3. Identify exactly what you are afraid of. As long as your self-doubt and fear remain general and nebulous you will never be able to overcome them. Only by articulating exactly what it is that you are afraid of, are you able to develop a game plan to conquer that fear. "I'm afraid of failing" isn't enough. Dig deeper; figure out EXACTLY what you're afraid of. Are you scared of being broke, looking foolish, or not having enough knowledge? Once you pinpoint exactly what is holding you back, you can create a strategy to minimize your risk. For example, if your fear is of being broke, then you may want to pay extra close attention to financial part of your business plan and work to minimize your personal spending. If you fear is of not having enough knowledge then you want to build your available resources and have outside experts that you can draw on.

A little bit of self-doubt or nervousness helps to keep you humble, but too much self-doubt however, can be paralyzing.

"And day came when risk it took to remain tight in a bud was more painful than risk it took to blossom." (Anais Nin )

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© Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved. Myrtis Smith is a personal coach. Her mission is to help people create their preferred future and have fun doing it. Sign up for her free newsletter Change Now! at www.premeditatedlife.com .......because life doesn't just happen!

WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE YOU CAN BE GREATER THAN ANYTHING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU:

ATTITUDE BEATS FACTS EVERY TIME.

DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

* * *

Someone said, "Failure is line of least persistence." My dear mother called it "stick-to-it- iv-ness." It generally boils down to a healthy combination of faith and hard work, and it usually means success.

"The only place where success comes before work (hard) is in dictionary."

A short exercise:

Talk to your best friend or partner *(I hate that common New Zealand expression- cheapens institution of marriage and denotes immoral living - Yes, sir "Mr goody goody two shoes" and "get with times, mate") about: * I far prefer term 'spouse', which could be an abbreviation for "spastic mouse". Enough about my personal opinions...

1. The picture you hold of yourself (i.e.. how you ]see yourself): Is it positive or negative, are you an introvert, extrovert, popular?

2. How you see other people seeing you - their perception of you, or looking glass). Which brings to mind following wise words (not mine)...

"I am not what I think I am." "I am not what you think I am." "I am what I think you think I am."

STICK TO IT

According to William S. Banowsky, story of one of America's greatest leaders is actually a story of repeated failures and dogged persistence:

In 1831 he failed in business.

In 1832 he was defeated for state legislature.

In 1833 he failed again in business.

In 1834 he was elected to state legislature.

In 1835 his sweetheart died.

In 1836 he had a nervous breakdown.

In 1838 he was defeated for Speaker.

In 1840 he was defeated for Elector.

In 1843 he was defeated for Congress.

In 1846 he was elected for one term to Congress.

In 1848 he was defeated again for Congress.

In 1855 he was defeated for Senate.

In 1856 he was defeated for Vice President.

In 1858 he was defeated again for Senate.

In 1860 he, finally, was elected President of United States.And these are just a few of rough spots in life of Abraham Lincoln.

Are you feeling discouraged? Perhaps you just need to give it one more try.

>From Steve Goodier's ONE MINUTE CAN CHANGE A LIFE http://store.yahoo.com/lifesupportsystem/books.htm

Abraham Lincoln grew up in a very difficult environment. He had less than one year of formal schooling. He experienced defeat and failure year after year, but is one of great-est success stories of all time. In spite of everything, he had right attitude to achieve success.

I HOPE THAT YOU DO TOO.