5 years. That's how long I waited to start my business from the point that I decided I wanted to. I had thought about it even before then. But when I decided that I wanted to start my business, I met with a CPA. And it wasn't until 5 years later that I officially registered my LLC and started taking action. So what happened in those 5 years? And why did it take me so long. I had a plan b and I felt more confident, secure, and clear with my plan b than I did with the direction I really wanted to go in. I wish I could say that I eventually chose to pursue my dreams over the safety and security of my plan b.

But that's not exactly how it happened for me. Instead, I dreamed and researched and planned to start a business for 5 years until one day the marketing agency I worked for had another round of layoffs. And this time, I didn't make the cut. That plan B that felt so secure before, all of a sudden felt anything but secure. And I decided right then to go all in on my dreams and to bet on myself. This is a decision that I make over and over again in my business. It's not just about starting your business, making a decision To let go of a plan b is about all the ways that you're choosing to make and hold onto plans in whatever stage of business that you're in right now that are anything but what you actually want. So what are the plan b's that you have in your business right now? Holding on to 1 to 1 clients, instead of going all in on that group program that you want, keeping an underperformer on your team because it feels easier than starting the hiring process over again, taking every sales call yourself because that's easier than learning a new scalable way to sell, or because you're afraid that the conversion rate will drop if you pass sales onto another team member.

Maybe continuing to offer services that bring in consistent revenue, but drain your time and energy. Settling for anything less than what you really want for any reason. Those are the kinds of plan Bs that you might have. And if you have a business full of plan Bs, then it's time to let them go and go all in on what you really want. I know you think you can hold on to your backup plan while you start working towards what you really want, but How is that working for you? If you're anything like I was, your backup plan is what's holding you back. I let mine hold me back for 5 years. Imagine the cost of waiting that long. Imagine what your backup plans are costing you.

If you're ready to let go of your backup plans, Here are 3 lessons you need to learn. I learned these the hard way and I'm sharing them so that hopefully you won't have to. Commitment before confidence. That's the 1st lesson that I want you to learn. Confidence doesn't come first, Commitment does. Relying on confidence instead of commitment looks like either waiting to take action until you feel confident or taking action, but then second guessing yourself and starting over. By the way, go listen to episode 84, If This Is You. Confidence isn't required to go after your dreams.

All you need to do is make a decision and stick with it. No backup plan, No allowing yourself to second guess, no indulging in confusion. Think about it, are you really making a decision If you keep allowing yourself to change the decision, I want you to see it through. Don't give up. Don't change direction as a first sign of difficulty or discomfort. Make a commitment to yourself and keep it. The 2nd lesson is faith over fear. Stepping toward your future will often feel like a step away from security, comfort, and certainty, and that's okay.

This is where you have the option to make decisions from a place of either fear or faith. If you wanna wake up call, go make a list of every recent decision that you've made. Get a nice long list down on paper and then reflect on each decision and note whether you made your decision based on fear or faith. You might be surprised by how many decisions are driven by fear, fear of judgment and what other people will think, Fear of failure, fear of inadequacy, fear of the unknown. Notice how many decisions were actually you playing it safe or settling for less. Plan B often comes from a place of fear that plan a won't be Successful. Think about it. Why would you even need a plan b if you believed your success with plan a were inevitable? So what decisions would you have made if you embrace uncertainty and discomfort and believe that everything would work out? And what decisions do you need to make next? I want you to think about how you would make that decision if you made that decision based on faith.

The 3rd lesson is think big, but start small. You don't have to understand everything to fully commit to plan a. Some of you have big ideas and dreams, but you can't see every step clearly, so you're waiting to get start it and settling for plan B in the meantime until plan A becomes crystal clear. But the thing is that day never comes because Clarity comes through action. And if you're not taking action, then you're not going to create that clarity. Think about it. Are you closer to your goal if you take action and fell short term, or if you choose to fail ahead of time by not taking any action at all. You will either succeed or Learn a lesson that will help you succeed in the future if you take action.

So start taking action now. All it takes is 1 small step at a time. So it's time for you to get rid of plan b. It's time for you to go all in on what you really want. Make a commitment instead of waiting for confidence. Make decisions from faith, not fear. Think big, but start small because clarity comes through action.