If everyone's Pleap (Pink leap of faith) looks different, how do you know that you've actually done it? And how can you do it without being paralyzed with fear?

These are the questions that used to plague me when I came upon life changes. For me, the issues usually centered around my work, but anytime we take a big risk in life, and open ourselves to changes in who we are and how our lives work, we put our trust in the Universe that things will come out alright on the other side. There's no getting around the fact that this is frightening.

How I Learned to Risk It "All"

The first time I quit my job with nothing else lined up, I made myself and my husband a promise. I promised us that I wouldn't risk our house or our kid's college funds but that everything else was up for grabs. He gulped and wished me well, knowing as well as I did that I was marketable at my old job if nothing else. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think that is the essential beginning of a Pleap. First you draw a circle around that which you are not willing to risk -- and then risk everything else in pursuit of a goal you believe in. You let go of your need to know how your goals will be accomplished, move past the fears that inevitably arise when you declare what you want, and then accept what comes your way.

My goals in that first major Pleap when I quit my job were pretty simple: I wanted work where I was treated with respect. (I got it the same week I quit - from the same company, no less.) In later Pleaps, I kept the protective circle around our family and risked my income and professional identity for other things, including flexibility to be with my family, reclaiming energy for myself and -- most recently -- the privilege of helping powerful people change the world. Each time, I protect that which I'm not willing to risk and risk the rest of it. And each time I accomplish my goals and then some.

What Are You NOT Willing to Risk?

When you set your intention to Pleap, fears will attack you. It's just the way we're built -- to doubt and fear the unknown. The fear is there for a reason, I believe, and part of it is to help us focus on what really matters. The best way I've found to counter the fears -- to let them go -- is to ground myself in what I will NOT risk. Once I can name those things that I value so deeply I won't put them up for grabs -- my integrity, my family, my home -- it is much easier for me to release all the rest of it. By holding onto what I love I know I cannot lose myself, and that confidence gives me the strength I need. What must you protect? What is so important that you will never compromise it? It doesn't matter if anyone else thinks it's worth protecting, only that you do.

What Do You Want?

Protecting what you love is important, but it takes more than this to overcome fear and accomplish great things. For me, it takes a deep desire - something wonderful; something my soul needs like my lungs need oxygen. Freedom. Flexibility. Creativity. Making a difference. What is it for you? Whatever you just thought of -- the thing your mind pushed away as "silly" or "unrealistic" -- is a clue. Bring it back and hold onto it. Let yourself feel it in your bones. Fall in love with it because it's the power of that love that will give you wings to fly to where you'll find it.

Now Let the Rest Go

You've got your grounding strength and your wings, so it's time to leave the familiar behind and take that Pink Leap of Faith! You can do this. If you couldn't do it, you never would have been able to want it so deeply. No matter how big or small it is, the Pleap is yours to take right now. It is the Universe waiting to evolve you. What is the worst that can happen? You cannot fail, you can only grow, change and become more of yourself.

What do you treasure so much you will protect? What will you pursue so strongly you'll risk everything else? What are you ready to let go of? Whatever your Pleap history and future, I wish you safe travels and happy landings.

Photocredit: Me! Peru 2007, watching my son pleap gracefully.