If success seems to elude you, here’s a guaranteed approach for finding it. Do what you don’t want to do, are afraid to do, think you can’t do.

Whenever you decide to do something different—whether it’s making more money or changing careers—success always lies just outside your comfort zone.

The only way you’ll succeed is by stretching beyond what feels comfortable to what may seem impossible.

The ability to tolerate discomfort by doing what might not feel good, but doing it anyway—is the only way you’ll ever find financial success.

For us pleasure-seeking, pain-avoiding creatures, that’s a very tall order. It’s certainly not comfortable to face up to a challenge, acknowledge a problem, and it’s especially unnerving to eschew our habitual ways of handling them.

Yet, that’s exactly what’s required.  The real work in raising the bar is to stop doing the same old thing you’ve always done, to try out new strategies, to ignore false alarms, to resist the urge to quit, and refuse to fall back into familiar terrain.

Years ago, I trusted my husband with my money.  He was a stockbroker after all. But, alas, he lost almost everything.  After our divorce, I was terrified to trust anyone again.

Then at some point it dawned on me. I couldn’t just ignore money. I needed to start trusting myself. But how? I was financially clueless.

If you’re in a similar situation, let me introduce you to what I’ve come to call the Trinity of Trust. It’s how I began the journey of reclaiming my power and trusting myself to take financial responsibility.

THE TRINITY OF TRUST:

As I spent time connecting with each point on this triangle, I found myself building a firm foundation of trust in myself, in others who were trustworthy, and in my Higher Power.

One day, I was glancing at the Wall Street Journal, when 5 words leapt off the page—”The survival of the focused.”

I knew those five words carried a powerful message. A message High Earners understand very well. But one Underearners have failed to grasp.

Financial Success belongs to the focused.

Without focus, it’s easy to get sidetracked by multiple distractions fighting for your attention. But with focus, conflicting objectives cease to control you, making it easier (and less stressful) to take decisive action without second guessing.

What’s the trick to getting focused? Prioritize. Put your attention exclusively on your priorities. All else goes on the back burner.

Here’s a foolproof strategy for getting unstuck. You must let go of where you are to get to where you want to go.

Clinging to the security of the familiar ledge prevents us from discovering what awaits us in the future.

The ledges in our lives offer the illusion of safety, but in truth their only value is to keep us hanging.

These ledges take many forms, both concrete and intangible. They can look like unfulfilling jobs, unpleasant relationships, inappropriate goals, untrue beliefs, unhealthy habits, bottled-up emotions.

Every successful woman I interviewed who finally let go told me:

People often ask me what were the biggest surprises I had when interviewing successful women. This is definitely one.

I never expected how many told me they were actually grateful for past tribulations.

In fact, most admitted, they might never have succeeded had they not been challenged. They considered their past problems an asset and, even more, they appreciated themselves for tackling them head on.