As we head into the last couple days of the year, the word ‘Joy’ has become the theme for my holiday so far. From it being the single word on the cover of our family Christmas Card to going out and seeing the movie Joy the day after Christmas, it has become something much more than just a word. 

The movie Joy is the true story of a woman who pushed past a ton of struggles to make her invention a financial success. Through the process, she became an entrepreneur focused solely on making life better for her family.  

With the Winter Solstice happening today, the season of winter has officially arrived - bringing with it change and enlightenment of our spirit. As we roll into this week of celebration, it’s time to hurry up before we slow way, way down. So it goes year in and year out in this story of our lives.    

I stared at the picture that came together for this weeks Victory Pic of the week and found myself just absorbing the words and the simplicity of the image for a long time before allowing myself to put these thoughts down into writing.

Keep in mind the thoughts of giving and spirit that this week represents. The time for us to pull back and really reflect on what matters most. In a world that sometimes is quick to point fingers and shed blame, it’s time to just embrace the moment and pray for peace among all people of this planet. 

Does this sound familiar? You are all excited about a new idea or plan for your business. In your minds eye, it is brilliant! Then in your zealous excitement you share it with someone close at hand - perhaps your spouse, or maybe your best friend.

Of course you are expecting them to look at you in total awe of your brilliance... yet they turn to you with a troubled brow and tell you all the reasons it will not work. 

I can tell you in my over 30 years as an entrepreneur this scenario has happened more than just once or twice :)

I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite parts of a Chinese meal is the fortune cookie that comes as dessert. The real essence and delight of the cookie is the slip of paper inside that bears the words of wisdom which more times than not are spot on with our thinking.

Words can be a confirmation of what we are feeling, of motivating us towards greater levels of ourselves, and giving us the key element of what I want to talk about today - the power of belief.

Last week about an hour before presenting the webinar on Building Your Marketing Toolkit (view the free replay here), I was deeply moved and inspired to create a slide to insert at the end of discussion that simply said two words… patience and belief.

As todays subject line suggests, I would like to request that you think about going beyond your current potential. Our potential, as a reminder, is the capacity we each possess for what is possible and we have yet to actualize in our lives. 

Embracing our potential is a key component for wrapping up this year, while making plans for all that we want to see unfold in the new year ahead - which is right around the corner!

What I think is very cool is that when each of us fully gives ourselves the room to allow our potential to expand by setting challenging goals that are followed up by a strong plan of execution, the possibilities for our lives are limitless.