Are you ready to leap?

I barely talk to the woman any longer. But she offered me a piece of hopeful wisdom some years ago that that I still hold onto.

We were walking along the river one day, and I was lamenting my status—at work and in my life. I was past 30 at the time and felt like I hadn’t accomplished much—not married, no kids, no house, and working a part-time job well below my experience level. I didn’t see a family anywhere on the horizon. I couldn’t see any way that I could scale the career ladder before I was nearly ready to retire.

But she told me that you can’t always look at climbing step by step. She said that sometimes we have to look at making leaps.

I’d never thought about it like that—I was a work-hard-and-wait-your-your-turn kind of girl—but I never forgot it. And then it happened: I made a huge leap at work. And suddenly I was working on par with my experience and my aspirations. That leap caught me up. And confirmed that river-side lesson that I’ll never forget.

How do you develop a leap mentality? It’s a little different than waiting to hit the lottery. That’s passive. And it’s not about cultivating a willingness to step on people. That’s unnecessarily aggressive. (And bad karma, to boot.)

It’s about being intentional, being ready and being open—really open—to the world of possibility. It’s the Olympic hurdler with her feet in the blocks, waiting for the starting gun. She has trained, she has prepared, she sees the finish line ahead of her and she has willed every muscle in her body to know that she can break that tape. She’s just waiting for the BAM!

Are you on purpose? Do you have a plan, so that if your number comes up, you’ll know exactly what you’ll do with that jackpot? It doesn’t have to be a 20-page life map. It can be an idea on the back of a napkin. But it should be a complete thought—because unless you’ve thought it through, you won’t know how to prepare.

You have to prepare. Identify and gather your gifts and talents and resources. Go get what will be required for you to step right up into your new role. Otherwise, when opportunity arises, you'll have to let it pass you by.

Do you believe? You know that Oprah thing: “God has a bigger dream for you than you can dream for yourself.” Do you believe that anything really is possible? And do you believe it’s possible for you? Are you walking around in the world as if you do?

You don't have to know in advance what the leap will look like. You just have to believe it's possible and be ready when it comes. And when you're ready—and not one second before you're ready—it will appear. BAM!