Hope is NOT a strategy for success Melissa Venable Hope may be a soul-soothing notion that makes us feel warm and fuzzy on the inside, but like it or not-hope is not a strategy for success.

We can’t just go jumping off of cliffs without a set of pre-built wings and we sure as hell aren’t going to fling ourselves out of some figurative airplane in the hopes that a magical net will appear to catch us. We hear sayings like Ray Bradbury’s famous quote “jump off a cliff and build your wings on the way down” or the ridiculously over used adage, “leap and the net will appear”, but instead of feeling inspired to take radical action, we just feel deflated because we know that the truth of the matter is-we can’t. While those mavericks of motivation do, no doubt, exist my guess is that most of us feel a bit more restrained by real and tangible responsibilities and obligations that don’t allow us to be careless in the pursuit of our FabYOUlousness. While I get it that there are those brave souls out there who can throw caution to the wind and launch out on new adventures without any hesitancy or second guessing-I am not one of those people, and, I suspect, neither are you. On the contrary–going BIG can be scary, disruptive and well…did I mention scary? Home is where I can put on my pajamas, curl up with my cat and relax with my knitting next to my big, football watching hubby. I mean seriously…what’s so bad about going home? I for one, LOVE going home. It has become the battle cry of the personal development movement, and though I understand the sentiment behind the phrase, I have to confess that I feel a tinge of angst every time I hear it (or see it emblazoned on a t-shirt, or as a perfectly styled & filtered Instagram post).

Make just a ripple come on be brave