What is it that you fear most? Where are you wondering if you will get it wrong? What areas are you biggest possible failures?

If you are not prepared to take a risk – you will never attempt anything new. If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will stay within your comfort zone. You have to be prepared to cross each bridge as you come to it – have a go, take the risk, and realise that successful people fail much more often than others simply because they persevere through ‘failure’ until they find the success they want.

If you want to be more confident, then action is the key – get out there and have a go, take the challenge, and stop worrying that you may fail. Try the Jeffers mantra ‘I’ll handle it!’, and then recall all the times when you have ‘handled it’ in the past – in fact you have been handling it all your life so far….

Will you take action today to take you in the direction you really want to go? Imagine the benefits if you did –list them right now. How would you be? What would you have? How would you think of yourself? How would you be perceived by others? What is really holding you back?

When you hear that questioning voice from within, just ask yourself what you really want to believe about yourself…do you want to believe you can’t? Or are you prepared to let go of the insecurity to gain the confidence you really want, and definitely need?

Coaching is all about confidence building, sometimes directly, and sometimes as a matter of course as you work towards achieving your goals realising that you can achieve so much. If you want more confidence start your own coaching programme today – it really does work, as so many of my clients have found out. What are you really waiting for?

Who do you have to be grateful for today? Who has been there when you have most needed someone to lift your spirit? Who has re-lighted your snuffed flame?

You are who you are partly because of those around you. Some believe you are the average of the five people that you spend the most time with – who are the ones that make you a better person? Who are the ones looking out for you? Who has always got your back?

There is a song in the musical ‘Wicked’ that says ‘Because I knew you, I have been changed for the better…changed for good’ – who is that for you? Who are the people who have had such an influence on you – through friendship, positive comments, and helpful feedback – that have changed you for good? Will you take the time to thank them? Will you allow yourself to give back something through gratitude today?

You get back what you give out, and gratitude is one way of paying back for the good in your life. Take some time today to thank those who have made you what you are, helped you out when you needed it most, and been there when you were broken.

Earl Nightingale believes that a grateful attitude is one of the most positive ways of being, as it allows you to look for the good in all in your life. There is always something to be grateful for. I used to enjoy ‘thanksgiving’ when I lived in America – and it still touches me deeply when it is portrayed in films or television programmes from the States. It reminds me that there is so much to be thankful for, and so many who have changed me for the better. So today, find time to say thankyou –as I do for all those who have done me good…

What is your mind fixed on today? Have you the strength of mind to find the focus to achieve all that you want? What is waiting to be born in your life today?

It is a strong analogy this one –the idea of birthing something new in your life. Just as natural birth is no easy process – I remember the determination with which my own daughter was born. I’d like to say it was a team effort, but somehow my part didn’t exactly correlate to the giant’s share!! Hours of pushing, breathing, and pain – until ‘suddenly’ there she was; a brand new life in my hands, looking up hopefully at me. It is without doubt one of the best moments of my life – and so my wife tells me, she was worth all of the pain, effort and struggle.

What about your life? What ideas, plans, dreams and goals are gestating in you right now? Are you ready for the effort of being ‘fixed’ and determined to focus on your dreams until they are born in your life?

It is essential that you make that decision to fix your thoughts on what you want, to determine in your mind that you will see things through until they become manifested. What thoughts are you sending out to the universe? What messages are you sending your own subconscious to work on day and night? How much are you concentrating your thoughts on achieving your dreams?

Take time today to determine the direction of your thoughts. Take back control of your mindset. Fix your mind on what you desire more than anything else, and persist until your thoughts become a reality for you. Napoleon Hill believed that ‘thoughts are things’ that they determine what you get, in a very real way. Will you develop a positive thought life to support your goals? Will you understand that you have all that you need to achieve your dreams? Fix your mind on your definite aim in life and see how soon your dreams become reality…

What have you dreamed of for your life? What adventures have you pictured? What visions have you had of your future? Will you dare to begin to paint?

You have had an idea, you have dreamed of a different future for yourself, you have things in your life that you desire – will you pursue them? Will you start today? What will it take for you to pick up the paintbrush of your destiny?

Take some time now to remember what you dreamed of. What did you see? What did you hear? Who was with you? What did it feel like? What did you want for your life? Are you living what you really wanted? Do you have your dream job? Do you have the things you thought would make life so much more enjoyable? Have you visited the places on your list?

It’s up to you to pick up the brush and begin painting what you dreamed of, to take back control and start doing the things that will let you fulfill your goals, to make plans and to carry them out. The most amazing picture is created one brush stroke at a time – or one bucket of paint, if you like to paint that way!! But you have to pick up the brush, the paint, the bucket – and put it onto the canvas.

It’s up to you to create the life of your dreams – no-one else is going to do it. It is your life and your responsibility.Yes, there are people you will work with, coaches who will support you, and friends to cheer you on – but it is up to you to create the picture.

What kind of picture do you want for your life? Are you an abstract? Are you a detailed masterpiece? Are you modern, classic, a portrait, or a grand landscape? What is unique about your picture? What will you be known for?

When will you begin the picture of your life? When will you fill the canvas with your dreams? When will you invest in that coaching to get you started? What will you do with today…