I’m thrilled and proud to announce that this is post number 200 in my series on the Law of Attraction in Action. I never thought this series would go so far! It’s a joy to show how you CAN use your power to manifest your desires.. I do it every day! Read all the posts in my Law of Attraction in Action Series to see how.

Recently a client who I’ll call Madison told me there was an opening in her company that would be a step up from her position. The idea of getting it excited her, since it would help lead to accomplishing her long-term goals. Besides having the prestige from getting a better title, it would also allow her to learn more about the business she loved and make better contacts for the future. As she shared that with me, her face changed and she looked unhappy. I asked what was the problem?

She replied, “I don’t know if I can do it!” Then she burst into tears.

When she calmed down, Madison explained that she was scared. The work would be more intense and she’d have much more responsibility. She felt safe in her current position. People commended her a lot. But what if she wasn’t ready to go to the next level? Madison would head a team that created projects and campaigns. She worried that the people working under her might not take her seriously. She was younger than some of them. Would she be able to earn their respect?

Often concerns about being able to do something you’ve never done before can seem very scary and make you wonder if you can do it. Since you’ve never done it, it’s a risk. It can run the gamut from doing something new at work, joining a sports team, baking a pie, getting up in front of a group to speak, expressing your feelings to someone, writing a book, etc. The unknown can be a very scary place if you build up fear in your mind and focus on the worst that could happen.

“I don’t know if I can do it!” really means, “I’m too scared to try and don’t believe in myself enough.”

That tells the Universe that you can’t do it, and if you try, it probably won’t work. It also attracts more reasons not to try. If this continues, you’ll wake up many years down the road with regrets, and worse feelings about not doing what you longed to do. That almost happened to me so I understand how hard it is to move past your doubts and believe in yourself enough to do what you want. I also can attest how thrilling it is when you do!

When I’d just finished school, a friend decided before getting a job he’d do some traveling in the NW Rockies—Banff, Lake Louise and Northern Montana. After hearing his accolades about how beautiful it was and seeing his pictures, I was seriously hooked and decided I had to get there too. It became my big dream. Over the years I looked for someone to go with me but never found the right person. Meanwhile I traveled through Europe on my own many times by train. When someone suggested I do this trip solo, I both loved and feared the idea of doing all that driving by myself.

I’d never driven long distances and this would be a lot of driving. Yet I loved the thought of doing it MY way, going where I wanted, when I wanted to leave one place for another. I thought about it for a few years with a niggling thought always coming up—“I don’t know if I can do it!” I wanted to make this dream come true on many levels but didn’t trust myself enough to try. I thought about it as every spring approached since I wanted to go during June. Eventually I got brochures and maps, thinking that would motivate me.

It did, but the voice in my head— “I don’t know if I can do it!”—haunted me.

After the brochures sat again, another spring approached and I wanted to do the trip badly. I even checked airlines for flight info, but did nothing. When I lamented about it to the friend who suggested I go solo, she sent me a card that I still have. It had Eleanor Roosevelt’s quote, “The future belongs to those who follow their dreams.” As I read it, my thought changed to “I may be scared but I’m gonna do it!” And I did! Right after I changed my thoughts and put great enthusiasm into them, things just fell into place. It’s an experience that remains in my heart.

Since then I’ve taken many solo driving trips, including driving 10,500 miles across country to do a book tour. You are so much more capable of doing things than you may think you are. The biggest obstacle is your thoughts. You won’t attract something that you’re not thinking about. Doubts about your ability bring reasons to keep doubting. Overcoming “I don’t know if I can do it!” and replacing it with something positive can show you that you can.

Madison changed her thought from “I don’t know if I can do it!” to “i believe in my ability to figure it out and can do well.” She got the job and has advanced a lot more since then because her confidence increased dramatically when she saw she could do it. Keep those doubtful thoughts out of your head. When one occasionally comes to me, I immediately refute it with, “NO! I can do it if I choose to!” Don’t let doubt about your abilities to hold you back. When you take those risks, you truly live.

See all the posts in my Law of Attraction in Action Series HERE.
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Take the 31 Days of Self-Love Challenge–a pledge to do something loving for yourself for the next 31 days–and get my book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways for free at http://howdoiloveme.com. Read my 31 Days of Self-Love Posts from 2012 HERE.

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