We start our new business idea with such great enthusiasm!

We KNOW this is going to be the best thing ever.

We have an irresistible offer,

We have all the knowledge we need,

We KNOW we’re good at what we do.

I have to confess that I used to sit waiting for inspiration.

I was busy all the time, doing this, doing that … and I expected the muse to appear, tap me on the shoulder, and say, “Excuse me, but were you wanting a shaft of light?”

ld make what I loved doing become the focus of my day (in my case it was that I’d be good at training others to train their dogs) I did what many people do.

Last week I was telling you my story of how I had barely started my new business before I fell at the first hurdle - getting clients!

So this is when I realised that nothing was going to happen unless I made it happen.

Now I don’t know if you’re like me, but when I started out on this path, I thought I could do it alone.

I’d got the qualifications - I worked really hard! - to get high grades so I could feel confident that I knew what I was talking about and like with so many dog training programs, I learnt loads about how to train a dog.

You aren’t stuck! You need to know - and recognise! - that you have choices in life and it’s up to you to take them, so that you can do whatever you want to do, and map out your future with courage and faith.

Isn’t that what we all yearn for? To be able to do what we love, all day long? 

I guess it’s the reason so many people look forward to retirement - so they can leave the hateful or boring day job and enjoy endless gardening, or travelling, or reading, or whatever floats your boat!

I have a confession to make.

I was interested in training dogs for years.

I competed at a high level with my dogs for years.

I even made up a couple of Champions.

Is that True or False?

I floated this question in the my private group Creativity Central recently and got ZERO response.

Now either I worded it too obscurely for it to be understood or nobody agreed with me,Or could see any sense in the statement.

Today I want you to focus on your good points

Yes - you have good points!

We all have good points. Sometimes they get a bit buried in the hustle and bustle of daily life but they are there and you want to be sure to give them expression as often as you can.

It’s your good points that make you of value to the world.

I’m often told by people who feel lost that they have nothing to offer, Nothing to give.

We were looking at the kind of nonsense we take seriously when we’re deciding to follow our passion.

Thoughts of insufficiency, and worse - implied criticism or disrespect from those who should be supporting us!

So what should we be saying instead of “I’m a failure”?

We all have habits.

Most of what we do every day is habit-driven. It makes sense! If you had to stop and make decisions about everything all day long you’d be exhausted by lunchtime!

Do you see things as PROBLEMS?

Or do you see OPPORTUNITIES

You see - they’re the same thing! And it’s all in the way you look at it

I was talking to you about the false idea many people hold about perfectionism, mistaking this sinister trait as a good thing! You can read it here

And this manifests a lot in holding something back that you know would be serving you best if published - released into the wild!

So if you make this THING then want to hold it back and fru-fru it up a bit more, And put it away then get it out and look at it,

Have you ever made something, looked at critically and then said, “Nah, not good enough … I just need to change this, Adjust that … re-do this bit …?

Is that you? 

If so, you can say, “I am a recovering perfectionist!”

Are you looking right now at a list with YARDS of to-do’s?

If that’s you, you’ll be familiar with the sinking feeling you get whenever you look at it! You’ll know what this scrappy bit of paper looks like and you HATE it!

It just seems to grow and grow and get messier and messier and never, never does very much get ticked off.

I was talking to someone recently who told me they had LOADS of ideas. They had even started to work out a plan to get them where they wanted to be but they would start the day all enthusiastic then come down with a crash when they realised they didn’t know what to do!

I am eternally curious. Think of the 4 year old child who drives everyone mad with endless WHYs. whywhywhy, but Mummy WHY? And somehow I never grew out of that! Whywhywhy is a constant cry of mine.

So - following from my thoughts last week about comparisonitis, and feelings of insufficiency - FEAR - my question for you to ask yourself is:

If I weren't afraid, what would I do?

I was talking recently about the need to trust ourselves more we really do know a lot more than we think. We’re a lot further on than we think we may feel stuck and think we know nothing but how true is that? Really? Do you know nothing? have you taken no steps at all to pursue your vocation?