The Faith Crisis Vs. Crossing The Threshold

People standing at The Threshold annoy me.

Because they say they want things to happen in their life. They say their willing to take action, but as soon as they realize that they have to give up an old way of acting, thinking or being, they choke.

Case in point:

A potential client was discussing his project with me and at one point said he was ready to move forward and get started. I sent him the link to make the deposit payment. He backpedaled:

“That’s a little premature, don’t you think?”

Well, not really. You said you were ready. Making the deposit would be the next logical step.

“But I have more questions.”

Oh. Then you’re NOT ready. No problem. Let’s get your questions answered.

There’s no judgement from me when I ask “what’s your status?”
I just want to know the truth – with ruthless honesty.

If you’re not ready, SAY you’re not ready. There’s nothing wrong with that. I can work with that.

But don’t tell me you’re ready when you’re not.

If you’ve got questions, say you’ve got questions. I can work with that.

But don’t tell me you understand when it’s clear that you don’t.

When I give clients solutions, I want them to take action. For me, it’s all about delivering results to he people that work with me. It bugs me when people chrge you thousands of dollars for coaching, but don’t guarantee some kind of results for that investment.

Oh, and I understand that life happens, too. My clients will tell you I’m very accommodating and forgiving (most of the time).

What I can’t tolerate are excuses.

So if you tell me you want help filling your calendar, and I offer you a $15 solution (that’s in your budget), spend the $15.

Or don’t tell me you want my help. Because you don’t want help. You want a magic pill from some guru – and it doesn’t exist.

Perhaps I’m being a little catty, but I find that this problem happens most often when folk are standing at The Threshold trying to decide if they will cross over or not.

See, I know a lot of you are still Staring at the Door. You’ve heard The Call, but you’re not ready to Cross the Threshold. You stand with a foot in both worlds, not quite convinced it’s what you want to do.

You think that you’re on the Path of Trials, when in reality (to borrow a Harry Potter-ism), you’re still living with Uncle Vernon, avoiding the invitation to Hogwarts. There’s a lot of calamity there, but you’ve hardly begun the real work.

You need to make a decision: Go for it, or give up on your dreams.

Going for it doesn’t mean it will be effortless – in fact, I guarantee there will be a lot of discomfort on the journey. But there’s nothing more uncomfortable than sitting in this “limboland”, trying to decide if you should take the plunge or not.

No one can make the decision for you. This is one of the two biggest, most emotionally charged decisions in your entrepreneurial life. The other is when you reach The Faith Crisis. Allow me to illustrate:

• My laptop broke.
• The headphones on my mp3 player went kaput.
• Someone tried to break into my house.
• The direct sales company I work with is closing (again).
• My back went wonky (never done THAT before).
• My favorite bookstore is closing.
• My son’s started to regress at camp.
• One of my own companies may close at the end of the Summer.
• Two of my biggest clients are reaching the ends of their contracts – with no indication of renewing.

…and that’s just in the last week!

From the outside it looks like everything is falling apart. I guess in a way it is…

… but I couldn’t be happier (mostly).

Because it means I’m “upleveling”. For the past few months, every time I’ve tried to take on a project, or get something going, something would happen.

• An event gets canceled (or two or three).
• Plans get changed.
• People back out of their commitments.
• Stuff gets broken.

Instead of panicking (okay, I still have a moment of panic every now and then), I’m learning to recognize that this is God’s way of upping the ante and prepping me for the next big step on my journey.

And with all this disintegration around me, I can’t help but get excited about what’s coming up. Some of it is already starting to happen:

• Sold my car (for way more than I owed on it).
• Met two amazing young minds with ideas that springboarded my upcoming projects.
• Joined the 21st Century with my first smartphone (and no contract, thank you very much!)
• Got a new laptop that is more powerful for less than half what I paid for my last one!
• A new business is rising from the ashes of an old one.
• I’m retiring (as a direct sales consultant) officially at the end of July.

…and that’s just in the last week!

Why is all this happening now?
Because I know now that I just stepped past the point on my journey called The Faith Crisis.

It took years of struggling on my own Path of Trials to get to this point. And while I still have more to do, I am finally at a place where I can celebrate.

My friend, Leesa Barnes had this experience, too. We were talking about this last week, actually. It happened for her at the end of 2010, and I remember reading her post, wondering if/when this would happen for me.

Now, I’m on the other side of it, wondering who will be next.

But those of you standing at the Threshold, you hear “horror stories” like mine or Leesa’s and wonder if it’s even worth launching your business in the first place.

Get. over. yourself.

As Yoda said:

“Try? There is no try. Do or do not.”

There’s a big difference between standing with your feet in two worlds, and battling your Nemesis on the Path of Trials. But when you stand at the Threshold, it’s still pretty turbulent, so it’s hard to know that for certain where you’re at.

Here’s a tip. If you think it’s too hard now, before you’ve really made the effort to put your product or services out there in a big way, quit. Building a business can be fun, scary, demanding, exciting, thrilling, and exhausting all in the same day. If you’re not ready for that roller coaster ride, there’s not a soul on this planet who will think less of you for playing it safe.

Save yourself the countless hours of sleepless nights, the humiliation of trying to explain to people why you’ve had to “change direction” in your business approach… and the envious looks you’ll get from people when things are going well.

There’s no judgement here. Just ruthless honesty.

This has bothered me so much, that I wanted to do something about it in a big way. So I’m launching my first-ever book on Amazon before the end of the month. You’ll learn more about it in Friday’s post. You’ll also learn more about one of those young minds that made this book possible. Until then, here are some tips to help you stop standing in the Threshold and get you on your path or out of the way.

10 Steps to Cross The Threshold or Get Out Of The Way

1. Ask yourself what you really have to gain by not answering The Call for your life. Write it all down. No judgment, just ruthless honesty.
2. Ask yourself who you truly believe is standing between you and answering The Call. Write it down, along with why you think they’re in the way.
3. Ask yourself what you can do to clear the obstacles in your path. Get creative. Again no judgment, just creativity and honesty.
4. Look at this list and mark off anything that will absolutely prevent you from taking the next step in your business. Anything that absolutely can’t get past to answer The Call.
5. Now ask yourself what you have to gain by taking the step across the Threshold and starting your real journey. Write it all down. No judgment, just ruthless honesty.
6. Ask yourself who you truly believe is standing on your side to help you Cross The Threshold. Write it down, along with why you think they’re your Friends on The Journey.
7. Ask yourself what obstacles may come across your path on the first stretch of the journey once you cross the threshold. Think beyond your current situation, and maybe use some of the examples from above. This isn’t an exercise in conjuring worry, but rather, preparing for the potential roadblocks that are likely to come along.
8. Look at these lists and identify which of your Friends on The Journey can help you best to handle these potential roadblocks.
9. If you see an opening that isn’t covered, is it something you can handle? If not, set out to make a new Friend.
10. If you get this far, congratulate yourself for all the hard work you’ve put in. It’s not easy, and most people won’t do it. Now you have enough ammo to decide if you’re going to press on or quit. But the decision is still yours to make.