You’re too old. This isn’t working. You’re a laughingstock.

Looking at me now, you might think I’ve always had a successful coaching/consulting business.

[If you’re experiencing deja vu, there’s a reason. I mentioned this before but given that we are about to embark into a new year with new goals, it bears repeating].

This was me just 3.5 years ago. Not because my brain was being extra harsh but because:

• I wasn’t making the money I had expected (not even close).

• I didn’t like the type of coaching I was doing (back then, I was a generic career coach).

• I was struggling at online marketing.

There was a much bigger learning curve to owning my own coaching/consulting practice than I’d imagined. In all honesty, I was failing.

The one thing I had going for me?

I was willing.

Willing to try new things.

Willing to be wrong.

Willing to make mistakes.

Willing to fail.

Willing to look like an idiot.

During that time period, my husband asked if I would consider going back to my old law firm.

Despite his (obvious) worry over the then-current state of my business (and our finances as a result), I never even considered going back.

Instead, I hired an online sales and marketing coach.

Since then, I’ve exceeded my goals while serving the people I feel most aligned to. I even got quite good at online marketing (to the point where I can help lawyers get good at it, too).

Success is never guaranteed yet anyone can achieve success. Because true success is when you fulfill your fullest potential. And that is doable because it’s a choice.

Maybe you won’t achieve every single goal you set. Perhaps you won’t achieve some goals within the timeframe you’d like.

Yet that won’t matter because you’ll have achieved much.

But only if you’re willing.

As we head into the new year, ask yourself this question:

Am I willing…

…To be vulnerable?

…To do the hard work?

…To make mistakes (maybe even fail at things)?

My hope is that you are.

XO,

Heather

P.S. Today’s Life & Law Podcast is pretty much this message - spoken instead of written. If you want to hear me say it, go here.