After ten years of consulting while working full time, I was debating on whether I should make a move to launch the business that is now developUs. The part-time gig was growing, and the full-time gig wasn’t satisfying me anymore. I was running through all of the clichés that felt like they applied to my situation-things like:

Take a leap of faith.

Jump off the cliff, and build your wings on the way down. (Ray Bradbury)

We only regret the chances that we didn’t take.

Stop being afraid of what could go wrong, and focus on what could go right.

After running through several of these that are designed to inspire, my dad interrupted me and spoke the one sentence that changed my life forever.

“You’re thinking about this all wrong – you’re not standing on the edge of a cliff, you’re standing in front of an elevator.”

Three weeks later, I left my full-time job, and the rest is history. There’s a lot of power in the way we chose to frame things. My opportunity, when reframed, felt less perilous when I envisioned an elevator riding up and down vs. the daunting cliff that first came to mind. Like any other career, one that I would create on my own would also include a top, bottom, and have boundaries in place for guidance; I just had to step over the threshold and press that first button.

It’s an elevator; not a cliff, go ahead and press that button! If you need a little reassurance or assistance, we’d be honored to help with those next steps.

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