Feel like you aren’t sure how to get past the baby steps and move forward to the dream and goals you desire?

You know what they are, but the baby steps stay just that … baby steps.

And often the baby steps feel smaller than the tension holding you back.

You are not alone.

You might feel like it, but I promise you you aren’t.

If I had a dollar for every time I had a client say, “You mean I’m not the only one?”, well, I’d be one very rich woman!

So how do you create the momentum you are looking for to start moving in the direction of those dreams and goals you have identified as important to you?

Here are five keys to finding what is holding you back and conquering the tension so you can move forward with confidence.

1. Realize that your dreams matter to you.  There is a reason it feels scary to move forward.  It feels too big, too daunting.  It’s because it matters.  Loss is hard because we care, and loss of a dream can be discouraging and leave you feeling unsure.  
2. Get super clear and know your why.  Clarity builds confidence.  When you have a clear picture of what you want, what you value the most, and why it matters, you have the confidence to know you can take the next steps to move forward.  It doesn’t mean everything will be easy and simple, but you will know where to say yes and where to say no, and that you can do each step you need to do.
3. You are listening to other voices.  Whose voice are you listening to?  Is it a friend that made fun of you when you were younger and you have carried it forward with you, telling yourself you’re not good enough?  Is it a parent that you were trying to live up to, whether that was perceived or real expectations?  Or maybe the voices are the words you use like “small business”, or “It’s just me …”, or even holding back on vocalizing your dreams because you think they will sound crazy to someone else.  The voices we listen to have a dramatic impact on how we lean in and move forward.
   1. You haven’t let go of the past.  What are you carrying forward with you that stops you from being your best?  Baggage is called baggage because we pack it up and carry it with us.  When we carry it, it takes up space that needs to filled with action steps and the belief in ourselves that we can.  I used to tell my children that if they didn’t have enough belief in themselves, to borrow my belief in them until they had enough of their own.  I believe in you too.
      
4. You are waiting to feel ready.  How often have you said, “when I …..”, then I’ll do the next step.  We have all the reasons why we need to wait, but what we are really doing is simply procrastinating out of fear and the unknown.  The reasons will always be there, because we will never feel 100% ready.  We can’t picture what it will be like because we aren’t there yet … we just need to start moving forward.  Movement is what brings clarity and confidence.  

These five steps will help you gain some clarity on your why, get past the things and stories holding you back, and help you find the movement that builds the confidence.

Just before 2020 was upon us I decided I was going to list out what I had accomplished in the past decade, and I was blown away.  I had changed careers, walked through a very difficult divorce, my kids graduated from high school, my daughter got married and had a child, I had started a job I loved and then started my own business, I bought my first house on my own, I sold the house, Steve and I dated, got engaged, and married!    Wow!  I didn’t even list all the tiny baby steps that brought all those major life events into play.  It is a picture of just how beyond our imagination we can accomplish.

Sometimes we just need to take the steps before we see the big picture. 

These five steps will help you begin.  I promise you, you will look back in amazement at what you accomplished and the dreams that were happening.

Many steps make big dreams.