A story from The Push.  (Excerpted from Awakening the Entrepreneur Within.)

Michael Gerber has spent his life understanding and improving the world of the entrepreneur. This passion led to the founding of E-Myth Worldwide in 1977 to transform the way that small business owners do the work of growing their companies. Having coached, taught and trained over 50,000 small businesses in 145 countries, Michael has become the world's preeminent small business guru. In his latest book, he shares how a conversation with his mother gave him the inspiration for his next challenge:

My mother is ninety-six, lives an active life, looks to be no more than sixty, and has a wonderful sense of humor about it all. In 2005, my mother asked me,

"So, what's going on in your life, Michael?"

"I'm feeling lost, Mom," I said. "I'm sixty-nine years old and I'm feeling like I used to feel when I was a kid. I don't know who I am anymore, or where I'm going. I feel disconnected from my company and disconnected from myself. I want to do something new, but I don't know what. I feel at a loss ..."

My mother said, "Michael, you've never been at a loss for ideas. You're one of the most imaginative people I know. So, we both know that it's not that you can't figure out what to do. It's that somehow you're not really dealing with the problem. Somehow you're avoiding what's really eating at you. What is it?"

I suddenly knew what it was. It came to me so quickly, so immediately, so sharply, and clearly, that I was amazed I hadn't seen it until that minute.

"I'm afraid, Mom. I'm afraid to start something brand new ... I'm afraid that I'm too old, too used up, too stuck in my E-Myth rut. And, at the same time, I'm afraid to let go of E-Myth for fear that all the work I've done, all the life I've put into it, will simply lose force and ride a slow and ugly death ..."

"Michael, the only reason you feel so conflicted is because you're coming awake to the same energy that has been bubbling and bursting and playing inside of you ever since you were a little boy. Stop thinking. It's telling you something. It's telling you that that little boy I love so much is just aching to come out. He's the one that's making such a ruckus in you. Let go, and let it do what it does. I have a feeling everything will change. It feels like it's time for something new to come into your life. Isn't that exciting?"