Category Archives: Personal Excellence

What To Do When Fear Of Failure Risks Your Next Success

Posted on by

photo-73It’s not that you can’t. (You can!)

It’s not that you’re not willing. (You are!)

It’s not that you don’t want to. (You do!)

It’s not that you don’t know what to do or who to ask for help. (You know!)

It’s not that you’re lost. (You’re here!)

It’s not any of that…

So what is it?

What’s stopping you from taking that one next step?

What’s stopping you from moving forward to create your next success?

What’s stopping you from achieving that one dream that still keeps you awake in giddy excitement at even the thought of it? 

That one thing you would do… if only you could… if only you were willing… if only you really wanted to… if only you knew what to do… if only you could find your way there…

OK, just breathe for a minute and trust me on this one.

I feel your angst. I know your pain. I hold my breath at the thought of wanting to get there so bad you feel like you will explode – or implode – if you don’t.

I know the feeling when all you can produce are tears.

I’ve been where you are.

This morning I was there. 

And then I remembered the one thing I forgot to do. 

Trust me enough to hear me out… I’ve got your back on this one.

Instead of fighting forward, it’s time to step back.

To the beginning.

And before you can step back you need to

STOP.

STOP being afraid.

STOP being so certain that you will fail. Or that you’ll fail again.

STOP being so certain that you don’t already have everything you need to get there.

STOP being so certain about everything you are so certain about.

Where from here? Ready? Here it is.

You simply missed the very first step.

Start here:

SELECT YOURSELF FOR SUCCESS.

That’s it. THE KEY TO THE END IS HOW YOU BEGIN.

Name your Success. Claim it. Own it.

Get Going. Keep Going. Even if baby steps are all you can move forward on right now. Know, trust and believe YOU will succeed… and that it won’t be perfect… and that it will be tough and it will be exhilarating and just plain FUN to be on your way there.

Keep Going even when others insist you will fail.

You’re not doing this to please them anyway, are you?

Keep Going even when YOU insist you will fail.

Not everyone is going to buy in to what you’re doing… because what you’re doing is not going to be for everyone. It’s for the people you’re creating it for. And that’s enough.

And if you think for a moment that you don’t already have everything you need to succeed, scroll back and read the first 5 lines again.

So there you go. Watch you soar…

Send a postcard from the stratosphere of your renewed Confidence in you!

You had it in you all along!

You simply forgot to start at the beginning.

The place to start your next Success is right where you are:

Do One BOLD Thing.

SELECT YOURSELF FOR SUCCESS.

OWN YOUR SUCCESS WITH CONFIDENCE.

It’s Up To YOU!

_______________________________________________________________________

© 1993-2017  Ann Ulrich Inc.   AnnUlrich.com

PHOTO:  Last Sunday at our cabin, I had no idea my phone camera would capture the stunning essence of the moment: sparkling water and rippling sky in effervescent shades of blue. And in that moment I realized how grateful I am to choose to live my life without dreading blues on Sundays. Ah, the gifts we gift ourselves.

3 Ways Your Quiet Confidence Inspires Contagious Excellence

Posted on by

photo-24Your quiet confidence and quiet leadership can be BOLDest of all. 

I was blown away the first time a smart professional told me she didn’t think of herself as a leader because she was not charismatic and not extroverted. She felt those were pre-requisites for being a great leader. Or in fact, for leading at all.

Ah, I smiled. Our conversation ended with a smile on her face too, as she saw for the first time how her inner strength, her quiet confidence *can be BOLDest of all*.  

Since that conversation years ago, when speaking or leading inspired team retreats I often include a segment I created on Valuing Others’ Expressions Of BOLDness.

In reflecting inward, and ultimately broadening our peripheral view to others, we begin to see the beauty in how we each bring BOLD differently… positively impacting our own success, as we create more success (and have more fun!)… individually and together.

3 Ways Your Quiet Confidence & Leadership Can Be BOLDest Of All, Inspiring Contagious Excellence! 

1.  When you step back to shine the spotlight on others, you inspire others forward. 

Be sure you don’t step so far back as to slip under the radar or become invisible. We need to see you. In shifting the spotlight, you’re offering others the opportunity to get known for – and remember by – their positive impact. Inspired by You. You’ve just magnified the impact of your positive leadership by inspiring another to lead, and in turn, inspiring the leader in others they lead…

2.  When you listen closely as you typically and beautifully do, people know you care.

When people know you care about them, they begin to trust that you also care about what matters to them. Imagine the possibilities! Your quiet confidence in listening to others – with genuine interest – can shift the frustration, malaise or disengagement in your team by inspiring them to start tuning in to each other, creating contagious excellence – and new success – as you build a team of people who actually care. About each other as team, customers, clients, community… translating beyond work to home, families, friends…

3.  When you speak, people want to hear what you have to say.

Your quiet confidence is shared in less words. Your select messages inspire what’s needed in this situation, meeting or conversation. The example you set can inspire and build a team of people willing to share their point of view, encouraging others to share theirs, too. Allowing people the opportunity to courageously build new confidence as they practice, develop and share their own points of view… whether quiet or not so quiet… is a gift that lasts a lifetime, contagiously rippling waves of excellence as new success. 

Do you consider yourself a Quiet leader?

Do you bring your BOLD by leading Quietly?

Here’s an important last (or first?!) step for you:

Do One BOLD Thing.

OWN YOUR SUCCESS WITH CONFIDENCE. 

It’s Up To YOU!

________________________________________________________________________

© 1993-2017  Ann Ulrich   AnnUlrich.com

PHOTO:   While keynote speaking in Taiwan, after my sincere effort yet seriously-lackluster results learning to speak Mandarin Chinese, I was rendered helpless on stage if not for the calm confidence of kind Taiwanese Translators. This is when and where I envisioned creating my speaking business, back in 1990, in their year of the Horse. If you’ve been to our condo, you may think I love horses… what I really love is the vision that was born in me in that one experience of a lifetime, in the year of the Horse. And maybe being a Taurus gave me the guts to actually make it happen.