Afraid you're not cut out to be an entrepreneur? Read this.

So there was this girl.

More than anything she wanted to escape the soul-sucking 9-5 life that she saw her parents and everyone around her living. And then one day, she got fired.

“This is it! THIS is going to become my rags-to-riches story, where I pull myself up from my lowest low and launch that amazing business and never ever have another J-O-B!”

Except ... it didn’t happen.

Before long she was waiting tables, struggling to pay bills, scrambling to find another 9-5 (ANY 9-5!) ... and that business never got off the ground.

Which made her feel like crap. 

She cried over it, thinking maybe she just wasn’t cut out to be an entrepreneur …. Maybe she’d only ever be a worker bee, taking orders from somebody far less talented and thinking about what might’ve been...

Fast forward a few months, and she’s making more in her business than she ever did in her job. She loves her work, her clients love her ... it’s a total frickin’ love fest.

And here’s what changed...

She stopped trying to do it all on her own and got a COACH that could show her exactly what steps to take in the right order.

Now she no longer thinks it’s about character / savvy / luck / grit / passion etc. etc. etc.

It’s about having the right tools. (And then yes, also about grit and all ... but mostly about the guidance and support.)

If this is anything like you...

...If you’re doubting that you have what it takes

...If you think maybe it’s something to do with YOU

...If you think those people that are ‘doing it’ did it all on their own without outside help

Don’t.

Your dreams CAN happen, and every single one of us totally non-special people that have said goodbye to our jobs is living proof.

Find a coach / mentor / circle of friends that have “done it.” Get that support and get it DONE! Because it’s totally possible. And it’s killing us to see you think that it’s not.

-Jenna

P.S. This is the true story of a client, but it can be your story if you just do one simple thing: schedule a time when we can talk about exactly what you need to do, in what order. (Or message me on Facebook ... it's all good!) ​

Are you willing to pay rent for what you want?

Once there was a man who decided to live life by the motto that “It’s better to be fooled than be suspicious.”

If someone took advantage of his trust, he brushed it off and reasoned that his loss was simply ‘rent.’

Rent on what?

On his ideals, on his faith in human nature. He figured it would cost him more to live life as a suspicious person, cutting himself off from opportunity, than to live openheartedly and pay the occasional cost, i.e. rent, to maintain his convictions.  

Ever since I first encountered him (he’s a character in the E.M. Forster novel Howard’s End, by the way), I’ve been fascinated by his story.

While I’m a big fan of setting boundaries, I’m an even bigger fan of taking risks.

What about you?

… Is there something you’ve been holding back on, because you fear the consequences?

What, exactly, have you got to lose? Will it be as devastating as you might be imagining, or is it merely a rent payment? Maybe what you’re doing is far more costly than a little rent payment now and then.

…Or did you try something in the past, only to get burned?

Maybe you need to stop being so hard on yourself, brush it off as a simple rent payment, and get back to living your life.

As we head into fall, often one of the most productive times of the year, it’s worth thinking about your choices. 

Will you go for it, or hold yourself back?

Here’s to calculated risks,

Jenna

3 techniques for making massive change

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I said that the thing you’re waiting for is waiting for you (to change and make change), and then offered to provide some tips this week for initiating that process? 

What I’m suggesting is no Secret (more about that next week), so I’ll dive right in.

Here are three things you can do now to start the internal change that will both inspire and prepare you for massive external change:

• Shake things up – Get out of your comfort zone, change where you live, take a course in something new, or even just clean and re-arrange your home (really feng shui it up). It can be as drastic or subtle as feels right, but do something you wouldn’t normally do.

• Mind exercises – Journaling, walking and reflecting, and/or working with a coach or therapist are great ways to question your perceptions. IF there were something internal interfering with your progress, what might that thing be?

• Create the environment – Ask yourself to isolate something small that you’re looking forward to if the change you seek comes your way. Choose something that’s doable here and now, and then start doing it. This is SUCH an important practice, because it gets you in the habit of designing and living the life you want NOW, rather than always waiting for what’s around the bend.

Each of these share something important: They don’t have to be huge, monumental changes. You don’t need to quit your job, break up with your beau, or sell your possessions and move to Tahiti (unless you want).

Change begins with just one small thing a day. 

(When I was still in the throes of Corporate America and longed more than anything else to telecommute or freelance, I imagined one day throwing on my flip flops each morning and strolling down to the beach for Cuban coffee. It NEVER occurred to me that I could make that a part of my life routine regardless of whether or not I worked a 9 – 7, just by getting up a little earlier. When that day finally came around and I strolled as planned, I was ecstatic! Yet in retrospect, I think about the years of coffees and morning beach time I let slip by me.)

Prioritize that thing, get used to that thing, make that thing a part of your life, and watch your attitude and energy change.

And as for the other stuff? Will that change, too?                                                                             

Often, yes. (I’ll talk more about those mechanics next week.)

Here’s to being the change now and not later,

Jenna

The thing you’re waiting for is waiting for you

Do you dream of something different, but wonder when it will actually happen? It depends.... 

Usually we see one primary barrier holding us back.

It might be a better job that gives us more free time, a partner that encourages and supports us emotionally, or even a winning lottery ticket that funds our dream.

But the truth is that often, it’s really not about circumstances or a lack of resources. It’s about a lack of resourcefulness (as Tony Robbins famously told Al Gore in front of the crowd at TED).

Or sometimes, we’re expecting divine intervention.

I remember the stage when I felt ready to find a life partner, but it seemed there were none in sight. I lived in Miami Beach, a world-class city for dating but not so great for long-term partnership.

And yet, I did nothing to change my circumstances.

Some suggested I move, but I loved my house, my job and my life. Give all that up for something that wasn’t even certain? No. Change my behavior, expectations, or mindset? No, that wasn’t the problem! And look for love online? Oh hell no!

If it were meant to be, the Universe would bring us together somehow … maybe reaching for the same ripe tomato at the farmers’ market down on Lincoln Road….

(I eventually did meet my husband online. He lived in Korea, so it would’ve been mighty difficult for us to covet the same tomato. Plus he gets super, super bored at farmers’ markets.)

What so many of us don’t realize – what I failed to realize – is that the change we seek is waiting for us. It’s waiting for us to change, and then it’s waiting for us to make change.

I’d argue that change waits for us much longer than we wait for change.

Are you ready to start moving in the right direction? Sometimes it only takes the tiniest shift to change the energy surrounding your circumstances.

Next week I’ll share some ways you can jumpstart the next phase of your life.

Here’s to your dreams,

Jenna

Need out of your comfort zone? Go to India.

This week I'm sharing an older article from my travel-blogging days because it's so on message with last week's post about being stuck in your comfort zone. I not only suggest a way to push yourself outside of said comfort zone (within a controlled setting), but argue that sometimes we have a moral imperative to do so. Enjoy!

(This was authored by me and originally posted by the U.K.-based travel agency FlightCentre.)

I know of a man who traveled through an impoverished country in order to push past his sheltered upbringing. He was so shocked by its hardened reality that he isolated himself for months afterwards. Eventually he returned to society, but it was obvious that he was a changed man.

Chances are you’ve heard of him, too, likely under his stage name, Buddha. And that trying place he visited? Right, that was India . . . .

Sarnath, India, where the Buddha first taught

While I’m not suggesting that a trip to India will compel your isolation under the Bodhi tree, it is an eye-opening experience, and even a life-changing experience. For those of you toying with a trip to the great subcontinent, and especially for those thinking about a short trip to the “Golden Triangle” – the monument-packed region of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur – here is some straight talk about what you need to know before you leave.

Even crossing the street is difficult in India. Note, this is a street, NOT a parking lot!

First and foremost, India is about beauty and reflection. It’s a snap to picture one of its serene interiors, where floating candles and lotus flowers embellish a fountain of water. We’re all familiar with the very unique aesthetic developed originally for emperors which keeps both the body and mind cool and relaxed.

You’ll see many places exactly like the one described . . . at spas and yoga studios around the world. Also in Bollywood movies, Incredible !ndia campaign shots and even in luxury resorts within India (enjoy a cocktail at Jaipur’s Rambagh Palace, one of the Taj group’s chain of luxury hotels, for a taste of how the majarajas must have lived). But that’s about it.

The serene grounds of Rambagh Palace, Jaipur

So let me offer a quick rewrite.

First and foremost, India is about extremes. And nowhere is India more extreme than in its mega-cities (Delhi alone is home to more than 16 million people, well over twice the population of London).

Whereas large cities in other countries are a traveler’s base camp, a place to take advantage of the familiarity brought by globalization before heading into more remote and less worldly areas, Indian cities are overcrowded jumbles where the difficulties of the surrounding areas seem exacerbated: traffic, chaos, noise, heat, filth, poverty and apathy. Unfortunately, these often dehumanizing environments are precisely where to look for some of the world’s most important monuments.

The Red Fort, as a backdrop to Delhi madness

The first time I went to India I concentrated on its kinder, gentler faces, but even brief transit through cities convinced me to seek out the structure and security of a tour if I decided to return to see the Taj Mahal and other top tourist attractions.

So when I stumbled upon this site’s contest to sponsor a blogger’s journey to the Golden Triangle on a G Adventures tour, I didn’t have to think twice. Before I knew it, a date was chosen and my Flight Centre consultant was patiently emailing me every possible flight itinerary (departing from Frankfurt rather than London invalidated some of the great deals offered by the UK-based agency, which matches all published fares out of the UK). In the end AirIndia offered the best option, and I was set.

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll tell you all about the trip and try to clue you in to the bits I wish I had known before I left. It wasn’t always pretty, but it was exciting, and not the kind of experience I’d ever trade. As long as your expectations are realistic, and you’re willing to exercise your patience muscles, and let go of that much-beloved thing called control, and especially if you’re in the hands of trusted guides who help ease the uncertainty . . . well! You’ll be channeling Buddah in no time.

Many people say that India’s not for everyone. I think the opposite. We all share this small planet, and therefore those of us with means, whose decisions affect the most people, should spend at least some time on each of the continents.

India – which is predicted to surpass China’s population within decades, which is one of the world’s most rapidly developing economies, and whose philosophy and customs have molded thought and cultures around the world – most definitely is for everyone.

Getting in your own way? Maybe it’s because…

We all have hopes and dreams, but only a few of us ever take the necessary steps to turn them into reality. Why?

My favorite answer comes from the crystal merchant in Paolo Coelho’s must-read fable, The Alchemist.

The main character, Santiago, a Spanish shepherd in search of a treasure, meets the crystal merchant in Morocco when he’s down and out. The merchant gives him food, a job, and a place to stay, and as they get to know each other better, he reveals his own dream: to travel to Mecca.

(He doesn’t have the time or money to travel to Mecca right now, but someday….)

Soon, an interesting thing happens.

As Santiago works in the merchant’s store, sales start to take off. Before long, the merchant has all the money he needs for his Mecca trip, and could safely leave store operations in the hands of Santiago.

But he doesn’t go.

When Santiago finally asks why, the merchant answers:

"Because it's the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive. That's what helps me face these days that are all the same, these mute crystals on the shelves, and lunch and dinner at that same horrible café. I'm afraid that if my dream is realized, I'll have no reason to go on living." 

In other words, it never really had anything to do with money. And it wasn’t about time.

By keeping his dreams as dreams, he could hold on to the status quo rather than risking the unknown.

The trade-off? He lives an unsatisfactory life that never measures up to his dreams.

Using the lottery ticket example from last week, the crystal merchant’s story is like buying a lottery ticket in the hopes that it will enable you to live an entirely different life, and actually winning(!!!) … but then doing nothing.

So now a question for you: If you’re not currently pursuing your dreams, what do you think is the deeper reason?

(I’d love to hear the answer, and would be so honored if you’d share it with me in the comments below or in our group, The Uncommon Way Community.  No matter how big it seems, voicing it in the open will start undercutting its power.)

The bottom line is this: Defining what you want is the critical first step, but it isn’t enough.

To actually get what you want, you’ve got to decide that you’re really going to go after it. (And that’s what most people never fully do.)

Here’s to allowing yourself to ask for something more,

Jenna

The lottery ticket that changed my life

It was one of my first years living in Spain, and I was receiving almost daily reminders of how people there seemed to think differently than anyone I’d ever known.

• When people asked, “What do you do?” they didn’t mean work.

• It was completely normal to see one or two people get up and start dancing, unfazed by the fact that everyone was watching them.

• And everybody – I mean everybody – played the lottery at Christmastime for the fattest prize of the year (literally called el Gordo).

I went along with it, because, hey, when in Rome… even though I knew it was a waste of money, and my semi-illegal status meant I hardly had two pesetas to my name.

(And that dates me. There was no such thing as the euro.)

I clearly remember buying the tickets in a little shop on a cobblestone street, spending the equivalent of $10, which seemed like such a fortune. Then we went for coffee, and I turned to my partner and asked, “Ok, what will you do if you win?”

He frowned and tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

I explained that the real value of lottery tickets was the fun of fantasizing about all the things you’d do differently if you won. Everybody knew that the odds of actually winning were infinitesimal.

He thought for a second, and then shrugged, “I like my life. If I wanted to be doing something else, I’d be doing it.”

I was floored.

For him, a huge windfall meant just this: You’d have more money.

It wasn’t a way out of that job you hate. It wasn’t your ticket to finally travel overseas. It wasn’t the key to unlocking the life of your dreams.

Because the truth is that you don’t need to win lotto to do any of those things.

It might sound like an exaggeration to say my life changed then and there, but the truth is that sometimes it happens like that.

There was a canyon of difference between the way I saw life, filled with “if onlys,” and the way he saw his, filled with “why nots.”

Ever since, I’ve made it my goal to be able to answer the same way he did if anyone ever asked. (I don’t always succeed, but it helps ground my decisions when I get off track.)

That one question has led me to change industries, end relationships, and say no to opportunities that weren’t really in my best interest.

It also opened new doors. I’ve studied things I otherwise wouldn’t have and committed time and resources to projects even though my plate seemed full. I’ve treated myself to indulgences and traveled to far-off places now, rather than later.

It has kept me focused on what I truly wanted in life, at each point in my life.

And it let me see possibilities around every corner.

And now, let’s talk about you 

Which brings me to an insanely important question:

If YOU won the lottery, what would you do with your life?

In other words, what do you really want?

Take it from a wise Spaniard and the people he has inspired, and live life as if winning the Powerball wouldn’t change a thing.

(Sure, you might make some upgrades, but none of the fundamentals would change.)

You don’t need to be born in a Mediterranean country to adopt a carpe diem attitude.

I was raised in a highly pragmatic, follow-the-rules military culture, so I definitely know the internal struggles of making choices that seem crazy to those around you.

But I also know there’s no fulfillment quite like following your own compass.

That's why I’m really excited to share more over the next weeks about making that shift, so that you can see exactly what I’m talking about.

Here’s to those winning lottery tickets (the kind with spiritual rather than financial payouts),

Jenna

P.S. If you’re stuck because you can’t figure out what you actually want, I’d love to help you get out of limbo. Let’s hop on a call and see if it’s a good fit for us to work together. 

P.P.S. I'd love to know what you think about this. Is it possible to have the life you want, regardless of current resources? Tell us in the comments below.