A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you that I was going through a transitional phase with my business. For me, I felt the transition process brought about fear and trepidation, after all, change is never easy. I wrote about the importance of accountability and being able to stay motivated and on task. I shared the vast importance of having a strategy and clear focus for without those, you’ll remain stagnant.

This past week I met with a client of mine who has been dieting most of her adult life. “Maybe I’m just not supposed to lose weight, maybe I’m just meant to be fat.” At that point I realized, although there was a lot going on in her life, what I sensed from her was fear, the fear of success. After all, if someone has to change their lifestyle in order to reach a healthy weight, the fears are endless. They include, “How hard will life be? How hard will it be to maintain? Can I maintain it? What if I can’t? What kind of expectations will be put on me? I’ll never get to eat food I like again! I’ll have to exercise 24/7”, and the questions, negative thoughts and fears go on and on.

I happen to know this because not only did I go through that almost 30 years ago with weight loss, recently I went through the same thing with my business.

I know my mission in life is to motivate others to be as healthy as they can be, no doubt, that’s my calling. Yet time after time, I give everyone else props, rarely allowing myself to be the expert and share my philosophy about weight which is, “Change your lifestyle and the weight will follow.” Because I don’t push 20 pounds in 20 days, I second guess my motivational approach, yet I’ve been doing this for 20 years successfully. But I have the same questions you do, “What will success feel like? If I sell a million copies of my next book, what expectations will be placed on me? Will I be able to adapt to a new lifestyle and the demands that come with it? Do I deserve it?” It’s funny how life speaks to you when you’re willing to listen.

Yesterday morning, I was out for a run and it I had this vision that I want to share with you. Hopefully, it will inspire you the way it did me. My vision showed me standing at the edge of a cliff and below was the “Sea of Success”. I had a choice, I could turn around and go back to my “safe” life or I could dive in and see what happens. As I stood at the edge of the cliff, I started going through the negative litany of questions and thoughts versus allowing myself to foresee the positive potential. In other words, why could I only think of negative outcomes if I took the leap? Why was I not opting instead to take the leap knowing that the positive possibilities were endless and well deserved? I went ahead and took the plunge!

I encourage you as you start your healthy living journey right now. See yourself standing at the edge of the cliff of change. Look below and see your “Sea of Success” and what opportunities lie ahead if you’re willing to take the plunge. Instead of fearing change, see if you can shift your thoughts to embracing change. With that shift, allow yourself to anticipate all the of the great things that will happen to you as a result of opting for success versus “same ole, same ole.”

I invite you to take the leap, and I look forward to hearing about your success!