Monday, June 11, 2007

The Success Principles ~ Principle #14


You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.
Martin Luther King Jr.

Jack Canfield's Success Principle #14 is "Just Lean Into It." It's no wonder that this one follows on the heels of taking action. Leaning into it is when you just start. You get into action with no promise or guarantee of success. You might not even have a sense of the outcome. Just move towards what feels right to you. Discover what it feels like. And when you do, you get a sense of whether you want to keep going.

When I started to become a coach, it was just like this. I knew that I wanted to work for myself. I knew I wanted to do work that was meaningful to me and that used my best skills. But I had no idea what that might be. I started coming up with millions of ideas. Every week I'd send out new ideas to my 'dream team' and ask them, "Which do you think would be the most successful? Which do you see me enjoying the most?" I had ideas from running a social activity group to having a newspaper reading service to being a clown for kids in the hospital (the latter my husband thought was the craziest but they actually have that now! See here.)

Suddenly I stumbled across coaching. It piqued my curiosity. It sounded like it could be a good fit. I signed up for the first course. And from that point I promised myself that as long as the next step felt right, I would take it. Here I am 4 years later a certified professional coach. As I'm preparing to take my practice to the next level by starting to offer workshops and programs, I can feel that I'm being called to lean again. It's time to stretch and grow. Time to put an idea into action and see what happens.

Another powerful point Canfield makes in this chapter is that it's this movement that allows you to be guided towards your true path. Obstacles may appear, but sometimes moving around them sends you where you actually are meant to go. "Even when you can't move forward, you can turn right or you can turn left, but you have to keep moving."

This makes sense to me. When I'm moving in a general direction, the Universe just has to send a little breeze, a little tap, to guide my movement. But if I'm sitting on my bum, imagine how much more force it would take to get me to sit up and get moving. Also, why should the Universe make that big effort? I haven't given her any indication I want to play. But when I'm up and moving, even if I'm completely lost, I have said I'm ready to move.

What are you going to lean into this week?

9 comments:

Suzie Ridler said...

Great article Jamie! I'm so glad you found coaching, it's a perfect fit for you, absolutely.

I'm going to lean into my jewellery-making but don't really need to, it's kind of taking off on its own. I guess I gotta lean into finding time to do it!

Jessie said...

jamie, i am so glad that you are reading this book...but, even more, i am glad that you are sharing it in this way. reading your success principle posts feels like my weekly dose of goodness. every time i read what you have to say about this book, i walk away feeling nourished.

thank you for that, jamie. thank you for taking the time and energy to share these insights. i appreciate it! :)

lots of love,
j.

Anonymous said...

jamie, i found you through jessie's site and you have no idea how much i needed to read this today. the universe works in mysterious ways, i suppose...thank you!

Anonymous said...

good, radiant wisdom.

Danielle
(carrieanddanielle.com)

Vedrana M. said...

i love this post, thank you :)

Anonymous said...

I am going to lean into learning,accepting, and belief.

Even though it scares the shit out of me and I have no idea where the next step is or what it is.

Great post Jamie, I love that you blog through books. It's fabulous.

You celebrating Summer Solstice this Summer? Want to do something together maybe at some point?

Shannon said...

I like this leaning idea! Especially because although I thought I would I didn't actually DO IT! last week. Let's see what this week brings.

I remember the clown idea vividly. Who knew? I guess you knew!

Michelle (a.k.a. la vie en rose) said...

thanks for sharing these encouraging words!

Jennifer Hicks said...

courses and workshops?!?! I am so ready to see you do this. Move on girl, move on!

loving tickles to your toes,

Jenn