Audacity – a noun meaning boldness, courage or chutspah.

Try as we might, we cannot hold back change. It is fruitless to try. As innovation and technology continue unabated, many companies and whole industries are faltering and slowly losing traction – unable or unwilling to adapt or change to the new realities.

It applies to individuals, too. There is no escaping. If you want to grow, as difficult and scary as it is – and it is very scary – you must break out of your comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and unknown.

Sometimes you have to have the audacity to do something you have never done before.

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Try this exercise. Think of the last great idea you had and once you have identified it, think about where you were and what you were doing when the creative sparks started flying.

Maybe you were in the shower, or driving on the highway. Maybe you were with your kids at the arena.

Where you probably weren’t was at work. That’s because work is generally a place that rewards highly logical, analytical, left brain thinking. And more often than not, your work place is probably highly stressful. Environments like these are the last place great ideas flow.

It’s when you remove yourself from your work environment that you are free to let your imagination go, to allow your creative side and your intuition the space and room to do their magic – and where you do your best thinking.

We operate in two contrasting modes – open or closed.

The open mode is relaxed, more receptive receptive, more democratic in nature. The closed mode is tighter, hierarchical and less forgiving.

To be open to the unexpected requires a sense of personal security, being up for adventure and the courage to be wrong.

When you have an open mind, there will always be new possibilities and as yet uncrossed frontiers that lead inevitably to the future – but they can only be spotted if you are willing to expect the unexpected.

On a scale of one to ten, how open would you rate yourself?

In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock. Thomas Jefferson.(Attributed).

Living isn’t without its struggles and challenges. There are occasions when just getting through the day is an accomplishment.

Making things happen, getting it done, whatever you have your eye on, takes patience, belief in yourself and your work. It takes knowing that what you are doing makes a difference. It takes the ability to continually keep learning, constantly improving your product and service.

It takes tons of hard work and sacrifice, focusing on the longer run rather than on the immediate quarter. It takes humility and the willingness to be vulnerable.

Oh, did I mention old fashioned staying power?

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If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway. Mother Teresa.

It doesn’t matter what others may think or if anyone else cares.

What matters is that you care.