If you are waiting for fear to subside before you act, you will never act. The fear doesn't subside until you act. Only action trumps fear.

Remember a time when you woke up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare or a strange noise you heard, and you were absolutely paralyzed? You literally couldn't move a muscle. You couldn't even speak, let alone reach over and turn on the lamp. If you laid there waiting until the fear passed, it may have gone on indefinitely. But once you pushed through the fear and turned on the light, the fear seemed to vanish almost instantly.

This is the same fear that strangles you when you want to move ahead in your life or your business. Take action first - only then will the fear subside.

If you are waiting for permission to be successful from someone else, forget it. It's not coming.

No, really, it's not coming. Your father, or mother, or husband, or teacher, or whomever is not going to call you up today or tomorrow or next week and say,

O.K. you are finally a grown up. I now give you permission to go be enormously successful, confident, and wealthy - don't let me down!

Permission to define yourself as a success and real live grown up can only come from you. Don't be stingy; give it to yourself with both barrels.

If you are waiting to move into a new house, change jobs, have a baby, find the right planner, hire the right assistant, save some more money, lose weight, organize your office, or for your kids to grow up, your marriage to get better, your job to let up, or for life to simply stop happening....you are living in some sort of misguided fantasy that your success can't happen in the middle of all of that.

Why? Because success happens ONLY in the middle of all of that because "all of that" never goes away.

There will never be the perfect time to start, run, or grow your business. As a matter of fact, the most perfect time to do that is right now! It is exponentially better than anytime after right now.

Do it now because whatever it is you're waiting for doesn't really exist.

Take charge!

Ann Vertel shares wit, wisdom, and resources on how to take charge of your life and everything in it. She coaches online entrepreneurs, helps women and girls build self confidence, and is known for her honest, upbeat, and grounded approach to life and business. Ann is a retired U.S. Naval Officer, wife and mother, Christian, conservative and lives in San Diego, California. Visit http://AnnVertel.com and get "The 7 Steps to Taking Back Your Life" right now!