I promised in last month’s message to share a personal example of perseverance and not giving up when the going got tough. I am grateful for the track record of success and the reputation I have built as a positive influence on business success and a role model of encouragement for others to get out of their own way to live their best life.
Who I am today is not the woman I once was – living the seemingly perfect life, with the perfect job and behind the perfect smile, living in a web of fear, regret and worthlesness.
Getting out of my own way to do the work to put together a book that shared where I have been and the steps I took to change the direction of my life has been liberating and at times given me moments of quiet reflection. For three years I put this book on the back shelf more times than I can remember as I moved on to come up with the next new innovative idea. And yet, the messages in the form of whispers kept coming back to me, “go back to what you know and help others move forward with what you have learned.”
Many of you have been asking when the book would be finished. I’m excited announce, NOW it is!
My primary target market is youth and young adults – starting in middle school, and the service providers
and organizations that provide support services.
It has taken me three years to process and construct the basic vital steps that will
move them – regardless of their unique situation – to go from where they are now
to where they want to be in life.
The book is a seven-day guide to change direction in life: one key
learning lesson following by action steps with an activity to reinforce the lesson.
I’ve been there – where they are right now. I know what it’s like to live in regret and fear
and feel powerless because of it. Through the lessons from my own childhood of living for
16 years in foster care, and the experiences learned in adulthood by overcome challenging
circumstances and reinventing my life, this activity book will show youth how to build on
their own uniqueness and strengths, see beyond the limitations and self-imposed labels
and achieve meaningful success, step by step.
Each lesson will continue to peel away the layers of survival mode behaviors – denial,
acting out, negative self-fulfilling prophecies, disengagement – and address underlying
feelings that hinder forward progression.
Self-empowerment will come through the actions steps and the realization they have
the power to change the words and stories they tell about themselves to
reach their highest potential.
When we change our stories – our beliefs about our self,
our past, and our present – we set the wheels in motion to change our lives.
Wow! You’re still reading this! Then let me take a moment to say you’re amazing!
My secondary market is for people like . . . me. I’m a perfectly imperfect person who
has been challenged with self-doubt and limiting beliefs. Although, I will never give up on myself and stive to show up a little better than I was the day before.
Doubt kills more dreams than failures ever will! Self-doubt will keep you STUCK!
If you continue to self-doubt and lack self-confidence, you will always
feel like you’re at the mercy of other people. Many self-doubters aren’t even aware that
they are their own worst enemy – they constantly seek permission or approval before
moving forward.
Is this book the gift you give to someone you care about, or give to yourself?
Is there something you want to do, but just can’t seem to accomplish?
Have you been trying to achieve a certain goal, but people and circumstances keep getting in your way?
If that’s your experience, then today’s thought could be the key to break free. It’s a simple, but powerful, principle that never fails to work.
Only one person is blocking you from success, and that person is YOU.
If that’s an upsetting statement, if your immediate response is “My situation is different” or “You don’t know what I’m up against,” I understand.
I’ve BEEN THERE too.
Blaming others for my life took the spotlight off me. Blaming situations for my life gave me a ready excuse to fail.
When you finally get fed up with making the same mistakes, when you’re ready to accept total responsibility for your own life and happiness, the door of opportunity opens.
Change your direction and you change your future. Change your actions and you change your life.
Then read it. Then live it. Together, we can do a whole lot more than either of us can do alone.
Until next month, have your BEST day!
Bonnie