Often when we decide the change something in our life it is like taking the plunge.  It is literally a leap of faith.  And sometimes we do not quite know where we will land.  One thing is for sure – we will land closer to our dreams if we take the leap.

This means that you are going to have to step outside your comfort zone and that’s good because all growth happens outside that zone.  I say this not to scare you off doing anything new but to prepare you so that when you reach that point you will be ready to take a deep breath – and jump!

To do this you need a strong motivation – you cannot take these leaps lightly and that’s a good thing so it means that you have a strong enough feeling about what you are about to do.  Maybe it is something that has been within you for a long while and now it is so powerful you simply cannot ignore it any longer.

A friend of mine drew the illustration above and I loved the title The Leap of Faith.  This leap of faith is away from the comfort zone but look what’s below – the Sea of Dreams.

When you are in that place looking at the leap there is often a lot of mental chatter.  That is your ego trying to keep you safe and stop you taking any risks at all.  Problem is that living safe often feels like a long slow death.

Safe is not where you grow and expand your experience of life.  Safe simply wraps you up in cotton wool and you will get to the end of your life full of regrets for the things you didn’t do or at least try to do.

So to ensure that you do not end up with regrets you need to support yourself in this journey by stopping listening to his voice for a while – or at least turn down the volume.

That does not mean that you ignore it all together but it does mean that you at least question it.  Find out if there is any real truth in what that little voice is trying to scare you with.  Often it is just an assumption and the opposite could just as easily be true.  So keep questioning the fear until you either agree with it (and so can take the appropriate action) or you see that in fact it is just fear; False Evidence Acting Real, that is running the show.

Many fears are simply a mind construct – and many do not have any evidence of being true.  When you begin to see this you can claim back your decisions for yourself and be free of the little risk adversed voice inside.  You start to see that these fears are in fact made up.

Perhaps you are considering leaving your successful career and doing something completely different – like moving to the country and downsizing.  At this point your little safety voice inside might be having a hissy fit!  Your next step is not to listen to it but to question it.

For example:

It will all go wrong!  – Do you absolutely, 100%, know this is true?  No you don’t.  This is what I call and absolute statement with no room for manoeuvre – and there is always room for manoeuvre.  Could it go wrong – yes it could.  But, and this a HUGE but, could it also go right, go gloriously wonderfully right?  Yes it could.

You will lose everything! – Another absolute and again another that needs to be questioned.  Have you ever lost everything – and I mean absolutely everything?  Think back through your life to the times when things went right and the times when things went wrong.  Did you allow yourself to lose everything?  Or did you take action to either create success or minimise failure?  My guess if you are reading this article is that you took the appropriate action.  From this knowledge you can learn to trust yourself and allow yourself to go for the adventure.

Your life will be over, you will be homeless!  – Ok we are really into the horror stories now, this is the point where the ego is fighting to hold onto control.  So I reckon if you are thinking about your life being over about being homeless you are very close to the edge of the cliff.  Get excited you are nearly there!

There is a part of you that will always want you to hold back and will tell you the horror stories.  Time to face them full on and breathe through them.  Don’t run away from your feelings – lean into them

Go somewhere quiet and breathe deeply and begin to allow yourself to relax and breathe into the thoughts.  Let yourself know that what you are thinking is not really true, begin to see that they are simply thoughts that your mind has made up.  When you feel relaxed and have taken the panic out of the thought know that in this facing of them that they cannot scare you any more.

Life is full of opportunities, some of which are risky.  But you can rely on you to do the best you can and one way to do the best is to take that leap of faith and jump into the sea of dreams.  Are you going to let a thought, something your mind has fabricated out of thin air stop you following your passion?  You’re better than that.  You are stronger than that.

I know from all my work with my clients and my own life experience that when you follow your passion, when you follow your heart and go for the thing that you love that magic happens too.  You will find the support you need, the resources to support you and the ideas that will bolster your success.

You can change fear into Feeling Excited And Ready.

The leap of faith is just that but what is so amazing is the magic that awaits you outside of your comfort zone.  Go for it!

Jessica McGregor Johnson is an international speaker, coach & mentor and author of “The Right T-Shirt, Write Your Own Rules and Live the Life You Want” and “Remembering Perfection – Everyday Inspiration for Living Your Spiritually”.  She helps people who are at a crossroads discover their true passions, and live them, whether it be in their work or personal life.  For more information and to read the first two chapters of her book visit http://www.jessicamcgregorjohnson.com

Illustration by kind permission of Charlotte Reed http://www.maythethoughtsbewithyou.com/maythethoughtsbewithyou/Home.html

This is a guest post about taking leaps of faith from my friend Jessica McGregor Johnson. She is offering an amazing giveaway at the moment, which you can access at this link. (http://www.jessicamcgregorjohnson.com/claim-your-free-copy-of-fbrn.html)