her and others who I met along my journey, people like Olympic gold medalist and one of my Strictly partners Roger Black, I am now a life coach, too. And thats fulfilling another dream helping other people to believe in their dreams and take the action they need in order to succeed and make those dreams come true.

In this book, Im going to share with you the most important lessons Ive learned and some of the tools Ive used and I hope that, whatever your dream is, I can inspire you to take action toward it and more importantly find the inner happiness you deserve.

CHAPTER 1

I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY

W hen people say, Camilla, you are so lucky! I have to agree. I am lucky: extremely lucky. Lucky to have a life I love. Lucky to have travelled the world. Lucky to have met such interesting people. And above all, lucky to have achieved my dreams and found success.

Lucky? Yes! But the way I see it is that anyone can attract my kind of luck into their life when they know how. The kind of luck Im talking about doesnt come to you like winning the lottery (even though it can feel like that when things go your way unexpectedly). The kind of luck Im talking about had very little to do with chance. Its to do with hard, really hard, work; how carefully we listen to our instincts and act on our intuition; and how we find the bravery to step out of our comfort zone.

I would never, ever have landed my lucky life if Id just sat back and waited for fate to bring it to me. Everything Ive achieved, Ive worked really hard for, and along the way Ive had to endure the kind of hardship that makes a lot of people give up on their dreams.