I sat there on a frigid New Year’s Eve night and lost it. With tears streaming down my face, I realized it was time. Everything had to change, and I was living someone else’s life. That night, I made a promise to myself and detailed the vision deep within me —except there was one problem.

I had no idea “how” I was going to bring it to life. It didn’t make any sense, and yet the words flowed out of me with clarity and conviction. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was taking the leap of my life.

In working with others to make bold leaps into the unknown and listening to what they knew they had to do —I’ve found 5 crucial steps to help ensure your success. Because too often, we’ve let fear slowly take over. Until one day, we wake up and wonder where the time went and what could have been.

Check out the 5 steps below to help you take the leap of your life:

1. Radical Honesty

The first crucial step in taking your bold leap is radical honesty. Although it sounds simple, this is often forgotten in the personal development world. Why? Because radical honesty doesn’t always feel great —and involves facing the truth. But without this crucial step, there’s no chance our transformation will come to life.

On that New Year’s Eve night, I was able to get radically honest: I felt alone, disconnected, and as if I was on someone else’s path. I knew if I stayed in the same place, I’d wake up one day drenched in regret. Without this level of honesty, change would be impossible.

Ask yourself 2 questions: How do you really feel about where you are in life today? What do you really want and why? Once you’re clear on these two —it’s time to step into a powerful declaration and commitment.

2. Commit to Vision

The reason why so many visions fade and never come to life is a lack of commitment. It’s easy to be excited and inspired at the dance party seminar when you set the vision but what about when nothing is working and you want to quit?

This is what separates the committed from the dabblers, the purpose driven from the half hearted. Once you’ve gotten radically honest, you must now commit to your vision. Make no mistake, this won’t always be fun, and you’re going to want to quit over and over. But when you’re committed to your vision, you see adversity as a test to see how bad you really want it.

This is when you create and declare the vision you’ve created with vivid detail, leaving nothing out. If it doesn’t get you emotional, keep going until it does and tap into a deeper purpose inside of you.

“Your CONVICTION and your CONVENIENCE don’t live on the same block.” – Lisa Nichols

3. Faith, Trust & Resilience

You’ve gotten radically honest and declared a bold vision. Now it’s all fun and games, right? Wrong. Here’s why: the universe has a funny way of testing us after we’ve declared our commitments.

It knows so many people make big declarations and never follow through. It knows 92% of people who set New Year’s Resolutions never do anything with them. Anyone can dream big, but few are willing to act big.

This is when you must harness faith, trust and resilience in your vision. You’ll be tempted to pursue other opportunities. Fear will try and slow you down, telling you it’s not the right time. In order to succeed at this step, you must stay committed on your path before the results come to life.

For me, I’d declared my vision of moving to a brand new city and starting a new business. But I also had 11 employees and had signed a 5 year lease on a building. It was easy for me to see this as an impossible task but faith, trust and resilience kept me going.

4. Daily Action

As you continue to move forward on your bold leap, you must take one daily action designed to bring it to life. Don’t get overwhelmed. Simplicity is key here, and designed to do one thing: Strengthen your belief that it’s not only possible, but coming to life faster than you’d ever imagined.

Too often, I talk to people who declare a bold decision and leap and wake up the next day and do nothing. Time passes, and their mind finds all the reasons why it won’t happen. This is when you flip the script and take one step every single day towards your mountain.

Early on, it’ll feel like you’re not doing much of anything —and that’s okay. Celebrate your small wins and remember these will add up and create the most powerful force in the world: momentum.

With momentum, bringing your leap to life becomes easier and every day becomes another chance to take your belief to the next level.

“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.” – Zig Ziglar

5. Surrender

Armed with the first 4 steps, you’re on the path of taking the leap of your life. You’re part of the 5% that doesn’t only dream big, but brings these dreams to life every single day. The last step may seem confusing, but it’s time to surrender. Remember, surrender does not mean giving up, it means cultivating a deeper level of trust in how your leap is going to come to life.

The key here is to surrender to the way it’s going to be delivered to you —and ensure you don’t miss opportunities along the way. Because if you’re too focused on how you want it, you may not see a door open to get you there faster.

If you do this right, you’ll notice people, places and opportunities come into your life to support your leap. You’ll be amazed and wonder how they came to you at the right place and at the right time. This is the magic of surrender in action and the power of embracing the unknown.

What Is Your Leap?

I’m constantly having conversations with people who know there’s something much bolder out there for them but they’re stuck. In this post, we detailed exactly how to identify your leap and bring it to life through a series of steps.

Your leap may be starting the side hustle you’ve always wanted, quitting the job that’s been eating away at you, asking him or her out, or taking the adventure of a lifetime. What matters is how it feels to you, and that you honor the feeling by bringing it to life.

Because the alternative is to put it off for another month, quarter or year —and wake up a decade from now wondering where it all went. That’s not what you’re here for. Instead, take the leap of your life and never look back!

Is there an area in your life, such as a relationship, work, or with family where you’re not taking a leap of faith? If so, hopefully these five steps will help you take the necessary leap to a greater life!

Image courtesy of Twenty20.com