You are just like everyone else – you speak, act and “are” the way others want.You know that. 

What about your own voice? Your own opinion? Your own decisions?Where is the real you under all those layers of countless social expectations that suffocate your life force?

Do you see yourself? Do you know yourself? Who are you?

I know how it feels. I have been there, too. Just like everyone else. My own journey to freedom and personal happiness began many, many years ago.

Fast-forward and straight to the point with a real–life example:this summer I decided to challenge the ‘traditional entrepreneurial schedule’ and take two months off!If you only knew what people told me! I have heard it all from “it will ruin your business” to “it means you are not serious about what you do”.

In fact, I am very serious about what I do – I help people to find and monetise their unique voices.

I am so serious about what I do that I want to make sure I am a living example to prove that it is possible. It is possible to be true to yourself and be paid for being just who you are. You know me – and I am who I am. I have always had a charming smile and a feisty attitude. Just ask my husband and my mom!

Now – have I always been true to myself? Not at all!I spent many, many years living other people’s lives; trying to be a “good girl”; looking after everyone’s interests (except my own); trying to fit into society (Russian, Swiss, American – you name it); worrying about what people will say about me; being too afraid to make my own decisions and to take action that would make my heart sing!

Were all those years wasted time? Not at all!I am who I am today because I went through everything I did. And after seeing a lot of injustice, abuse, poverty, addiction, violence; after losing loved ones in dramatic circumstances; after making life-and-death decisions; after rebuilding my life several times from scratch; after establishing myself over and over again in various countries across the continents; after having built what I have today, I can tell you that there is nothing more important in the entire universe than you and your happiness.


The irony is that you are the biggest enemy to your own happiness.Just think about it – you could have had any life you want, yet you settled for the one you have right now. Why?Out of fear.Fear is what keeps you trapped in your current circumstances. Fear makes you too afraid to speak, act and be the way you want to be. Fear encourages you to keep a job or stay in a relationship that makes you feel safe; yet it steals your soul.

Fear rules your life. Fear rules you.Why?And – for how long?How many more years are you going to feed your fear? How many more years are you going to be a chicken?!

It “only” took me 25 years to figure out how I didn’t want to live my life. I know that in the modern world this is considered to be really fast. Many people I have worked with spent 30, 40 or even 70 years of their lives “hibernating” – until one day they woke up and suddenly realised that they wanted to have a different life.

What about you?Ask yourself – is my time now?Are you ready to create a life where you wake up every morning next to the person you love with a smile; where you look forward to going to work because you absolutely love what you do; where you are earning so much money that you can afford anything you want; where your family’s happiness grows together with your business; where you can explore the world in a healthy body; where you speak, act and are the way you want?

If right now a little voice somewhere inside your heart is screaming YES!, then you know that your time is now!

Reach out to yourself. You deserve it!

Visit Yana Fry Coaching page to find out more about Yana's work.

_{This post was first published on Yana Fry blog and has been reposted on Executive Lifestyle with the permission of the author.
Edited by Amber Valencia}

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