Are you willing to do what it takes to create what you really want in your business, career, and finances? It might sound like an obvious answer “well, of course!”, yet when we hit tough choices, we often resist doing the very thing we need to in order to succeed. We stay stuck in our righteous position of what we think and what we’ve planned. I love the quote:

We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. – Joseph Campbell

How willing are you?

I have written about this before in an article called “Are You Willing?” following a powerful retreat experience.

The difference between success and failure; happiness and misery can be found in our level of resistance and our willingness to be fully present, take action, make a change, shift our thinking, or take a risk. If you’re not willing, you can be 100% certain of the results and your experience. It will look exactly as what you’re experiencing right now. If you keep doing the same things you’ve always done; you’ll always get what you’ve always got.

This holds true in so many areas of our life and in this economy and business climate willingness puts on a whole new face. The swirl of job eliminations, business start-ups, or changing careers can be a frustrating, confusing, and emotional affair. We all have ideas about how we want things to look or what we think it “should” look like. Yet at the heart of the matter is that you can only deal with what IS. In easy to explain terms that means you can only play the cards you’re dealt (and I mean that in an expansive and creative way of many possibilities which includes things like changing the game, letting go of the cards, etc.)

Laurie Hayes wrote a great post called “How Willing Are You…Really?” It is spot on in terms of some of the very things I coach my own clients through.

If you’re willing to say ‘˜yes’ to those decisions that will move you in the direction of business success even though they cause butterflies in your stomach or shake you to your core, you create no option but to grow. And as you grow personally, your business grows and evolves with you.

To me asking the tough questions is a reality check. Many people fret over their finances yet never bother to stop and take stock of what the true picture is right now. If you’re not even willing to ask the question “What is really true right now?” and then look at the answer, you cannot possibly make the changes necessary to create what you most want. That Albert Einstein quote is on the mark:

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

And when you are unwilling to do something different…well you can see where that leaves you. In a cycle of being stuck, experiencing the “same old, same old”, and chasing your tail.

A while back Gracie Davisgave a great example of willingness in her post “Recovering from Debt by Blogging”:

Of the million plus blogs on the net, the best bloggers may be those with the willingness and honesty to reveal their flaws to the world. These writers include the ‘debt bloggers’ who devote their bandwidth to disclosing their histories of compulsive credit card abuse, how they’re changing their lifestyle so they can afford to pay these bills in full, and what they’re doing to reform and spend responsibly. It’s tough and brave stuff. Exposing and discussing debt and credit struggles flies in the face of what may be one of the great taboo subjects – money.

I might add here that when you are willing to face and speak the truth not only does your life change for the better, but it has a ripple effect if and when you are willing to share that truth with others – whether it is by sharing with one close friend or in a more public way.

Willingness takes two major forms as I see it — a willingness to do what you need to do and a willingness to step back, let go, and allow serendipity to happen. Celeste at Heartsong Studio gives a great example of allowing in her post “Will one surprising success stop you in your tracks ? “:

Do you sneeze at serendipity ?

Sometimes when you’re least expecting it, a work will emerge unbidden, that seems curious, powerful, unlike any you’ve made before. Though you didn’t know you were looking for it, your willing innocence to find it changes everything that went before and comes after.

Maybe other scientists have had the same sort of ‘˜accident’ happen to them, but threw it out as a spoiled experiment. But not Fleming. Like you, he was willing to recognize the opportunity disguised as an inconvenience.

A willingness to be vulnerable, instead of intentionally trying to cause it, allowed you to recognize the serendipity for the amazing opportunities it held.

So you can see how willingness is a yin and yang between doing and allowing, at least at its most powerful. As you step back this summer and take stock of where you are and where you want to go – ask yourself – “Am I willing to take the action I most need to for success? Am I also willing to step back and just allow events to unfold when I find myself trying too hard with no results?” Your answers might surprise you.

Paula Gregorowicz, owner of The Paula G. Company, works with lesbianswho are ready to create their lives and businesses in a way that fits who they are rather than how they were told they “should”. Get the free 12 part eCourse “How to Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin” http://www.coaching4lesbians.com and start taking charge of your own success.