Time to take a leap of faith

There is no time better than the present! Yet how many “presents” have passed us by doing nothing? My head feels heavy because I carry around all the ideas and never take action. Yes! I’m guilty as charged.

When an idea is born, there is a quickening of spirit…an excitement…a joy as we think about how that idea can manifest and how our lives will change when it does. But if we leave the idea long enough in our heads and never take action then we become top heavy. Our ideas become dark thoughts that burden instead of uplift us. We slow down and eventually atrophy – the side-effects of inaction!

I used to think that I would move forward once I was able to get rid of my self-doubts and fears. Now I know that self-doubt and fear increase as actions decreases.

In her book, It’s never too late to begin again, Julia Cameron shares:

One of the most terrifying places we can find ourselves is in a state of self-doubt. While self-doubt often stems from past injuries or insecurities, its power in the present can be both convincing and unsettling. Self-doubt can hit us all at once in a wave of horror - “I can’t do that”, “I should just forget the idea of trying to be creative!” – or it can sneak up on us in subtle, seemingly legitimate justifications: “You probably shouldn’t try painting. Aunt Joan was the REAL painter in the family,” or “Are you really going to wear red? Didn’t someone once say it made you look washed out?” Self-doubt is a formidable foe, because when we doubt ourselves we have only ourselves to fight back against.

I am now FINALLY understanding that just because our self-doubt might make us doubt ourselves does not mean it is right!

We all have legitimate questions before we take action. Our most pressing question is along the variety of “will it work?” or “will we succeed?” Our need for certainty is overwhelming! We want to be absolutely sure before we take that first step. Good luck with that!

Many entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals get bogged down in building their businesses. They keep busy building things for their business that deliver them little to no results. They stay home and create a new business card, brochure, website, or a fancy consultants marketing plan.

Mike Zipursky, the Consultant’s coach describes it perfectly:

You spend a great deal of time creating materials you’ll rarely implement.

If you do implement them, you’ll do a half-ass job of it.

You’ll do a half-ass job of implementing because implementing is ten times harder than building.

You trick yourself into thinking that you’re busy doing important work – while really you’re busy doing work that won’t help grow your business (because you won’t implement).

You repeat the cycle all over again.

This is true for many of us even if we’re not in the consulting market. I am again GUILTY!

If we faced the reality, we’d realise that we spend time building because we’re afraid. What if it fails? What if it doesn’t work out? What if no one cares? The only place we will find answers is by taking action and acting with our fear. Yes – WITH OUR FEAR! It’s not going to simply dissipate on command so get comfortable taking action afraid.

Coach Pam Sterling says:

When we’re facing something new…facing something scary…questions are only natural. But when we let the questions keep us from taking action, then they are detrimental. A launch is always scary. A webinar is always scary. Speaking is always an adrenaline rush. And if they don’t scare us then we might not be taking these things seriously enough.

But there needs to be a time when our questions stop and we take a leap of faith. A time when we put a stake in the ground…when we put the plane in the air. When we schedule the class, the webinar, the launch of our book, we book the hotel for the event – and then we make it happen.

The time to take action is NOW, while you’re afraid and without having all of your questions answered!

Where have your questions kept you stuck? Where has your need to know all the answers kept you standing still? Where have you let fear keep you back from doing and being all you can be? It’s time to take a Leap of Faith. Send an email to possibility2profit@gmail.com for your FREE guide: How to Develop Your Own Leap of Faith Strategies!

This column was written by Giselle Hudson for Business Day.