Since then, with help from my husband investing some money to get me started and my accountant, I have taught myself everything I know. I have expanded and have one main business with several branches underneath. I trade shares online and have several websites with more to come.

It is very exciting sitting down at my lap top computer and checking on my businesses. I love it. Did you notice I said my lap top computer? Yes I have a lap top. A few years ago if someone told me I would be doing this today, I would have laughed and said they have rocks in their head but here I am.

Everyone can get motivated at some stage. It's when things get tough that you need desire and commitment to keep going.

The desire and commitment has to come from within you. Once you have that, you have to have knowledge. That's where self-help-motivation-source comes in.

I give you knowledge to keep your desire and commitment strong. Knowledge is only effective if you know how to use it. I show you how to use that knowledge.

If I can do this, anyone can. I mean anyone! What are you waiting for? Go out and conquer world.

I've heard - and preached - about breaking big projects down into little ones, but principle has never come home to me so clearly as on this trip. When I looked at it as a whole, it was so scary I almost backed down. But once I got out there and did just one task at a time and focused on that task only, it became not only manageable, but almost easy.

Just as important, all that "unnecessary" worrying I'd done before trip actually paid off. Because I'd mentally worked through a dozen different problems beforehand (of course, problems I ended up facing weren't ones I'd worried about), I was more confident about meeting challenges that did arise. And since my ultimate Plan B gave me permission to fail, I had courage to try.

So go ahead. Worry. But don't let it stop you. And give yourself permission to fail. Because only then will you have courage to succeed.

NOTE: You are welcome to use this article online in electronic newsletters and e-zines as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including "about author" info). If use of this article is desired in print, you must first contact Lynn Cutts at Lynn@ManageYourMuse.com.

Copyright 2005 Lynn Cutts