One Giant Leap

by Rich German

It was a Monday night in October 2008 when I felt a strange pain inside my chest. My body was telling me something and I needed to listen. For five years, I had been a top dog at a major coaching company. I had a prestigious title, got a ton of recognition, coached incredible people, and was making good money even as the U.S. economy was sliding down the tubes without touching the sides.

The problem was that I no longer felt aligned with the company energetically. Okay, I am being nice. The truth was that the company had dismal direction from its owners and it was extremely painful to work there. This was a pathetic, sad, fear-based environment, and I felt like I had zero integrity staying. All the prestige, recognition, and money may have satisfied my ego, but they meant nothing to my body and soul. That&rsq uo;s why I felt like I was manifesting a cancerous tumor.

Though this was the first time my body had reacted so intensely, in my heart I knew I had been in a dead-end situation for a few years. Even so, I stayed.

I stayed call after call, hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year even though it didn’t feel good at all.

Why did I stay so long in a situation that felt so bad? Why did I stay when I could not change it and saw that it would only get a lot worse? Quite simply, I stayed out of fear. At that time, I did not have a solid backup plan in place. I had recently started my own coaching business “on the side,” but it was barely producing any income. As I dreamed more often of being the master of my destiny, my excitement level would rise, but then doubt would kick in to discourage me. “I must be crazy even to consider jumping ship in a bad economy!”

Back and forth I went for months wrestling over the decision, with my ties to money and security winning out over my desire and my self-respect taking a nose dive. I’d take small steps forward, and then halt in my tracks wondering, “How is this going to work?” I had no idea back then how to answer that question.

Still, the moment I felt the awful feeling in my body, I knew what I had to do. My fear was being overridden by my biology. I completed all my coaching calls for the week, then called my employer and respectfully quit. I decided my life was too valuable to do that job anymore. I remember thinking that if I lost every dime I had on pursuing my passion and building my own business it would not matter.

With that, I took a giant leap of faith into an uncharted abyss. And I have to tell you, it was the most amazing thing I ever did! The feeling was exhilarating.

The pain in my body vanished.

Looking back, I realized that by quitting I was simply practicing what I preach. I took the advice I had been giving to my clients and did it. The organization did not feel good and feeling good has got to be a top priority in life and in business. Since I couldn’t change the way that company was going to feel, I had to get out.

More importantly, I wanted, no needed, to stretch my wings and see what I could accomplish using the skills and insights I’d been honing in a way that would be a win-win-win—doing what I loved every day, creating financial freedom for myself, and being insanely happy making a difference for other people.

After a well-deserved vacation, I went ahead and created a vision of what I wanted and how I could make the difference that I felt I was here to make. In my heart and gut I knew there was so much more for me to do in life. I had a crazy amount of energy, passion, and love inside me that was ready to explode like a nuclear b omb. I knew my life’s purpose was to be of service and that coaching was the vehicle. Fortunately that much had become clear to me at my old J-O-B.

Next, I took action—and lots of it. I immediately improved my website. I created products that could be sold online. I developed alliances and set up joint ventures. I built up my email database. I offered free coaching calls to get new clients. Truthfully, I worked my butt off for several months in a row.

Also, I worked on myself. I exercised intensively, stepped up my nutrition, and worked daily to strengthen my self-confidence. I knew my success was contingent upon both what I was doing and who I was being as a person. I evaluated my past choices to see where my life had turned in a wrong direction, discovering in the process that every job I’d taken in the past was a “safe” one that guaranteed me the lifestyle I wanted, even though the price had been selling my passion sho rt.

Today I feel fortunate that the energy of my former job was so draining that I was forced out of the situation. If the dynamic had been better I probably would not be on the path I am on now. By the time I took my giant leap, I was ready to take control of my life and begin making a huge contribution. I was ready to create a situation in which I would not know the difference between work and play. I was also done making other people wealthy while I put my own dreams on hold. I was no longer concerned about what people might think or say about my choices. I was ready to find real happiness, end toleration, and live life at the highest level possible. I was ready to live the life I wanted and deserved.

For me, passion is a lifestyle. My life is about having balance and earning as much as possible in as little time as possible so I have time to take care of myself and to focus on the most important relationships in my life. Nothing makes me happier t han creativity. My days include shooting videos for my blog, writing books, and developing content for my next teleseminar. The rest of the time, I am sitting on the beach “working” on my tan while devising the master plan for my business.

Listen, I don’t claim to know too much, but I do know one thing: none of us are getting out of this game alive. We are going to die one day. So we really need to ask, when are we going to really live? Why do we stay in situations we don’t love?

In my case, I stayed because of fear. But as soon as I made the decision to leap, as soon as I just said, “This is the move I am making,” that fear melted away.

I took one giant leap… and the net appeared.