taking a break from sharing my teacher training experience to answer a GREAT question that i’m sure many of you can relate to. also, after almost 6 hours of back bends and back bending focus today, i’m cooked and need to focus on other things . . . like your questions!

Q: After five years as a copywriter in a stress-saturated advertising firm, I’m yearning to break out and start my own freelance writing business. I even made up a name, had business cards made up, and have started networking with local business organizations. As far as practical considerations go, I’ve saved up plenty of cash, and I can easily be added to my husband’s benefits plan through his employer.

So why can’t I make the leap?????

There’s absolutely no logical reason for me to put up with the commute, the bureaucracy, and the politics of my current job any longer … and yet I can’t take that final step. I had set myself a deadline to give notice, but in the meantime got stuck with a nasty dentist bill (the dentist herself is quite nice; just the bill was nasty!) and so decided to stick around until quarterly bonuses roll around. My thought now is, “Then what?” Will there be one more excuse … and then another …?

Anyway, I know you made a similar “leap” when you started your yoga studio years ago — any words of wisdom or resources you’d like to share?

A: Oh darling, I hear your pain. I, too, know how challenging it is to take such a scary (yet VERY liberating) leap. Our minds will continue to talk us out of doing what our heart wants to do. It’s 100% normal. What isn’t normal (and which is why you hear so many people complaining about their lives and not doing anything about it) is actually taking the leap! That’s why stories about people who have are so inspiring to us.

Let me start with something you already know, “YOU CAN DO IT!” Really, if I can, I feel like anyone can! Anyone can make some portion (if not all) of their dreams a reality. I truly believe that. You’ve already taken some amazing concrete action steps. Good work. Start that business plan. Connect with some local women seeking to also make the leap (or who recently have). Get your website created. Read books and stories about inspiring women who have gone before you. Martha Stewart has a GREAT business book that came out last year. Think about your mission. Read the portion in my book that talks about how creating your own business is like a yoga practice.

Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, claims that we’re more scared of success than failure. Ponder than one. What really is holding you back? Remember, we regret more the things we DON’T do rather than the things we DO do! There is no time like the present to take a leap – grounded in reality and with strategic action steps set up. Do keep us posted.