It's been a while since I've started a post or podcast with a quote (and I guess technically I'm not since I'm explaining it before I share it... 🤣), but this feels appropriate for this episode.

Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.

- Victor Hugo

Hopefully, you're not tired of hearing this (yet), but I shared last week that I am officially moving to Costa Rica!

Of course, I'm scared... but I'm doing it anyway (and much more excited than I am scared).

This has been something I've been thinking about for probably close to 10 years (not necessarily Costa Rica, but moving out of the country).

It started from a place of curiosity and wonder, pivoted to other reasons over the years (let's face it, the United States has had some serious challenges), and now my reasons have shifted again.

Of course, the curiosity and wonder are still there, but now it's because I have a massive desire to experience something different.

I've never really been someone who wanted to live in a city (I do appreciate visiting a city from time to time), and have spent my entire life in suburbia. I honestly never wanted anything else until 2002.

In 2002 I was a best friend's wedding in Italy (her husband is Italian, my daughter was the flower girl and I was a bridesmaid).

That trip changed everything for me.

I hadn't even been that interested in traveling, to be honest. Once you get outside of your comfort zone and realize how much more there is to experience in the world you see things differently.

Even if you don't want to live out of the country or travel much, having those experiences are invaluable.

Once I went to Italy I craved those experiences and I knew I wanted that for my kids. I took them to Scotland in 2013, then my daughter and I went to the South of France in 2015 (she's since traveled with friends to Paris and London).

They have plenty of time for travel and both have a desire to see and experience things outside of their day-to-day (my job here is done).

Back to Costa Rica...

Costa Rica wasn't really on my radar until my therapist told me she had property there.

Every now and then I would ask her a little bit about her experiences there, why she liked it so much, etc., which then made me look a little deeper into the country itself.

When I first started thinking about it I wasn't sure if I really could do it... but over the years, like anything else in life, you start to realize what you really want.

I started my business because I wanted FREEDOM.

Freedom to be home for my kids, not have to commute, and create the quality of life I wanted.

I have always felt like there was something else I was supposed to do with my life (outside of having a job and work for someone else), I never really knew what that was, I simply kept pursuing it.

And side note: I say this to my son all the time (he's 20). What I do for a living didn't even exist when I was his age!

There is something to be said for having the tenacity and simply continuing to move forward.

I've decided I'm going to do a separate site for my journey to and in Costa Rica. I've got the domain name and will be sharing that soonish. I'll do some updates here as well, but if you want to follow that journey in more depth I'll let you know where to subscribe.

I'm even toying with the idea of doing a podcast so I can interview other entrepreneurs and business owners in the local area... which feels like it would be a great way to connect with people (so yea, it's a little self-serving).

Being scared and doing it anyway

You might be wondering what all this has to do with my business.

Or better yet, YOUR business.

It has everything to do with it.

So often I see people waiting to have everything perfect or they have a preconceived idea of what they need in place before they launch something, make an offer, or publish.

With instant access to compare ourselves, it's hard not to feel like we should be doing more, be more, have more... the "more" never ends.

Much like a to-do list with online marketing.

There is ALWAYS more you can be doing. It literally never ends. Even when you complete a project, launch, offer, post, video... then there's the next step.

So make peace with the process and journey.

Since declaring/sharing that I'm going all-in with email marketing and newsletters under my personal brand, I've definitely had my fair share of imposter syndrome rearing its ugly head.

Back in my WordPress Chick days, I felt this a lot.

It was easy when I was just getting started (2008) because I didn't know any better. The deeper I got into the WordPress space the more I felt it. It wasn't until I found my own little niche (my tagline was "A Place where WordPress and Marketing Collide") that I relaxed about my imposter syndrome.

Even then, outside of my friends, there was still a feeling of "one of these things just doesn't belong here."

Until I decided "what you think of me is none of my business" (one of my favorite Wayne Dyer quotes).

Fast forward to today and I'm very aware of some of those same feelings creeping in.

The biggest difference is I'm not waiting around for anyone to give me permission.

I've decided to claim it all.

The best way to get clarity in your business is through the doing.

You can read, research, mind map, plan, and hire mentors all day long... all of that stuff works... provided you do the work as well.

*Side note* just to keep things real for you... as I've been working on this podcast I find myself feeling pulled in a bunch of different directions, none of which are urgent or need my attention. Obviously, I have a lot going on right now, but it can't all be done at once. All I'm doing is delaying the work right in front of me.

• You'll never get better at emails if you don't start writing
• You can't build an email list unless you create a lead magnet /opt-in offer and tell people about it (add it to your site, share it socially, etc.).
• You won't make a sale unless you make the offer
• You can't grow a podcast until you start recording it
• You can't build a list of newsletter subscribers without publishing your newsletter
• You can't charge more if you're not willing to pay other people what they're worth

You get my point.

It's time to start taking complete responsibility for what we do, who we are, and what we want.

Instead of blaming yourself and making judgments about what you do or don't do (simply another distraction), to quote Nike and Shia Lebouf, JUST DO IT!

You're going to be scared.

Do it anyway.

I've finally accepted that there really isn't a "perfect time" for anything (only took me 50 years).

Truly the ONLY difference between you and someone who is where you want to be?

They jumped in and did it...

Last summer when I sold my "List Explosion" course I followed Ramit Sethi's "Breakthrough Launch."

I had purchased the course much earlier in the year knowing I would use it later.

I made a commitment to myself that I was going to do exactly what Ramit said to do when it came to the email sequences for the launch.

Hand to heart I can tell you that some of this was WAY beyond my comfort zone. Sending the 'cart is closing' email on a Friday evening had my stomach in knots.

It was like I was watching this conversation in my head the entire time...

I had to remind myself of the things I had done and was doing that were WAY harder than sending an email (I mean c'mon... typing words on a screen and hitting send?).

Did it work?

Hell yes it did.

Just like Ramit had said, most of my sales came at the end of the launch, and yes, even on that Friday evening! The "cart is closing" email WORKS.

Hence the "this sh*t works" phrase I live by now.

To reference the famous Chinese proverb:

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

If you want to take the time to plan anything, plan how you want your life to feel first.

Then back into that and make sure what you're doing day to day supports that.

I want a different quality of life.

Hence my move to Costa Rica.

And circling back, I want to earn more and work less. Which means I have to be conscious about how I spend my time. Every. Single. Day.

That doesn't mean it's scheduled down to the minute (when my calendar is packed it makes me cringe).

It means I do whatever I have to do to be in alignment and trust the process first, then I can begin working.

I ask myself if the activity I'm doing is getting me closer or further away from what I want.

You do NOT need a bunch of complicated funnels, Facebook ads, a YouTube channel, a FB group, a Clubhouse room, a complicated membership platform...

You need a problem that YOU can help people solve.

You need a list of people who like who you are, what you do, and you have a relationship with.

You need an offer that solves their problem and gives them the transformation they desire.

How you deliver that is up to you.