We create unnecessary pressure in our pursuit of career or business success. Since both fulfillment and money are attracted to confidence, building your natural confidence is essential.

Here are the three most powerful ways to do so that I’ve learned in thirteen years of coaching.

1). Seek wisdom within, not without. Before you can start an authentic business you must believe in yourself enough to make the move. Beliefs determine possibility. Resolve and determination come from clearing limiting beliefs and accomplishing small wins.

Desire = Proof of Capacity. If you did not have what it takes to complete and idea – that idea would not have come to you. You are enough. In fact you are more than enough to complete the purpose you came here to complete. BUT you cannot keep searching for “the” secret to success on the outside. Your secret to success is only found within.

2). Make the decision you fear making the most. Decision-making is an active affair. Even if you’ve hit rock bottom and need to start completely over again you can do it by being more decisive. The best decisions are made and acted on. We are adaptable beings but if you remain a thinker and never a doer, you won’t get the opportunity to adapt. Without action your best possibilities remain hidden from your view.

Waiting serves no one. Any movement works. You must get in play and walk down the corridor to see what doors will open. You can’t see them without taking action. You’ll remain blind to your best opportunities unless you start now.

3). Understand and act on the basis that you are not your past. You only hesitate to do what you want to do because you believe more in your past than in your magnificent possibilities. Your past is primarily based on the erroneous assessments of others. Their opinions do not count when it comes to creating the life and business you want. You are far more than your past. Your past only exists to show you the wisdom of contrast. By seeing what you don’t want and filliping it – you’ll be able to see what you really want.

Your majorpoint of adjustment lies within none of these three.  Which is it for you?

It’s not too late; you can start completely over and make a fresh start.

You have what it takes to get what you want.

You can find your natural confidence.

You can see and make your special right path decision.

When you make that right path decision you will have the confidence to follow through and finish what you start.

Join me Tuesday Dec. 13, for this free teleseminar Building Self-Confidence for Business Success - How to Make a Fresh Start, Blast Away Limiting Beliefs & Bolster Resolve  and you’ll be richer for it.  Click here to register.

Get To The Heart of the Matter

All madness stems from too much head and too little heart.

I’m not talking about certifiable insanity but the regular, daily madness that drives us crazy.

The way out of any challenge is to find a point of hopeful willingness. That’s the point where you can clearly see a next step action and you feel inspired to take it.

That point doesn’t come from over-thinking. It doesn’t come from asking why. And it seldom comes from searching for a better how to. Those are all head games and head games are complex.

Instead you must get to the heart of the matter in two different ways.

1). The first way is to go deep, connect with your heartfelt desires and come from within out.

Ask yourself.

Deep in my heart what do I care about the most here? If I put my dear self first in an extraordinary demonstration of self-love what might I do? What do I really want?

If you are looking too much at outside conditions and circumstances you’re looking in the wrong place.

2). The second way to get to the heart of the matter is, to boil it down to its essence.

Brevity creates clarity and clarity empowers. Boiling it down best occurs with persistent, audacious inquiry. Ask yourself.

What’s really going on here? What else? If I could answer the question that would save my ass, what would that question be?

Stay with the inquiry until you hit upon a startling truth that smells very clean and fresh.

Combine that truth/action in service of what you really want and the madness will stop.

It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been down or what’s going on around you. What matters is in your heart. What matters is getting to core, boiled down clarity and acting now.

There is no limit to the number of fresh starts you can make.
Audacious inquiry will save you every time.

Giving it your all is more than investing courageous effort and determination.  Giving it your all means going for it with everything you’ve got.  You have many more resources, connections, energetic intentions and accumulated good than you imagine you do.

You’ll realize this (as some of you already have) once you hold nothing back and accept the sacred mission of acting on your true calling.  I admit I was once skeptical when I read stories of heavenly bliss.  How could anyone be that aligned and feel that good?  I now know that those authors must have reconnected their link between authenticity and abundance.

Each and every one of us arrived here as little balls of determined energy ready to soak it all up and go for our unique greatness.  But our caregivers’ reactions to life challenges and our false assumptions all combined to erode our original essence.  In order to enjoy a right livelihood of abundant fulfillment and financial prosperity we need to reconnect with our original, potent presence.

I’ve been called to deliver powerful experiences so you can feel the very real energy of reconnection.  If you’re just coming to this party read this about authentic reconnection and this for instruction on starting the process.

I intend to create dynamic, supportive environments for immersion into the energy, connection and state of our original uniqueness.

Trust happens in the experience of being accepted, respected and heard. Actual words matter less.  Julio Olalla

These experiences will inspire (those who are bold enough to fully play) to go for it and give it their all.   One concept and process that especially accelerated my progress is the active work of inviting Divine coalescence.  For a small taste enroll in this gift of experience.  To receive advance notice of the reconnection events join us here.

If you are ready to fully commit to this transformative work then listen to this guided mediation that will get you in sync with Divine Coalescence.

[podcast]http://www.delightfulwork.com/audios/coalesence.mp3[/podcast]

Reconnecting this authentic link is a group experience.   You’ll make it sooner if you offer a hand up and describe (by commenting) how you felt after the mediation to those who may think they can’t spare 10 minutes to invest in their bliss.

Beliefs are sneaky.  Beliefs influence our ability and restrict opportunities often without us even being aware that we have them.  It’s a sound business practice to frequently examine and question your beliefs.

Beliefs can limit flexibility and openness while promoting rigidity.  Rigidity tends to limit opportunity.  Incredibly we often believe things for which we have no proof, especially when it comes to matters of self-assessment.

Belief is putting regard in something as true. This wide range of synonyms astounded me because they all can be used to describe a belief even though they inspire quite different meaning strength.

Synonyms: acceptance, admission, assent, assumption, assurance, avowal, axiom, certainty, conclusion, confidence, conjecture, conviction, credence, credit, deduction, divination, expectation, faith, fancy, feeling, guess, hope, hypothesis, idea, impression, intuition, judgment, knowledge, mind, mindset, notion, opinion, persuasion, position, postulation, presumption, presupposition, profession, reliance, supposition, surmise, suspicion, theorem, theory, thesis, thinking, trust, understanding, view.

Some beliefs can seem very flimsy, especially when we think of a belief as an assumption, a guess, a notion or merely a feeling.

But that’s how all beliefs take root.  We hear someone say something or read it and we assume it to be true.  A statement can be made about your own capacity or about business in general and you could lose out because of your belief in that statement.

Anyone and everyone occasionally can get down on herself or himself.  The good news is that we don’t have to get down and stay there.  Worrying about beliefs is wasteful.  It’s far more productive to use language and questioning to challenge our limiting beliefs.

Worry is an abuse of imagination.  Steve Chandler

Of course not all beliefs are limiting or negative some can be very inspiring.  But even positive beliefs can be limiting.  It makes me question whether we’d be better off without beliefs at all. Would it really matter if we just experienced life in the moment as it comes?

Here are some empowering questions to challeneg and refresh your beliefs.

What do I believe that does not serve me well about my business or myself?

Can I point to proof that supports this belief?

What would I rather believe?

What do I want to believe about my business or myself?

What could I do now to create what I want?

What limiting beliefs would I be better off simply letting go?

What one thing am I creating that uplifts me?

How could I increase my willingness to start fresh with a beginners mind and boldly create that thing?

Success can be very simple. 

We needlessly complicate both life and business.

Use this checklist and locate where you are.

Make the necessary adjustment and get unstuck.

1). If you are not celebrating enough then be grateful more often.

2). If you are not grateful often enough then complete more often.

3). If you are not completing enough then act boldly more often.

4). If you are not taking bold action often enough then ruthlessly simplify and commit to less.

5). If you are not committing to a few consciously chosen priorities then be more decisive.

6). If you are not being decisive enough then go deeper within and tell the truth to yourself more often.

If you are not going deep enough to see your truth then what in the hell are you doing here?

Both life and business need your willingness and enthusiasm in order to thrive.

Not sure of your next best step to launch your new business? Then join me on June 17 for a FREE group coaching experience that will guide you right.

I get occasional emails from desperate readers who think they have totally screwed up their lives.  They think they can’t afford to hire me as their coach but they reach out, hoping for help.

I’ll often ask them to do something simple, like read a blog post and email me back what came up for them.  Or I’ll send them a couple of questions by email.  But rather than just answering the damn questions – they’ll write back telling some pathetic story about why they can’t start over.  Bull!

It really doesn’t matter how far you’ve fallen or how long you’ve been down.  I know.  I’ve hit bottom and we can always wipe the slate clean and make a fresh start. Always.  At any notch, on the way down, I could have decided to stop there and start over.  I’ve writtin this post for everyone who thinks it’s too late to create the life or business you most want.

What if there was only one universal truth and all we had to do was get busy following that simple message?

Would you follow this message?

Be yourself.  Stay present.  Trust yourself.  Take frequent action.  Start over.

What if you didn’t need to know anymore than you know right now in order to turn your life around?

What if you are already brilliant enough and equipped enough to get what you want?

What if you already know what you need to know to make your best move?

What if you’ve repeatedly made the right decision but for some reason you’ve second-guessed yourself and needlessly stopped short of action?

You are closer than you think you are.  You’re almost over the hump.  Your desire is telling you where you need to go and most likely you just need to be bolder sooner while going for it.

Just because there appears to be a lot of folks selling you how-to and what-to-do, you don’t have to buy it.  Often they only know what’s best for them.

You are the best source of your own wisdom.

For a couple of weeks now I’ve been thinking about this commonly shared story about the California gold rush.  History shows that more folks got wealthy by selling pans, shovels, sex, booze and supplies, to the seekers of riches, than those who actually struck it rich.

This story is now told to illustrate the wisdom for becoming a how-to-get-rich info marketer.  The promise is, by selling books, audios, videos and memberships sites, that teach others how to get rich, you’ll get rich.

Like many of you, I’ve been intrigued by the possibility of online riches.  In the past, I’ve shelled out my bucks for all kinds of “can’t miss” info-products and deals.

But here’s why I’ve been questioning this modern day gold rush.  I think, just like the original, it may be an illusionary business model.   An illusionary business model is one that sells more hope than substance.  Am I nuts or is this really closer to the truth?

We say we like connecting, expressing and media socializing, but how much of this would we be doing, if we didn’t think that it would lead us to finding online gold?

I go back and forth on how best to claim online gold.  I question the value of social media frequently, yet I’m still using it, so I’m not judging any method.  If anything I’m confused as hell as to where it’s all going?  But I’ve learned that confusion often signals opportunity.

I do know this; when I stake my own claim, in this online gold rush, I’ll only sell a how-to system that helps you to express and promote your own uniqueness. That’s the best shot we all have at riches.

Your best shot at riches is to express your authentic uniqueness.

I’ll only sell what I and my clients have proven. That’s why I’m such an advocate for life coaching. Coached people more often create the lives and businesses they want to create. Coached people take more action so they fail and succeed faster, sooner.

Those who think they can go it alone without a mentor or coach are the really crazy ones.

Coaching works because it respects and honors individuality.  Any coach worth his or her fee will help you to take action swiftly and do it your way in a way that promotes your uniqueness.

Some of what I know will work for you and some won’t.  It’s my job as coach, to create the structure and environment that will have you repeatedly choosing, acting, failing and adjusting.

Fail faster better.

Fail more often and you increase the probability of succeeding.  Get to a place of not giving a chit about the outcomes and you’ll try more things.  Try more things and you’ll increase the probability of stumbling on something that works.  How’s that for certainty?

It doesn’t’ matter how often you fail and have to start over.  What does matter is that you do start over.

Start over. Be yourself.   Stay present.  Trust yourself.  Take frequent action.   Start over.

I trust brevity because it’s evident.

What you see is what you get.

Clarity and decisiveness inspire confidence.

Brevity doesn’t waste my time or make me work for something that may be nothing.

I trust brevity because it gives greater meaning and more time to ponder.

Less is more because I can take it or leave it.

What do you think?

Even in Pittsburgh, it’s a beautiful sunny day with low humidity.

I have had absolutely no interruptions.

I have the time to create whatever I want to create, or not.

I realize suddenly that I am happy.

In this moment all is well.

Either I’m full of it or it really matters that all is well.

There is nothing to pursue.

I have things I could do but I feel like doing none of them.

Better yet, I choose to do nothing.

Perhaps I’ll simply be.

Yet I wrote this.

Isn’t this something?

Perhaps I’ll just sit here and glow over the remark ability of me.

I wonder since I’m now excuse-free am I obligation-free as well?

Excuses are things we say to justify not doing something we feel like we should be doing.

Obligations are those things we feel like we should be doing.

It seems like there’s a connection.

I wonder what an excuse-free, obligation-free life might feel like?

Could this be the work life freedom that I encourage the pursuit of?

How could so much of nothing feel so good?

Do you feel like simply being the remarkable human being that you are?

I am what I am. Popeye

For every entrepreneur who has already seized the freedom of self-employment, there are at least 10 who want to but hesitate to take the leap. As a coach, it’s obvious to me that these folks are looking at what they fear – rather than what they want. But how can we encourage them? How can we help them to take action in spite of their fears?

Here’s one way. As a card-carrying member of the Eternal Optimists’ Club, I often ask this question when faced with an unexpected challenge. What’s good about it?

This morning I began pondering what’s good about my fears? What’s the value of fears? Fears arise for a reason. Behind every fear is a path that leads to greater freedom and fulfillment. So one could reasonably argue that fears point to a value that we cannot see until we face the fear.

In order to bring forth our pure and fearless selves, we need to face and examine the fears that are coming up for us in the present moment. We won’t find the gold by being afraid to look, and we won’t find it by looking in the wrong place.

Often a coaching client will share that he or she is in a funk and doesn’t know what it is, or what has caused it. Then the client will begin an ineffective pursuit to find out why. Why do I feel this way? When struggling, do not seek to understand why it is that you struggle. You’ll seldom be able to find the truth from that perspective.

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
Albert Einstein

Instead, try making the assumption that you are fearful of something that needs further exploration. Instead of asking the judgment-laden question: What’s wrong with me? Or: Why am I feeling this way? Ask: What do I fear? If you are the kind of person who avoids facing your fears, you may have more than one fear. No sweat, just write them all down until the most demanding culprit reveals is itself. Then inquire internally to find one or more things that are good about the specific fear.

There is hidden gold waiting to be mined just beneath the surface of your fears. You just need an approach that will help you to see the gold. Below, I’ve offered five approaches to uncover it. First read the approach and then answer the accompanying fear identifier.

Fears point to decisions that need to be made.

What decision(s) have I been putting off?

Fears show us that greater truths need to be realized.

Since fears are imagined and not real, they are there to help us to transition to what is real. What greater truth am I not seeing because I’ve been afraid to look?

Fears alert us to potential danger.

What signs am I misreading or not seeing that could cause me harm?

Fears expose our erroneous self-judgments.

Where have I been doubting and judging myself without any proof that it’s true?

Fears show us what is stopping us by revealing our excuses.

What stories have I been telling myself in the form of excuses that stop me from taking action?

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. Dale Carnegie.

In order to be fearless, we need to face our fears as they arise. That way there is no build-up and nothing lying in wait that comes back to get us. Your fears are your friends. They exist to show you value that you haven’t yet seen. Don’t allow them to determine your destiny by fearing. Instead, allow them to shine a light on your optimum path by courageously facing them.

If you’ve read this far and still have fears, then you have yet to answer the questions above. Answer them and become the fearless creator you were meant to be.

Have you ever screwed up and not followed through on a self-pledge? We all have, many times, and we are likely to continue, right? If that’s so, consider this. Wouldn’t it be a better strategy to give up on perfection and simply allow the screw-ups to occur? If we could do that without being so hard on ourselves, we’d be more fulfilled, waste less time and be far more productive.

Trust builds when agreements are honored. Thus it’s our self-trust that takes the biggest hit when we don’t follow-through as promised. So we need to trust ourselves once more to comeback from this temporary breach of reliability.

When we screw-up we can either change what occurred so that we don’t make the same mistake again or we can change how we feel about making mistakes. I find the latter to be just as effective and far easier to pull off.

Please get this. It’s not the mistake that derails you. It’s how you feel about letting yourself down. Since you admit that you are too hard on yourself, what might happen if you simply cut yourself some slack?

I’d like to introduce you to a couple of words and their definitions that you may have forgotten.

Forgive – to cease to feel resentment about.

Absolve – to free from guilt or blame or their consequences.

Have you forgotten that you have the power to self-forgive and to self-absolve? It’s often a necessary step before we can get ourselves back on track. I really want you to know a few things.

There is no limit to the number of fresh starts you can make. You can always begin again. As a coach, I often ask clients to give themselves permission to forget about past misses and begin anew. Absolve yourself. Let it go. Recognize the futility of holding onto the mistake and its accompanying guilt. Start over. Take a Mulligan.

If you take yourself too seriously, lighten up and praise your good. Most of us tend to overplay our misses and under-recognize our hits. You do a lot of things right, don’t you? Who sees those? Whose job is it to make sure they get duly noted and celebrated? Perhaps if you spent more time recognizing your progress and all the things you do well, you would no longer need to be so self-judgmental.

Know that making a mistake is not an indication that anything is wrong with you or fundamentally lacking in your makeup. As kids, many of us had adults place the “what’s wrong with you?” curse on us. Know and act on the basis that nothing is wrong with you. You are a child of God who occasionally misses the mark. So what, who doesn’t?

Sometimes when you disappoint and do not follow through, it means nothing. It could mean that you just screwed up. Perhaps in your enthusiasm you simply over-promised. Perhaps other priorities and/or opportunities entered the picture.

Mistakes are simply attempts that missed the mark. Lighten up. Start over. Forgive yourself. Let go of the misstep. Shrug it off. Release those guilty thoughts.

Mistakes are inevitable and without them we would have no feedback for course corrections and adjustments. If you’ve made a mistake, it’s already in your past. It’s behind you, so allow it to remain there.

You can come back from anything. Clear the air. Forgive yourself. Cut yourself some slack. Give yourself a break. Love yourself. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off. Begin anew. Life wants you to win.