It’s a big leap from where you are to where you’re going.

Miles.

Hundreds of miles.

Thousands of miles.

And you don’t know the way, only the destination.

It’s OK though.

You don’t have to know how you’re going to get there. You only have to be willing to take each next step.

It’s not easy going first.

You have to see what other people don’t see.

You have to believe that you’ll get where you’re going even though there’s no path paved out in front of you.

No light shining the way save for the light of your internal vision guiding you along.

And you have to believe twice as hard as the people who are standing behind you.

Going first is scary and lonely and full of missteps.

However, the rewards can be satisfying not only because you get to prove what you’ve believed all along, but also because you get to light the way for others.

What do you think is more valuable?

The $20 you earned doing your chores, or the $20 your grandmother put in your birthday card?

They have the same face value, but which one feels like it’s worth more?

Which one do you think more carefully about how you’ll spend?

Maybe that’s why some lottery winners ironically become destitute by burning through their  winnings – there’s something transformative about earning money as opposed to having it given to you.

Money that you earn – that you generate – has meaning. It is charged with your hard work making it more precious.

When you give yourself away, don’t be surprised if you are taken for granted.

If you demand what you’re worth, be prepared to be treated accordingly.

When I moved to Turkey ten years ago I’d never planned to stay. We came for my husband’s job and I vowed that as soon as we could go back to California, we would.

But it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Türkiye. Since then I’ve been suspended between two worlds.

Within six months we’d crafted a new plan; that once my husband retired we’d live part time in California and part time here. That has been one of the biggest reasons for me to build work that is portable, so I can be in either place at anytime.

This week I got a phone call from home. Someone very dear to me has been diagnosed with health problems and though the prognosis is good, it was a wake up call.

In my dream plan, when my husband retires and we are jetting between countries and everything is just as I’ve left it. My family is well, the economy is thriving, my nieces and nephews are still babies. But time doesn’t stop. When my husband retires it might be too late to live that dream, so I’m reevaluating everything.

I’m no longer after a dream, now I’m on a mission. Everything that I’ve been talking about – working on your own terms, doing what you love, living unbound from space and time, making the most of compromising circumstances – now it’s serious.

Even though the destination remains the same, the path has changed and the deadline has been moved up. I’m forcing myself to recalibrate the GPS to get there differently so I can get there sooner. It means cutting out some of the steps like buying homes and waiting for retirement, but I’ve been forced to re-prioritize which means I’m focused on what’s really, really important.

Not things. Not stuff. But experiences.

If there was ever a time to leverage my global niche, it’s now.

Have you ever been forced to take an alternate path to reach your goal? Were you better or worse off for it?

I have a feeling that this is either going to force me to grow or give up altogether.

But I don’t believe in giving up.

There is a fascinating article in this discussion that is a reminder of the possibilities that lie ahead:

“We needn’t be working in buildings 9-5,” it states, “when we can access everything in the cloud and connect with anyone, anytime. If businesses let go of the structures and time zones, we open our doors to many more opportunities for all.”  — The Innovative Educator

Ever since I moved to Turkey, I’ve been challenged by time and space. We first lived in a small town with little industry and the home I left in California was ten hours behind me. Not only did I have to re-frame my personal and professional identity, I had to innovate a new career. What paved the way for me was Internet access and a belief that what was inside me was superior to my circumstances.

Many people argue that the web is an antisocial waste of time. But for displaced and disadvantaged people in my situation, the world wide web is a survival tool. It levels the playing field and provides you the opportunity to work wherever, whenever, and however you find yourself.

With the social web as your virtual office you are unbound from space and time. You work on your own schedule according to your own rules and build your own place in the world.

Anastasia Ashman calls this your “global niche“. It is creative self enterprise for your global soul. It is do-it-yourself evolution. It is your micro-global base of operations. It’s the chance for you to be the solution to your own problem.

I am privileged to be collaborating on this initiative with her and I would be so honored to have you join us.

You can find it here at www.globalniche.net.

I’m in the process of writing a business plan for an upcoming project with a Turkish partner.

She’s been really pleased with what I’ve written so far.

“But I didn’t do it myself,” I told her, “I’ve had lots of guidance.”

There are tons of business resources out there in our collective-consciousness-of-an-Internet, but the best resources are the people you gather around you. They are the mirrors who reflect you to yourself so you can see what you’re projecting into the world. If you’re lucky, they’re tough on you – they recognize your strengths and they don’t let up until you are actively tapping into them.

I’ve been that lucky and I’m grateful.

Who is your mirror?

How do you look in their reflection?

In the course of teaching English in Turkey, one of the lessons that came up was how to teach the verb “to try”.

There are several ways this can be used:

To put something to the test.
To learn something new.
To make an attempt.

Trying expresses the ideas of experimentation, learning and discovery – acts of exploration.

During a leadership workshop, one of the coaches encouraged me to transition my word choice in this statement from “I’m trying to build a business” to “I’m working on building a business.” The whole dynamic of the process changes from something tentative, uncertain and wavering to something you are deeply committed to.

When you move from trying to doing you become deeply grounded, and that is an ideal place from which to bloom.

Kaizen is a philosophy of improvement.

It analyzes processes and suggests ways to make them better.

As I understand it, Kaizen assumes that perfection can never be reached. We can always develop. We can always improve. We can always evolve what we’re doing to be better and better versions of ourselves. We adapt.

You can’t say, “I’m doing my best,” because there isn’t a “best”. Best means the work is done. Best means the end.

Not that you aren’t perfect. You are.

I’m talking about the expression of you. I’m suggesting that you can constantly improve the way you’re manifesting yourself as evidenced by the work you output.

How can you do what you’re doing, but better?

Time Flies by Neal Fowler

Earlier this year I had two things on my desk.

The first was a client proposal I was writing and the other was a class I was considering taking.

I knew the class would be good for me. It would fill in some of the gaps in my business training and connect me with other people who would be great for networking.

But I felt that it was way out of my budget.

On the other side of the coin, I was asking for 10 times what I would have paid for the class in the proposal I was writing.

When I looked at those two things side by side I realized how silly it was for me to expect anyone to invest in me when I wasn’t willing to invest in myself.

I signed up for the class immediately and used my creative problem solving skills to find the money for the class.

Just by taking that step, I made a declaration of my value.

“Even if I learn nothing in the class,” I told myself, “at least I’ll know what I’m worth.”

That was a turning point.

Since making that declaration, I’ve raised my fees and noticed a difference in the level of commitment from my clients.

When I speak of investing in yourself, I’m not just talking about money, but other resources like time and energy.

If I looked at you now, would I know the outcome you’re dedicated toward? Would it be obvious based on where you’re spending your resources?

How are you investing in yourself?

How would you like to?

Do you want some support?

MOMENT #2 by alainalele

What is the biggest excuse holding you back from doing what you really want?

Be aware that it may not actually look like an excuse.

Instead it might look like:

Distraction

Procrastination

Confusion

Chaos

Illness

Allergies

Helpfulness

Habituation

Phobia

Indecision

Uncertainty

Charity

Addiction

__________ (fill in the blank)

How do you know that it’s actually an excuse?

Because it’s the same thing that comes up again and again when you’re at the brink of progress.

It’s a pattern.

And it’s what always stops you when you’re just about to take a big step forward.

If you can suspend time in that moment and look the excuse square in the face you will have an enormous opportunity for transformation.

Let me know if you want some support in that moment.