My Year of Hopefulness - Know Where You're Going

"The world stands aside to let anyone pass who knows where he is going."
~ David Starr Jordan, ichthyologist and peace activist

I have come across a slew of powerful quotes recently. This quote by David Starr Jordan is one that had special meaning for me this week. I have been considering a number of different new business ventures, cranking along in my writing, and moving ahead with projects that have been in the queue for a while. This week I started to notice that while I am extremely busy, I'm in a groove. The world seemed to remove all obstacles from my path and allowed me to pass through with ease. And more than once, I noticed that a happy coincidence and helpful resources presented themselves. I've even found my typical junk mail helpful!

Nothing has recently changed in my life. I make the same amount of money, have the same skill sets, know the same people. So how did I cross over? How has life managed to somehow get easier as of late?

For one thing, I am asking for help, input, and advice with greater frequency. This is not something that's easy for me. I pride myself on being tremendously self-sufficient. However, the projects I'm most excited about at the moment require expertise beyond my own knowledge. And therefore, necessitate my reaching out. I've been blown away by the willingness of others to help me.

I've also noticed my confidence, in my writing and in my business ideas, has also grown. I've been playing 'fake it until I make it', and guess what? It works. My years of writing and developing idea, products, and services is paying off as I cross over form being a novice with an interest to someone with concrete experience and tangible work to show for my efforts.

Finally, I know where I'm going, making me more aware of the help that has been around me all along. I'm on the path to starting my own company, and I know what I want it to look like and how I want it to function. Knowing where I'm going has made articulating my vision and values much clearer, to myself and to everyone else. It might be a long and winding road, though it's much easier to keep going when the world provides its encouragement and assistance.