Living the Perfect Travel Agent Life
by Melody Fee

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Now, it does not mean that, if you cannot make it to an OSSN conference event, you are not enriching your life or career, of course! But let's just focus on what else you may or may not be doing that is holding you back from enriching your travel career. If you are finding it hard to step out of your comfort zone, and are suffering from "lack of income" or "lack of enthusiasm," or "lack of direction," what is holding you back?

I recently read a newsletter from an OSSN member named Katana Abbott (the founder of “Smart Women’s Coaching”) where her company had polled hundreds of women, asking them this question:

"What is holding you back from living your perfect life?”

And, when I read it, I realized that the same answers apply to why many travel agents are not reaching the levels of success they deserve to find in the travel industry!

Here are the reasons given by hundreds that responded to her poll:

• Not having the right network and not knowing how to get it
• Low self-confidence and self-esteem
• Trying to getting myself organized to start my home-based business
• Not believing that I have the knowledge necessary to be successful
• Not knowing where to start
• ONLY 24 hours in days!
• I am having difficulty discovering what it is that I really want out of life
• Lack of connection (friends, mentors, business acquaintances)
• Belief in who I am, what I can do, and what direction I should be going in my life
• Stuck in a rut of the same old people, same old bad habits and wishing for something to change
• Fear of giving up financial security
• Finding my power in letting go of what I think I need to control
• Finding my niche, 25 years of working and wanting something new utilizing all of these hard earned skills!
• Staying focused on the important things
• Getting clear on what I want and then taking the first step
• Finding the perfect balance between work & family
• Growing beyond my current position (need to move on to a place where I can contribute more and add more value)

We all have reasons why we fall short of our goals, but many of the issues above are concerns that OSSN always tries our best to address with our members. Your confidence, your abilities and your success is what OSSN wants to help build through the benefits and services that we offer throughout the year! We hope that each of you take the time to explore the tools that we are able to offer on an ongoing basis.

Through our many methods of education and training, we want to prepare our members to overcome the obstacles that are keeping them from moving forward to a higher level of success. This may include the ability to network with other members on the BBS and attending chapter meetings or regional conferences. It may be planning ahead to take advantage of upcoming home-based agency trade show such as the Home Based Agent Show in Atlantic City at the end of October!

Most importantly, when you come up against challenges that seem too difficult to handle, we hope you will allow us to hear from you, so that as an association we can meet the hurdles together!

Melody Fee is vice president of OSSN. Katana Abbott, CFP, CSA is a Vision Coach and the founder of Smart Women’s Coaching. (For more information about this powerful network of experts and resources from the Smart Women’s Coaching Cafe, visit www.smartwomenscoaching.com.