As I watch this year’s Winter Olympics, I am reminded that for ALL of us, we must sometimes take great risks if we truly want great rewards.

It’s not just risk, but also determination. You have to have both.

What are you holding back that could prevent you from achieving your dreams? Do you avoid risk? Or are you lacking in 100% determination? Again, you have to have both.

I watched the athletes tonight, and what I saw with  ALL of these winners was willingness to risk, and determination. This is what wins medals.

Many people imagine having the business of their dreams; living the independent and rewarding life of doing what they love to do, the way they want to do it, and being in control of their own destiny.

For others, that thought it just WAY too scary!

Eighteen years ago, I made a decision that, when the time was right, I was going to move to a small, Northern Arizona town. Two years ago, I returned and declared that in two years, the time would be right, because then I would be done with school. This weekend, I spent four days in that town with the intention to find a house to rent. I spent hours and hours researching what was available in the price range I wanted to pay. The options looked slim, but I did find three for us to look at. When we got to town, however, those three were duds.  So, I pulled out my lists and found seven more houses to look at. I was determined we would find a house! But, again, they were all duds.

But I was determined! My intention was to find a house, and I was NOT going home empty-handed!

I spent another number of hours and hours researching that night, calling ads, etc, in order to find more houses to look at. I even practiced something I generally do for BUSINESS; everywhere we went, I told the people we came into contact with that we were looking for a house. I had one guy come up after hearing me tell someone else, to give me a lead.

The next day we started early. Then it happened. Cut to the chase; we have our house and will be moving in a few weeks!

Determination and tolerance to risk. People don’t understand how I can pick up and move from where I’ve lived for over 29 years, and run my business for over 10 years. They see this as a crazy move, and many people will say, “I’d love to move, but….”

I don’t look at this move as a risk. Sure, there are some scary aspects of it, but that’s what makes life interesting! That’s MY perspective.  I look at it as the next adventure in my life.

When you view something as scary, how can you change YOUR perspective to take action?

Margie

In the last week, I have had to make two drives I just hated. The first was in horrible rain, with trucks and vehicles going faster than they should for the conditions. While doing the drive, I kept telling myself, “It could be worse.” But, it WAS my choice.

Today I headed out and encountered snow and incredible fog. I actually considered turning around and going home, but then I would have to go BACK into the horrible fog that I couldn’t see in at all. So, I chose to continue with my original plans for my day.

Why do I share this? Because as we move forward to accomplish the things we want to accomplish, we do encounter steps we’d like to avoid, yet we have to do some of the things we do NOT want to do, in order to accomplish that greater goal.

Can you identify something that fits this category? I bet you can! Let me give you a couple examples:

• You want to let physicians or therapists know you are open for referrals. But this means you have to TELL them! Many health professionals hate to promote themselves. However, if you don’t ‘get out there’ and tell these people you are there, they can’t refer people to you!

• You imagine speaking to large groups of people, making a difference in their lives. But this means you have to SPEAK to groups! It really is a matter of stepping into something you don’t want to do in order to eventually DO IT! Yea, sometimes you need to ‘just jump.’

• Your business has started to grow, but it’s been part-time for quite awhile, now. Yet you’re too unsure to ask to go part time with your job, or quit. However, the ONLY way you’ll be able to really grow the business is to cut down or  quit your ‘day job’ and put more time into the business. Again, it’s doing what you don’t want to do in order to achieve what you want to achieve.

• You are ready to rent your own space to see clients. But this is a big investment! Yet you realize you could see far more clients if you had a space. When you analyze the potential and the risks, you also realize that this really is a low-risk, high-potential move. Yet you hesitate. Again, you need to ‘just jump’ sometimes in order to really see the successes you imagine!

As I made the two drives I mentioned, I had to laugh at myself. I have no problems promoting myself. I’ve never hesitated to “JUST JUMP” when it comes to business. But, man, can’t I do it without those awful drives???

Margie