Today I was forced to leave home early and while its cold outside I am sitting in a beautiful conversatory/tropical house in -30 C degree weather.

On the way here I was thinking of what it takes to achieve success of any type and realized that it takes a combination of time and energy.

Why is time important? It takes time to learn, and its through making mistakes and correcting course that we attain the knowledge it takes to succeed. Time teaches us what we don’t know, it reveals new information. We spend out time doing what excites us, what stimulates us and what intrigues us.

Energy is important because energy drives us and keeps us going when things seem hard. Energy is derived from passion. What we are passionate about we put our time and energy into and persevere when things get rough. And challenges are part of life, its how we grow.

So, what stops us?

Our challenges come in may forms and reflect our wounds. The deeper the wounds the harder it is for us to recognize them and the greater impact they have in our lives. In trying to feel relief from our pain, whether physical or emotional, we can build walls which we think keeps the pain away. But in reality the pain is already inside us and our walls keep them trapped inside.

How do we break down our walls?

Our walls are built by fear and broken down through vulnerability. Vulnerabilty involves surrendering and trusting in our inner guidance. In my own life I’ve found much more inner peace when I allowed myself be vulnerable. Letting go of the fear that being vulnerable means I am weak, I’ve found the opposite to be true. When I realized that the fear of being vulnerable was much greater risk than what I was fearful about, it allowed me live a much more purposeful life.

The person who is afraid of being vulnerable will demonstrate an exaggerated toughness and may even become a bully.