#68 - Throw Out The Baby

Change is afoot at You Inspire Me. Behind the scenes, my website is in revamp, automated systems are being put in place, and I'm growing a team - all of which will allow me to communicate my work more easily and give me more time to develop and deliver services I love.

And as I've been putting these new plans and procedures in place, my Saboteur has been having a field day. [Saboteur = that part of us which wants to keep things as they are, not rock the boat, and therefore sabotage any forward movement]. His stance is that change is a bad thing and he drags me down, telling me that these changes must mean that everything I've done before has failed, been wrong. He would love to convince me it's all too much, to throw out the baby with the bath water. When he's in charge, I feel wobbly, even despairing. Thankfully, over the years I've become intimately acquainted with his strategies and when he allows me a moment to breathe, I can eventually shake him off and put ME back in control.

Anyone else recognise that feeling?

Just as you often feel clearer after a cold has passed, so too with the banishment of good old Sab. I feel refreshed and stronger now, like something stagnant and toxic has been washed out of my system. Without the distorted vision he gives me, I can now see that it's time for celebration. I am standing clearly in the acknowledgement that I run a rapidly-evolving business and it's time to hire people and put robust systems in place for the next phase. I've seen too many amazing businesses fail because they weren't functioning as businesses. They positioned themselves as community services and didn't take that leap into solid professionalism.

Just as Obama's inauguration speech focused on the dawning of responsible maturity, so too for me it is time to put off any childish, amateurish ways. You'll soon see a cleaned up website, fully hosted under my own domain name; a request for you to opt-in to a new email list; automation of e-courses & digital product delivery; sexy incorporation of audio and video; and perhaps even a few new names and faces as the You Inspire Me team.

Yes - You Inspire Me just grew up.

Do Things Differently
1) What does YOUR Saboteur have to say about you making changes, growing up, evolving? How do you ensure you move forward anyway?
2) Inquiry: What do I need to give myself permission to do?
3) Action: Take the next step forward, noticing and bypassing your Saboteur's efforts to stop you.
4) Share your comments on this blog post.

** I was interviewed about one of my favourite topics, Fear of Failure. Listen here today only - it's up on the radio archives for one more day, after which we're looking to upload an mp3 version to my website. If you know that fear of failure blocks YOU from moving forward, commit to change that today. Join our workshop on Sat 7th February in Cambridge - full details here **

(c) Corrina Gordon-Barnes, 2009