Fresh Water West in Pembrokeshire
Ever felt like a caterpillar struggling inside it’s chrysalis waiting to break through and emerge as a butterfly, but scared when you emerge you are just going to turn into a dull moth burning your wings against the bright lights?
My guess is we all have had doubts at some point in our lives, usually they are at their worst when life on the outside seems pretty good. You have a half decent job, it is secure, you have a home the job pays for and the bank is not sending nasty letters and yet inside you are dissatisfied. You have an idea, a dream, a tangible taste for a world where you can actually do what you dream of doing, a world where you can make a difference, for fill your aspirations, find happiness in your work. So how come some people can make that a reality and others never find the confidence to try?
Fear of failure, the risk is too great, lack of confidence, well, all of those and actually sitting down and finding, the map you need to get there. Even then when you find the map you have to choose the right route, and this is one route you cannot blame the sat nav for when you get stuck in traffic or at a dead end. We need two critical pieces of information to plan a route, the starting place and the finishing place and you would be surprised how many people fail to know where the latter one is, they launch themselves from a starting position with some rough idea where they may end up and then start to flounder when they reach a fork in the road.
Close your eyes (when you finish reading this paragraph) and imagine where the finishing point is, what is going to be the point at which you feel like you finally made it? Be specific, is it opening a bank statement, or welcoming your 100th client, maybe it is as simple as sitting in your office and breathing in your success. Picture that moment with all your senses, really be there in the moment and concentrate on exactly how that will feel. That point, that moment is your destination and it is to that point that you need to plan your route to. Now look backwards to see how you got there, is there skills you need to learn? Money you need to raise? Look back and see where the weak point of the journey will be, what might trip you up? Where are the bottle necks? What are your weakness and most importantly where are your strengths. Then write down the plan, make it detailed, place time scales, goals to mark your progress along the way, allow flexibility but not U turns. Be prepared to fail and get back up again, we learn from failures but only if we shake them off get back up and get back on track.
Information and knowledge is your friend, get those facts and believe in yourself and your work ethic. Maybe then breaking through the chrysalis will lead to beautiful things.