I was sitting in the back yard today relaxing and enjoying the cool morning. There is this perfect time of day when it is warm enough to sit outside, but the sun isn’t too hot or bright yet, so I love enjoying a cup of tea and sitting with my thoughts. Today I was mapping my business plan. Three times a year I revisit the model and make adjustments so I stay on course, or rather “correct course”, as Jack Canfield recommends. As I was looking at the plan I was mapping, I was thinking about what it is going to take for me to personally put myself out there in a bigger way in the next few months and especially in 2008. The backyard is full of beautiful tropical trees and bird of paradise, so our normal visitors are cheerful and chipper hummingbirds. But today I was greeted by the most beautiful Black Phoebe I’ve ever seen in my life.

Believe it or not, this illustration doesn’t even do him justice. He absolutely took my breath away he was so beautiful with a jet black head, slightly pointed crown, jet black wings with slight white stripes at the base of his wings and a pleasantly plump little snow white belly. He turned around several times to allow me to admire him. He studied me as he flittered from one leaf to another on the bird of paradise. He looked young, vibrant, healthy, curious and full of life.

Yoshi, my Shiba Inu, was sleeping peacefully in the sunshine about halfway between me and the Black Phoebe. He tested her a little to see if she would make any sudden moves or be quick to startle. She didn’t move. I was taking in his beauty and silently we studied one another, me smiling at him in appreciation and him taking a long moment to really study me.

Then it happened, he fluttered forward and then back once, then twice, and on the third flutter, he popped down into the fresh green sprouts of grass and back up onto a leaf of the bird of paradise proudly holding a very nice little worm in his beak.

He promptly threw up his head, released the worm mid air, and in one quick move it disappeared right there. He pushed out his chest as he celebrated his victory meal. In appreciation I responded aloud, “Oh, now you had to be BRAVE didn’t you?” He turned around a couple more times for me to admire him and then he flew up and away, stopping on the vines and foliage by the fence and turning one last time to look at me with a long gaze before he left.

I think God, The Universe or Source teaches us all the time if we’re open to it. In that moment, I learned a little (big) lesson of bravery. Living into our dreams means that we often walk right into the middle of our own 3-D dream, but the question is whether or not we have the bravery it takes to step out of our comfort zone (letting go of a previous sense of safety or security) and embrace a new sense of awareness and adventure as we live into the bigger us that we need to be in order to take on the life we’re living into.

What are the top 10 places where we need to stretch in bravery as entrepreneurs?

1. Converting your first one-on-one sale in person.

2. Converting your first online sale and making your first online income.

3. Following a system you’ve learned based on FAITH that it will work, and doing everything you need to do (trial & error) until it actually does work. If it doesn’t, it is time to revisit the drawing board until it does. Persistence and faith are essential elements of bravery.

4. Taking a deep breath and doubling your rates with your clients. Taking another deep breath and tripling them.

5. Mastering new technology or software that will grow your business substantially.

6. Admitting to yourself that what you’re doing right now isn’t working so that you can open yourself to find a path that will work.

7. Completing your first information product (creation, edits, formatting, graphics, order fulfillment, sales page, thank you page and customer follow-up). A lot goes into taking a dream from initial idea or concept to completion. Of course, when it is all said and done, it is very rewarding.

8. Marketing yourself and learning the art of shameless self-promotion.

9. Releasing control and hiring a virtual team while learning the art of delegation.

10. Feeling worthy to step into your greatness personally, professionally and financially.

The good news is that with perseverance and moments of bravery, you can do all of the above. Coaching is one method to overcome self-imposed hurdles faster and a good coach can really help to catapult your success. Sometimes is really helps to have someone who believes in you a little more than you believe in yourself and helps you stretch into the you that you both know you are becoming.

We’ve all known that the early bird gets the worm. However, we sometimes need to be reminded that the bird who tests the environment, assesses the calculated risks, decides to move forward and takes a deep breath in faith, perseverance and BRAVERY gets the worm, too.

Be Brave & Live Into It… :)CC

Christine N. Cibula, M.S.
The Live Into It Coach
www.LiveIntoIt.com