Sometimes you’ve just got to say YES! and then figure out how to make it work!
I was recently invited to spend five days with Sir Richard Branson and 25 women leaders on Necker Island, his private island in the Caribbean engaging in big conversations about how we can make a bigger impact in the world. It sounded amazing. So I looked at the dates only to see that the timing (mid July) was far from ideal in terms of other speaking and other commitments for my new book Brave being released in April. Not to mention my four rowdy kids being home on holiday and husband’s business commitments! I emailed him to share my misgivings. He replied instantly.
Find your courage. Stop playing safe.
“Touché!” I replied right back (he’d repeated the titles of my first two books) then promptly sent off an email to my friend Emma Isaacs (CEO of Business Chicks) who’d invited me to Necker, to say ‘I’m in!’
The reality of life is that sometimes brilliant opportunities have less than brilliant timing. Such is life. But as I’ve found time and time again, when we really want to make something happen, we can.
Too often people say they lack the resources (time, money, connections, knowledge…).
What they really lack is sheer resolve and the resourcefulness that flows from it.
For the most part, people don’t lack the resources to make amazing things happen in their lives – they lack the resourcefulness and resolve.
If you’re waiting for the perfect circumstances to do something that excites your socks off, or you’re wavering about saying yes to an opportunity because the timing is less than ideal, then take some ‘time out’ to get really clear about how much you want it (or how much you don’t want the default status quo!) Just don’t live your life in a limbo-land of excuses, justifications and indecision.
I can assure you, if you really want to make something happen, you will. And one year from now you will be so glad you bit the bullet, said a big YES! to yourself and then got on with the work at hand.
It may not happen as quickly as you’d like, or smoothly as you’d like, but you’ll be amazed at what you can do over the next year, much less five years, if you put your mind to it!
What’s something you’d really love to make happen in 2015?! Travel or working overseas? New job? Return to study? Losing weight? A new relationship? Moving into a leadership role? Starting your own business? Running a marathon? (You know what you really want if you’re bravely honest with yourself. )
Share it with someone. Connect with people who’ve gone before you. Consider where you’re excuses are really just a cover for your fear of failing. Get clear about how resolved you are and then commit to action. Daily.
You have all the resources inside you to make it happen.
It begins with a decision.
What do you want? I mean REALLY want?!
Be brave. Think big. Back yourself. Don’t settle. Make stuff happen!
I really enjoy your blogs and there are many things that would feature on my list. But in May I will become a mama for the first time and I feel like other things ‘should’ take a backseat. Now I realise that is just not the case and I should still be shooting for my goals (maybe just being realistic about my expectations and not having too many!)
Being a Mum is exciting, new and with it come new goals and dreams. Live them but balance them. I am a mum of 2 teenage girls. They are at the age where I am reaching for my dreams and seeing clearer what I will do with my life. My 2 reachable goals for 2015 are to study and get fit. They come hand in hand in that when I am healthier and fitter I will have the energy to study and continue my other responsibilities with more confidence and belief in myself. From achieving these goals others will flow and be more reachable, it will just keep on going.
This entry couldn’t have better timing! Bravely, I go….into a new Opportunity! A new folder has been created for my library of your blogs – they inspire me! Many Thanks!
Margie, the content and message in your blog is always so timely in my life that I feel that you are talking just to me! This time I thought I would respond and share what has happened in my life which has caused me to reconsider my options. A couple of years ago I was feeling that my career had suddenly ended. Due to difficult circumstances, I had resigned suddenly from a job that I loved and an organisation that I was very passionate about and had been a part of for the past 16 years. I found myself going through a process of grief but being quite resilient I returned to part-time online study to gain a qualification that I have always wanted but knew would not lead to a job in the area in which I live. Many could not understand why I wasn’t content with retirement as I am nearing 60. However, I feel that I still need the stimulus of a work place and I have skills and knowledge that can make a difference in others lives. For this reason, I have decided to relocate to a different part of the state where this will be possible which means selling our beautiful home in the country overlooking green grassy hills and mountains beyond and leaving friends we have made during the past 25 years. Some say I’m mad, others say I’m brave. I feel that it just has to be.