I AM therefore I CAN!

When I was a young girl I used to love to prove people wrong when they told me I couldn't do something. Two little words, "you can't", were all it took for me to brave any challenge. I remember even as a young woman being undaunted by those naysayers. My motto then was "I am therefore I can!" Over the years somehow I became a little less daring. I began to listen to that little voice whispering in my ear. A sense of inferiority and/or lack of experience would creep into my being whenever I undertook an unfamiliar task.

Recently that little voice began yelling in my ear. Gone was the brave little girl. The older and wiser, set-in-her-ways, woman was in control. This last year I have been telling myself I am going to write an e-newsletter (ezine) and become an eBay merchant. I kept listening to that voice and I allowed it to keep me from accomplishing those two tasks. "You are only a woman, you don't know how, you will fail!" All of these thoughts and more continually bombarded my mind. However, after listening to a teleconference on Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and hearing how important it is to have both an ezine and an eBay seller account I realized that I had to ditch my fear and just do it!

Soon after that decision was made I read a post on one of my internet networking boards that named a source for automating ezine distribution. What timing! What luck! Off I went to check it out and sign up. Now three months passed and I had only gotten half way to my goal. "You can't, you don't know how, what in the world would anybody want that you have?" Sound familiar? Yes, it was that still small voice whispering in my ear once more.

In the past year I have become an accomplished writer. So why not write a book? I had written articles and even compiled a few eBooks, both for myself and some of my clients, but I had no clue as to what to write that someone might actually pay to own. Then it hit me. Since I had been hostessing weekly chats and writing self-help articles why not write a book on presentational design & skills?

Over the course of the next few weeks I wrote what turned out to be a very informative and well written self-help book titled "Presentational Skills for the Next Generation". The next step was to apply for my selling numbers (ISBN) and bar code. Those would allow me to have others sell my book for me. Resellers like eBay and Amazon as well as being able to eventually print it for sale at the local bookstores could become a reality. This was another scary task. I had instructed other authors to obtain these items but had never had to get them myself. I knew where to go to get this done; it was just a matter of doing it.

Three weeks later I had my codes in hand and was sure I would take that final step and get an eBay merchant account. Did I get right to the task at hand? No! Why? Because I had lost my "can do" attitude. I let fear rule my actions. When you don't know what you're doing chances are you will let fear stop you.

It wasn't until I voiced my desire to two different people who had been where I wanted to go that I finally took action. Now I must say that the challenges I faced weren't that difficult to overcome. The real obstacle was FEAR! Once I set my fear aside I was able to take all the steps that would eventually see my tasks fulfilled. I have re-discovered my childhood motto and I invite you to claim it too. "I AM therefore I CAN!"

- Ginger Marks