Have you ever seen a butterfly work its way out of a cocoon?

Or a baby chick peck its way out of an egg?

It’s painful to watch, especially if you feel you should be doing something to help it.

If you “help” it out of the cocoon, it will die.

It’s a process that each butterfly must go through in order to thrive. It is the process of getting out of the cocoon that builds the strength they will need to fly.

I’ve been feeling that way lately.

I’m one of those people that usually move at a pretty fast clip. No time to waste. For instance, as much as I love the benefits of yoga, I struggle with the idea that I should be doing something more….productive.

I’ve been “white knuckling” it for quite some time now, holding on for dear life and moving as fast as possible toward something I thought I wanted. The harder I tried to figure out the answers, the more elusive they became.

For January, I gave myself the gift of backing away from that crazy ride and creating some mental and physical space. I’ve been cleaning out old files, my closet, the attic, my office. Allowing myself to do things I would normally think are unproductive in order to let some light in.

And it’s working.

So I’m trusting this process of cocooning, of knowing that I am not “doing nothing” but am shifting, morphing, and building the strength I will need to thrive.

How do you create mental space so ideas can percolate in the background?

- Ann

If you are ever to be truly fulfilled in your work, it must include a fierce examination of your “why” – the reason why you do what you do.

Naturally, I’ve read a lot about it, I’ve coached clients through it, and I’ve marveled at how passionate people become in pursuing their goals once they embrace the real reason why they work so hard. Knowing that specific reason, in the long run, can determine your fate.

It’s never about “having more stuff.”

It’s quite often about freedom.

It’s almost always about something that touches the heart.

For me, my why is about “being there.” The reason why I do what I do – why I  work as hard as I work – is because I never want to make heart decisions based on money. Or more specifically, the lack of it.

These past five days, I’ve been dancing face to face with my “why.”

Eleven days ago, I left on a ski trip with my family. A day before we were scheduled to head home, I received a call that stopped me dead in my tracks. You know the kind, the ones that usually come at two in the morning and cause you to suck in your breath as if it were your last. The kind that bring your priorities into such crystalized focus you wonder how you ever could have put so much energy into the paint color of your walls or why your green tea only had two pumps of sugar instead of three.

Within three hours I was sitting in the only available seat on the last redeye flight out of the nearest airport, on my way to eighty-degree weather wearing fleece pants and snow boots.

A four-hour layover.

A quick rental car.

A mad dash to the hospital I don’t actually remember.

Hours alone outside the operating room, wearing a wedding ring I’ve never seen off its owner’s finger.

The realization that a series of miracles conspired to create a successful outcome.

Extraordinary gratitude that only comes from body-shaking sobs of relief.

When I left to go skiing I never thought I’d end up on the other side of the country. Life comes at you fast. It’s the moments that turn my life upside down – the ones I never expect but always embrace – that solidify my why…

…I want to be there for the people I love.

I never, ever want to tell someone I love, “I’m sorry, I can’t be there for you because I can’t afford it.”

The flight is too expensive. I can’t afford a rental car. The only seat left is in first class. I can’t stay and take care of you because I have to go back to my job. I only have enough to buy groceries. I’ll have to postpone my visit. I can’t afford to send you to that camp. You’ll have to wait until next year. I love you but my hands are tied. I just can’t help you.

I want to be there for the people I love.
I want to say, ” yes.”
And that is my “why.”

Take a moment to tell me your why in the comments section below – I’d love to know what (really!) drives you to succeed.

Choose success!
- Ann

There are days that seem daunting and circumstances that seem overwhelming. No matter who you are or the conditions of your life, even if it looks easy to others, you will have days when you feel like giving up.

The best strategy I know for overcoming what life throws at you is to be grateful. Even in the most difficult, painful, scary, lonely, unfair, or heart wrenching circumstances, gratitude will help you make sense of it all.

What I’ve found as I’ve worked with enormously successful people is that they too have miserable days but it is how they respond to them that makes them champions. They spend a great deal of time in gratitude – it becomes one of their daily expressions.

But how can you be grateful when your mother is dying, or your husband just lost his job, or your kid just failed his sophomore year, or you just totaled your car, or the IRS says you owe back taxes, or you just found out you have cancer?

Well, you start small.

God always brings something good out of something bad. Always. But very often we can’t see it when we’re going through it. Being grateful for what’s good in your life at the time will get you to the place were it will all make sense.

To be grateful in difficult times, you must purposely look for the positive in everything that happens. You do that by asking yourself these three questions:

What is good about this situation?
What good could come out of it?
What am I supposed to be learning from this?

The answers may come slowly at first or may seem trivial or meaningless, but the important thing is to keep asking the questions – over and over until the answers become apparent and guide you each day. They will get you through the rough parts and continuously point you in a forward direction.

Consider your most challenging situation right now. Write down each of the three questions and spend at least five minutes answering each one. Don’t stop with the first answer that comes to mind (it’s often sarcastic and defensive). Dig deeper until you can honestly see how this situation can bring something good out of chaos.

Choose your best life!
- Ann

O.K. so here’s the thing. The past two weeks over the Christmas holidays I have been a complete and total sloth. I ate lots of desserts and even some fast food (actually, I fell in love with ChickFilA sauce).

I sat around a lot and I  slept too much.

And I didn’t work out, not even once.

Monday came and I was “too cold” to put on my workout clothes so I threw on a pair of sweats, and found myself still in them at 4 pm that afternoon.

Tuesday came and it took until 1 pm to actually get to the gym. The problem? I kept thinking I had to do my whole workout routine. What I finally realized is that when you have gotten out of the habit of doing something, it might just be too daunting to think of starting up again, if you have to do it at the same level you were at when you left.

For others that may work but for me? No way.

So I dipped my toe in. I went to the gym (woo hoo!). That alone was an accomplishment.

I just did the elliptical for 20 minutes (warm up, 4 30-second sprints, warm down). That’s it. I listened to fun music, thought about my business, and felt great when I was through. Just doing that will get me back in the swing again. And I predict that I’ll continue to go to the gym this week and won’t be able to not work the rest of my routine into the mix.

That big, daunting goal or task in front of you can be chunked down. Dip your toe in today, just to “warm up.” See what happens. I suspect you’ll delight yourself

- Ann

I do not want to not work. Lots of people spend their entire life working a job they dislike, praying for the weekend to arrive earlier, so they can race home and enjoy their “real” life. They cannot wait to retire so they can do….nothing.

Most of these people spend their work days solving problems…and they are good at it. It keeps them busy, fills up their day, and gives them a sense of accomplishment. But problem solving is draining and exhausting. They spend their energy trying to make something go away.

Creators build something out of nothing.

Who are the creators in our society? Artists, writers, inventors, and….entrepreneurs. How often do you hear of one of them “retiring?” Hardly ever. Many of them work right up until their death. Some of them even did their best work well into their eighties and nineties. They don’t retire because they do not need to – they are not exhausted. Creating things is energizing.

I spent twenty years earning a paycheck and, believe me, I loved it when payday rolled around. I am eternally grateful for that experience as it taught me how to work hard, how to be a follower and leader, how to learn, and what type of leader I wanted to be.

But it was creating, and creating something for myself and my family, that taught me how to push myself beyond my limits.

Regardless of what you do for a living, create something. Dwell in creativity. Bring something into existence that wasn’t here before. You’ll feel a spark and that spark might just ignite the fire you’ve been looking for.

Be bold!
- Ann

Ever been in a rut? Either with work or chores or your family or even your hobby? Oh my, but I was in a BIG rut!

For the past two weeks I have been working out at odd times of the day, and it’s felt good. Well, odd compared to my normal “routine.” I usually do my workout in the morning. I love the idea of being completely showered and ready to take on the day right from the start.

But lately I’d found my self resisting…strongly!

Even with my clothes laid out in the bathroom the night before, my iPod all charged up, and no reason in the world not to go, I was talking myself out of my morning workout.

But I didn’t not work out. I just didn’t do it at the time I normally do it.

I was going later in the day, sometimes in the evening. I had “changed up” my routine and it seemed to be working for me.

There is a sense of freedom in changing up your routine every now and then. As long as you still accomplish your goals and don’t let yourself off the hook, a change in your routine can even bring greater success.

No more rut.

Where in your business or daily routine are you stuck in a rut? What simple change to the time of day could you make for certain tasks? Maybe you just need to change the location. Or just rearrange the furniture a bit and see things from a different perspective.

What’s the best time to work out? When you’ll do it.

What’s the best time and place to make calls? When and where you’ll do it.

What are the best days to meet with clients? The days you’ll actually do it.

Change your routine, not your goals, and get out of that rut!

- Ann Vertel

You were not created to just survive or endure or get through or simply manage your life. You are meant for something much greater.

You already have everything you need to be enormously successful. The only thing that holds you back is…you. Not your husband or your friends or your location or your kids or your job.

Just you.

A year from now, you could be driving the same car, working the same job, making the same money, living in the same house and nothing has changed.

Or you can take action…right now.
Pick up the phone, book an appointment, call your customers, talk to strangers. Which is truly more frightening – today’s action or next year’s vision of “more of the same?”

So you get to choose.
Will you choose what you want now?
Or what you want most?

But…
the kids’ have soccer practice
company is coming
I just had a baby, got married, moved
the baby is fussy
the tires need to be rotated
I need a better computer
I have a dental appointment
my back hurts
the kids need me
my husband doesn’t approve
the library books are overdue
my office needs to be organized
I have to plan my son’s birthday party
swim lessons start next week
I don’t have enough time, money, energy

There will always be a reason not to work your business.

Work it anyway.

You can choose to give power to your circumstances or you can choose to be successful in spite of them. The choice is truly yours.
Choose well.

Now go have a POWERFUL day!
- Ann Vertel