It Starts With Believing In Yourself

person at top of mountain at sunrise representing persistence

When I was 20 years old I decided I wanted to quit my desk job and do something different. I saw an ad in the paper (this was the pre-internet era) that promised something like a $400 commission for each sale I made. My naive, 20-year old mind thought *wow* – I’d only need to make 5 sales in a month to pay all my bills! What I didn’t consider was that I really didn’t have the personality cut out for direct sales. So I signed up.

I never did make a ton of money. Eventually, I decided to go back to a desk job. But those early morning sales meetings introduced me to the benefits of goal setting and self-motivation skills.

I remember our “leaders”, Jeff & Susan, a young married couple with a colorful backstory and enough enthusiasm to convince even someone as shy and insecure as me that I could sell a $3000 piece of equipment to a complete stranger. Like, within an hour of meeting them, unannounced and uninvited. When I think back on it now, I’m amazed I fell for it.  And then I actually did it! Maybe there was something in the kool-aid.

Actually, I know what it really was.  At least now I do, 30 years wiser.  I may have given up on direct sales, but I never stopped pursuing personal growth and motivational tactics.  I realized, as a young woman on the cusp of adulthood, that having purpose and intention matters.  That if I filled my mind with challenging, encouraging, and enthusiastic ideas, I actually did believe I could do anything.

Back then it was selling an overpriced piece of equipment to a shop owner barely making ends meet.  Today it’s breaking free of debt and achieving the financial independence needed to travel the world, have a vacation home in the mountains, and give lavishly to charitable causes.  Different goals, same mindset.

I believe.  Not because I have everything mapped out and I know exactly what I need to do and how.  I’m not some financial smarty pants nor am I particularly organized or disciplined.

But I believe because I know I’m capable of learning how.  I know I can learn from others who’ve done it before me.  I know how to plan far enough to take the next step.  And that’s all I really need to know for now.  That’s enough to make the decision to move forward.

Time waits for no one.  It doesn’t care if you don’t feel ready, if you don’t feel motivated, if you believe your situation isn’t ever going to change.  Time continually extends its hand of opportunity, and we can either grab on tight or get left behind.

It starts with believing you can.  So, read books that inspire you.  Listen to people that motivate you.  Write down some goals and make a plan.  Then grab on tight and don’t let time get away from you, because forward is the only direction we’re going.

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