On my morning walks with Nella, we pass an orange tree growing on the edge of the ‘woods’ (it’s a damn jungle if you ask me!) and I’ve watched the fruit on it become bright orange and by now it’s a little past ripe and darker in color.

I would have loved to pick just one, but they’re out of my reach (yes, I know I’m short!) and the tree is nestled in the overgrown swampy area.

Snakes and gators and whatever else lurking in the swampy area sounds reason enough to stay away from the tree. Or is that just an excuse? Or fear itself (not big on snakes or gators) keeping me from the beautiful fruit?

So often it seems with business and life, I’ve found myself at a point where things are about to produce the fruit of my labor and then I’m faced with a challenge, an obstacle, let’s face it – shit hits the fan, and I’m stopped in my tracks. Whether it’s a broken computer, broken parts on the RV or not enough business coming in, or all of the above…it becomes overwhelming, and you just feel like walking away from it all.

Sigh. Is it the fear of what’s in the swamp, or the fear of failure?

I have faced many fears on this trip. Today when I walked past the orange tree, I thought, damn! I bet those oranges would still taste good!

Pushing past what’s stopping me means more than just fixing the problems and following it through. It means changing my paradigm, which is a mental program or mindset that has control over our habitual behavior; and almost all of our behavior is habitual.

 It means creating new habits and new narratives we tell ourselves to better focus on what we truly want in life.

It makes each step everyday intentional to improve my life, and hopefully impact others around me in a positive way.

The fruits of my labor will come someday soon! And those oranges are sure going to taste so good!