Do you ever let yourself get in your own way?

✋ I know I have.

The other day, I was talking to my daughter Olivia, and she said something that shook me up. I was telling her how I wanted to start my yoga practice again, but I was hesitating signing up for a class at our local studio. “I don’t know if my ankle has fully recovered from surgery,” I said. “I don’t think I’m flexible enough yet. I probably won’t be able to move on my mat comfortably. I won’t be able to keep up.”

Olivia listened to all my reasons for not going to class, and then she said, “If you keep waiting for everything to be perfect, you’ll never start.”

And just like that, there was my lesson of the week!

Once you tell yourself all the reasons to NOT pursue something you want, the further it moves away from you. Over time, it disappears altogether. The excuses start to snowball, and before you know it, you’ve talked yourself right out of that thing you really want.

My conversation with Olivia gave me this message:

Don’t build artificial boundaries to keep yourself from what you want.

Don’t tell yourself what you “can’t” do. Your dreams and goals aren’t going to simply show up on your doorstep – you need to make an effort, go out on a limb, challenge yourself, and above all else, believe.

It may make you nervous, uncomfortable, even scared, but big opportunities won’t just appear in the confines of your comfort zone.

I’m working with a client who has been on a stop-and-start journey with her brand for the past few years. She gets excited, puts her ideas down on paper, tells all her friends about it, buys website domains, and then… she stops herself. Either she lets herself get distracted by everything else in her life – children, husband, job, social scene, travel life – or she tells herself it all just seems like too much work.

It’s true, building a business for yourself can feel like a lot, but the flip side of daunting is exciting.

When you realize that opportunities are literally lining up for you as you clarify your vision and put the wheels in motion – when you see that everything is just waiting for you to take that first step – the feeling of creating something of your very own is nothing short of magical.

But waiting for it to be magic FIRST, before you put the effort in, means you’ll be waiting forever.

There is no such thing as the “perfect time” for anything. Everything worth having starts as a big jumble of dreams and ideas and imagination and hopes before it becomes real.

We all begin somewhere. The beauty of life is figuring things out along the way, as you’re living, doing, creating, trying, risking, building, practicing, and imagining new things.

Maybe not every aspect of your business plan or creative project has fallen perfectly into place yet. So what? Don’t let that stop you. And, while going the path alone may feel intimidating, look on the bright side – that’s what brand coaches (like me 😉) are for!
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