I have learned one really deep truth over my years coaching, running my own business, and supporting other business owners – and it’s that everyone feels scared, overwhelmed and intimidated by their Purpose, or Bigness.

On the outside looking in, most of the time, these purposes, these callings, seem wonderful.  They seen wonderful, like the world is just waiting for this person to step into their Bigness and radiate their life purpose and dreams expressed into reality.

To the person on the inside, having their Alice in Wonderland everything is different now, moment, it feels scary.  Hard.  Overwhelming.

Because for them, this is their own special challenge.  They must walk through the scary forest so they can come out the other side, forged, learned, and shining brightly.

I have a theory that we sign up for a heaping double helping of the life lessons associated with our life purposes.  We have to do EXTRA work around it, because it’s so big and important to us.  It’s our unique challenge and opportunity.   I’m not sure how empirically true that is (how does one even start measuring that? Especially when I also think that your life purpose can evolve as your life does…) but it’s how I’ve explained a lot of my life to myself, and when I share that with my clients they always nod and sigh with recognition.

So why are we talking about this this week?  

Because I want you to know that you are not alone.  You are not the only one that feels overwhelmed by the enormity of their dreams and vision.

You’re not the only person that’s had to explain to friends and family that this thing that you want to do is actually really hard and challenging for you, but you have to try.   You’re not the only one that worries about money, or where this is all going.  You’re not the only one wondering why YOU haven’t had a six-figure launch yet.  Or even a 5 figure one.

But this incredible quote by Thoreau helps me during times of overwhelm or fear, and I think it will be helpful to you too.  To me, the operative word of that quote for me is go.  Move, take action, start something.  You can always adapt as you go, but you must go.

It doesn’t have to be big.  It can be small, it can be a toe dip in the entrepreneurial waters.  But you must do something.  And through that action, you will feel your fears ease, or at least evolve.  You won’t be a victim to the tide of life, casually swept along.

When you’re feeling the overwhelming bigness of your vision, and you’re not sure what to do next, here are my four best ideas to get the wheels moving again. 

Phone a friend.
This does not have to be a business bestie, but those are great too.  This is someone who can clearly remind you WHY you’re doing what you’re doing.    Someone that can help you reconnect to the dream, the why, and who YOU are.  We often loose this part, choosing instead to see only what we’re not, or worse, what everybody else is.   Somebody that can reconnect you with yourself is the best possible person to reach out to in these moments.

Connecting with your community also helps destroy the notion that you are alone.  Because you’re not, and you’re not the only one that feels this way.  Promise.

Do one small thing.
Post on facebook.  Take a photo + share it.  Write one email, and send it.  Action often changes belief and taking the time to cross one small thing off your list can help bring you back to earth walking towards those dreams.

Do nothing.
Sometimes, you need permission to do nothing.  To take a nap.  To think about things tomorrow, just like Scarlett O’Hara.  And besides alienating the love of her life, she turned out fine.  I often find that once I give myself permission to relax and or freak out, I release the emotion and energy I am holding on to, an able to go back to building my empire with a clearer head.  I might still not know what my 5 year plan is, but gosh darn it, I am walking in the direction of my dreams.

Do the math.
I see clients, friends, sometimes myself, in the deepest, most spirally nosedives about money.   They are freaking out because they don’t have enough – but they also don’t know how much they need, or how much they’ve earned that month.  Fear lives in the unknown, and if you don’t know what’s happening with your money, of COURSE you are going to freak out.  So do the math, and then let those numbers guide your work.

So there you have it.  The truth behind entrepreneurship is that it’s scary and uncertain, and yeah, sometimes lonely.  But it doesn’t have to stop us.  We can choose to move confidently in the direction of our dreams without totally knowing what those dreams are, or how it’s all going to work out.  

Which is a gift and an opportunity.

Stay tuned for next week when I share a new thing I’ve been cooking up behind the scenes – it’ll help you with your money blocks in a whole new, incredible way.