“If your efforts are sometimes greeted with indifference, don’t lose heart.  The sun puts on a wonderful show at daybreak, yet most of the people in the audience go on sleeping.”  Ada Teixeira

I used to really like this quote.  I even put it in my book, Great Quotes from Feisty Women. In the book, I tell a story about how my mom missed my first jump off the high diving board because someone walked in front of her just as I jumped.  I wrote, “What I know now, looking back on this some forty years later, is that my jump was magnificent, even if no one saw it.”

I went on to say, “I try to remember this when I put something out in the world. If I’m excited about something I’ve done, I can’t let the reactions of other people dictate how I feel about it. I have to trust my own heart, be my biggest fan, and know I gave it all I had.”

I don’t believe this any more and neither should you!

I didn’t know much about marketing and sales when I wrote this, and I wasn’t thinking about it in a business context. I was thinking of it in a personal growth context.  And it’s probably true in that context.

But in the business world, we have to be incredibly tuned in to the problems, the struggles, and the needs of the people we serve.  We have to be problem solvers.  We have to know who we can best help, and create products and services that will improve their businesses and their lives.  We have to care about the reactions of our tribe, our “peeps” if we want our businesses to thrive.

So putting something out into the world that is not embraced by the people we created it for is a miss.  We have to pay attention to that.  We need to re-think, re-design, and re-launch.  We need to make sure what we’re doing is on target.  And we have to get the word out about what we do.

You may be the best in the world at what you do, but if no one knows it, it does you no good, and does the world no good. Get out there and use public speaking to share your message, to let people know what you have to offer, and to have a bigger impact.

Make sure people see what you have to offer, and are not “sleeping through your sunrise!”

What do you think?  Share your thoughts below.  Do you think this quotation is true, or do you think my current interpretation is more on target?

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Have you ever had the experience of knowing what you really wanted, but having no idea how to get there from here?

I know I have.  It can be really frustrating!

I’d know what the end result was that I wanted, but didn’t know all of the steps it would take to make it happen. So I’d get overwhelmed, I’d stall, and I wouldn’t do what it took to get to my goal.

Then I had an interesting thought. I just had to turn on my headlights!

Let me tell you what I mean.

Let’s say you were driving in the evening from Los Angeles to San Francisco.  If you took US 101, it would be about a 430 mile drive.  Now, you would not be able to see all 430 miles of that road. In fact, once you pulled out of your driveway and turned on your headlights, you’d only be able to see about 180 feet in front of you.

Yet, we don’t let that stop us!  We don’t get paralyzed by fear. We don’t sit there and worry, “What’s going to happen when I get to the end of this 180 feet—I won’t be able to see anything!?!”  No, we simply drive the illuminated section of the road, and trust that when we get to the end of the part that’s lit, the next section of road will be illuminated as we move forward.  And that’s how we do the whole 430 miles—180 feet at a time!

I realized that this was exactly what I needed to do with my business goals! I needed to set the goal, lay out the steps I could see in front of me, and trust that as I got toward the end of the part that was clear to me, the next steps would become evident. And they always do!

I like to begin by asking myself “What’s the best case scenario?” And then I figure out the first step to take me in that direction.  And I do that step.

It’s can work the same way for you. You do what you can in the part you can see, and trust that when you get to the end of the part of the path that’s illuminated, you’ll see the next part of the path…the next step on the journey. That’s the way it works. 180 feet at a time.

Everything does not have to be perfect before you start!  That’s a recipe for staying stuck, a recipe for never moving toward your big goals.  You just have to “chunk it down”.

Several years ago, I did the Avon 3-Day Breast Cancer walk—60 miles over three days.  I was overweight, not at all fit, and it was a huge goal.

I “turned on my headlights,” and used this approach. The first day, I looked at the event website, and developed a training plan.  Didn’t walk an inch.  The next day, I went and bought walking shoes.  Still didn’t walk.  The third day, I walked around the block.

I remember the first time I walked a mile.  I was doing the happy dance.  I didn’t worry about how I’d walk the other 59 miles.  I was just doing it “180 feet at time,” as far ahead as I could see. By late spring, I was training in Redstone Canyon 6 ½  miles up, and 6 ½ miles back down.

When August came, despite the record-setting 100 degree plus temperatures all three days, I was able to walk every one of those 60 miles.  I met that goal,because I just did the next thing that I could see to do.

I apply the same principles to my business goals.  So here are a few tips:

1.  Set big goals. Don’t worry if you don’t know every step you need to take to reach them.  Just “turn on your headlights,” and do what’s in front of you.

2. Be willing to change. It’s impossible to reach a big goal without learning and growing, and becoming even more.  Get ready to grow!

3.  Celebrate your successes along the way. It helps build momentum and excitement.

What methods have you used successfully to break out of overwhelm and “stucked-ness” to go after a huge goal? Please share them and add your other comments below!

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“Now” is the operative word.

Everything you put in your way

is just a method of putting off the hour

when you could actually

be doing your dream.

~ Barbara Sher

I’ve met so many amazing women over the last month as I’ve been traveling to attend two incredible events, and given six speeches at various conferences and events.

I’ve begun following up with those who’ve asked me to call them, and I’ve been struck by one thing—how many of them are stuck. And what’s worse is—they believe their own excuses!

They want to move forward. They want to reach their goals. They want to attract more clients, and make more money.  They know what they need to do, they know what skills they need to develop, they know what investment to make, but they don’t.

They say they’re too busy.  They say they have too many commitments.  They say they don’t have the money to invest in their business. So they choose to do nothing!

They stay stuck. They don’t get more clients. They don’t make more money. And they let their dreams lie dormant. They continue to struggle, and just get by.  Their spark goes out little by little.

Don’t let your excuses and self-doubt stand between you and what you want the most!

Get really, really clear about what you want.  Get really, really clear about what it will take to get there.  Then make a commitment to yourself that you will do whatever it takes to make it happen.  And, as Barbara Sher suggests: Start now! Right now! Only then will you begin to have the success you truly deserve.

So ask yourself, “What is the one thing I can start doing right this moment that will increase my success?” And go do it. Now!

Share below what that one thing is…then go do it…now!

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