Among the problems I have faced, and I imagine you have or will too, initially stem from needing to take what is virtually a "Leap of Faith" into unknown territory. I have done that to a foreign country and survived (not necessarily with my sanity intact, but alive enough to tell the tale).

If you announce your intentions work for yourself, especially on the net, I'll bet you last year's salary that someone in your immediate circle of family and friends will take a sharp intake of breath ... if they don't actually belly-laugh. Now if that isn't inspiration destroying, I don't know what is!

OK, they seem to think that us "normal folk" cant do this. You don't want to listen, but you hear them and some fears start creeping into your mind. What if they are right? Yeah, so what? Accept that YES, they could be, but don't let them project their fears onto you. That's them. They probably aren't prepared to put in the work, whereas, if you are reading this, we can presume you are -- and that's half the battle licked already.

Failure or learning? It's a question of attitude

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain

Focus merely on doing what's right for you, now, (even if you suffer the consequences) for only you can regret not trying something if you choose and allow others to influence you to hesitate.

If at first you don't succeed ...

You will read statistics (and actually, they are not lies) that state only 5% of people will succeed. Almost none of them will do it on the first attempt. And this is where the 95% -- that the doubting Thomases above hold as being normal -- simply give up.

It's not because IT doesn't work, it's not because they couldn't have done it. They just didn't have that one elusive secret, quality or knowledge that the 5% do realise they have.

So what's the mystical secret that the 5% have?

Absolutely nothing more than the fact that they do not give up and they know they shouldn't. If their first ideas don't work, they learn why and go on to try something better. Again and again. They keep learning and they keep trying, for which they require inspiration, motivation and a large measure of tenacity. In my dictionary, failure is merely a sinister word that other people give to a natural learning-by-doing process. It ain't a big deal, it's no more than a knee-scrape in the scheme of things. Get back on that bike!

I've tried many things that didn't work for me, but I don't think I have failed, ever.

In fact, I have learned and I am still learning, but the two most important things so far are:

=> Finally, I am seeing results -- the ones that matter to me currently, ones that pay the bills => I am enjoying what I do at last instead of being an opressed wage-slave.

The motivation thus becomes self-fuelling. I am realising a dream.

About The Author

Copyright 2001 Pamela Heywood. http://pamela-heywood.com aims to give inspiration to fellow online business owners, to help you to remain motivated and inspired to keep chasing your dreams. Subscribe to my monthly Inspirational Updates and greet each new month with new ideas and renewed enthusiasm.