Oh, ok!

So this morning on my 11am wakeup call, I heard the most profound phrase in the universe.

"Oh, ok"

This was in reference to the two types of people in this world: the "DO-ers" and the "Getting ready to DO-ers." I used to be the latter. When I started my business some embarrassing amount of time ago, first things first-I headed to Walmart! Why? Well to outfit my new home office of course! New desk, new fancy phones, corkboards, thumbtacks, notebooks, the works. I was in a place in my life where I thought I had to get ready to take action. You know, prepare endlessly for the things I was about to do. Well as it turns out, that got me a whole lot of nothing. What I had accomplished was redecorating my office, not running a business.

Ok, so how do you get from one category to the other? I mean, let's face it-knowledge is not power. Just knowing something doesn't make you powerful. ACTING on knowledge does, however. So we agree that the power comes from the action, the DOing, yes?

Well, my personal favorite way to jump the categorical ladder so to speak is to put your back against the wall. Now I know that sounds extreme, but anyone who knows me personally will agree that what I lack in self motivation can certainly be replaced by errr...."circumstantial motivation." Yes, that's what we'll call it. I have been circumstantially motivating myself to do all kinds of things as it turns out. Hindsight is amazing, isn't it? It's like when your boyfriend breaks up with you, and you think your life is ending....only to meet your future husband a few weeks or months later. Or, when you don't get that second interview, but a better job comes along. 

What I didn't understand even 5 years ago, was that I am at cause for everything in my life. Ok, say it with me: I AM AT CAUSE FOR EVERYTHING IN MY LIFE. That feels good now, doesn't it? Empowering?

Well if you agree that you are at cause for everything in your life, then you must agree that circumstantial motivation and self motivation are the same thing. Luck and coincidence-bad or good- do not exist actually. It is my action or inaction creating things in my life. Whether they are the things I want or not, depend solely on which ladder I'm on. 

I spent a lot of years on the "Getting ready" ladder. Without knowing it, I had been creating things in my life that were not ideal because I was not willing to take the action to change it. The dreaded comfort zone-you know what I'm talking about. Then I started learning about the kind of power I actually had. With focus, goals, and action, I could create exactly what I wanted in my life. This stuff was amazing! So amazing in fact, that when your mind and heart are set on a specific goal, even if you are scared to take action, you might create a circumstance to motivate you. 

Case in point: My heart was so set on working from home and leaving the traditional workforce, that I actually got myself laid off from my job. If you believe that was a coincidence, I can assure you it was not. I knew what I wanted but felt conflicted in my path to getting there. With everyone around me following a traditional career path, how would it look to give up mine? Would my friends judge me for making this "crazy" move? I would have never left my job! I didn't want to be viewed as irresponsible, after all. That is circumstantial motivation at its best, and I absolutely made that happen. Now with my back against the wall, I am doing exactly what I wanted all along, taking action everyday, and loving it. Here is my advice: don't wait until you want something so badly that you create it out of circumstances. That takes time. It took me about 5 years that way. There is absolutely no reason you are not getting what you want RIGHT NOW except that you are too scared to take action.

I wouldn't say I jumped the ladder, but rather I pushed myself off one and onto the other. I already had a vehicle that could bring me financial freedom, I just wasn't taking action. Now I had no choice, having pushed myself off my safe ladder, but to start DOing. I started plugging in to my community. These are people who are getting the results in their lives that I want. When they told me to take action, I didn't go to Walmart to redecorate my office. 

I said "Oh, ok."