I have learned over the past year and a half that chasing a dream means getting WAY outside the boundaries of your comfort zone. Some days, you're going to be terrified. You're going to second guess yourself. You might even, for just a moment, forget why you're doing it.
It's hard to be an entrepreneur. You have to wear a lot of hats. You have to be the talent, the marketing rep, and the I.T. guy. You have to be your own cheerleader. You have to be one tough cookie. Chances are, you're not going to be good at everything.
I recently found myself on the verge of a meltdown (okay, it was today). I started to feel pieces fall into place, pieces I have been working very hard to have put in place. It felt remarkably similar to the feeling I had right after my book was published. I worked tirelessly for months to get it done, but once it happened, a sort of surrealism surfaced that I didn't feel really ready for. That's the thing about chasing your dream -- you will never be 100 percent ready. You just have to jump.
So today I felt the panic set in. I unloaded on my poor friend who did nothing but innocently ask me, "How was your day?" I talked in circles with no hope of resolution. I babbled for a good half an hour. And when I got tired of doing all thinking and no acting, I asked myself: If this were my client, what would I say?
What I would say is this: Take a deep breath. Then take another one. Close your eyes, push aside all of your thoughts, and remember your reason. Your WHY. It's there, it has never left. Then put pen to paper. What's on your mind, what needs figuring out? Write it down. Leave space between each item. Then when you're done, go back and write down the first thing you need to do to get that accomplished. If your to-do list is simply unmanageable and creating clutter in your mind, tackle ONE task. That's it. Just finish one thing, and cross it off. Now you have one less thing to worry about. It's all about the small steps, just ask the author of my book!