I can’t go back to who I was because I am a different person now. Lewis Carroll. 

There comes a point for many of us when events or circumstances give us pause. Intuitively, we sense that it is time to rethink what we’re doing; more importantly why.

We find ourselves at a pivotable point when we can feel a hand on our shoulder and we hear ourselves asking, “Have I got my life right? Could there be more?”

Have you ever been in that situation? I have. I know how challenging that can be.

I mean, here you are, doing all the right things, playing by the rules, but there is a void in your life, a feeling that something is missing. It’s kind of like getting up from the table, after a delicious meal, but still feeling hungry. All you know for sure is that you want more, without even knowing what that more is.

You are not who you were when you first started out. None of us are.

Subject to the shifting currents, as we make our way through life, we all pass through a number of phases. It is part of the continual growing and learning process. Sometimes it can be a terrifying time because it portends change, and change is always difficult. But there it is. Staring you in the face.

Not changing, staying longer than necessary is not a good thing. If you  insist on staying past what is the right time you can become dispirited, uninteresting and lose the happiness and meaning of the other stages you have to go through.

Shutting the door behind you, closing cycles, ending chapters – whatever name you give it – is to leave in the past those moments of life that have finished, whatever they are and make the choice to move on.

When one door closes… another opens.

Things pass and the best you can do is let them really go. Sometimes it is hard, but you can’t write a new chapter in your life until the old one is ended.

That’s how life goes…

Want to step up your game or perhaps explore starting a new one? Let’s chat. I’m easily reachable at drew@drewsimmie.com or call direct 416.450.8867. Follow me on Twitter.

To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself. Soren Kierkegaard.

Whatever your dream or regardless of how long you have been working on it, victory always comes down to doing the hard work and not succumbing to fear:

Fear of failure, of being ashamed, of looking foolish, of being left out, of being embarrassed, of running out of money, of being alone, of dying. Fear is a dream destroyer.

The life of a warrior is never easy. There may be times when you feel you need to take a break from yourself and maybe even stop for awhile. That’s OK, but what isn’t OK, what you must never do, is give up on the dream.

Always remember that just over the horizon, on the other side of fear, lies victory.

Want to step up your game or perhaps explore starting a new one? Let’s chat. I’m easily reachable at drew@drewsimmie.com or call direct 416.450.8867. Follow me on Twitter.

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see. H.D. Thoreau.

Resilience isn’t just one thing or another. It’s about the sum of a number of skills and coping mechanisms that see you through difficult times, including:

Perseverance. Like the old Japanese proverb: Fall down seven times, get up eight.It’s about not quitting when things get tough.

Optimism. Knowing things will work out  even when the storm clouds are roiling around you.

Gratitude. Being grateful for what you have and appreciating the people in your life who have your back and lend support.

Confidence. Knowing you can handle the hard times even when you are in the middle of them. Self-assurance in your abilities to cope means that ultimately you will cope.

Flexibility. Being able to stand back and look at the situation from a different viewpoint and to bend without breaking.

The components of resilience, bundled together are the difference between coping and getting stuck. Put another way, old-school resilience may be best described as having the ability to deal with and bounce back from hard times.

And along the way, learn some more hard lessons from the experience and become stronger in the process.

Now that you’re here! If you have been consciously sorting out some stuff in your life and want to improve your performance, you won’t want to miss my seminar, March 27. Read Step Into Life. I hope to see you there.

Do what you can with what you have where you are. Theodore Roosevelt.

The story goes about the farmer in Africa who had heard tales about many who made their fortunes by prospecting for diamonds. Rumours abounded about the number of people staggering under the weight of the bags.

So the farmer, tired of tilling his sandy, stone strewn land for so many years, dissatisfied with the meagre results, decided one day to join them. He sold off his unproductive farm and set out prospecting, seeking his fortune.

Meanwhile, the man who had bought his farm, as he walked his property one day, tripped over a small piece of rock. He didn’t know what it was but it looked interesting so he took it home and put it up on his fireplace mantel. A curiosity piece.

Some months later, a friend of his came to visit. He spied the rock on the mantel.

“Do you know what this is,” he asked?

“No, I don’t replied the farmer. “I just saw it lying on the ground and liked it so I brought it home and put it up on the mantel.”

“Well,” responded his guest. “It’s not just a little piece of rock. It’s a diamond, in the rough.”

The idea to this story, of course, is that each of us, dissatisfied with our work, occasionally can find ourselves in the middle of our own field of diamonds, searching for greater opportunities further afield.

If only we would have the patience and the wisdom to intelligently and effectively explore the work in which we are engaged, to further explore ourselves, we would most likely find the riches we are seeking, be they financial or intangible.

The far away fields that appear greener might just be getting better attention than ours.

Hmmm….

Now that you’re here! If you are in your own rocky field and would like to know how to spot the diamonds, you won’t want to miss my seminar, March 27. Read Step Into Life. I hope to see you there.

To all the wonderful women in my life,  a poem…

Now you understand

Just why my head’s not bowed.

I don’t shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud.

When you see me passing

It out to make you proud.

I say,

It’s in the click of my heels,

The bend of my hair,

The palm of my hand,

The need of my care,

‘Cause I’m a woman

Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,

That’s me.

Written by the indomitable Maya Angelou.