Starting.....
Starting.
It wasn't my intention to publish my first post about this topic, however it seemed appropriate to me right now I'm certain there are those who can relate. Initially I had planned to introduce myself and let you know a little bit about me. Of course, I will do that, but I wanted to touch on this topic first. It feels like the right thing to do.
Plenty has been written about this topic, and it's all true. Starting is hard just like others mention, but it's a worthwhile hard. Once you do 'start' it's all totally worth it. What I have found, if you start, it gets easier and you want to keep going. When I was mulling over the decision that would ultimately lead me down this path, I struggled then with the decision to start. Now I'm at a point where my urge to share outweighs my urge to remain in the same place or anonymous. At first, it was so difficult to think of moving on from what I knew and where I was comfortable for so long, I couldn't quite wrap my head around it at the time. At this moment, I will pause, take a breath, and give myself some grace for how far I’ve come. And, I know there is still more to do.
Speaking of......
From what I have learned from others who are ahead of me on their journey, you'll always have things to do because this is a fluid process. We are all constantly learning. While helping others, we need to understand our game plan may shift somewhat; and that’s okay. Settle into that knowing. Get used to change and learn to embrace it. Know it's okay to feel anxious when change happens. Allow yourself to go there then course correct. Take the energy you're using to fret over the situation and guide it towards your next step, towards something that will reap rewards on your journey. Thankfully I'm thoroughly enjoying the journey right now and love seeing the fruits of my labor.
Ever since I got more clear about my journey it has been an all-consuming ride I can't stop thinking or talking about.
I will tell you, at first, even after this feeling had been weighing on me to take this leap and try something new I still wasn't sure. When somebody asked me what I did for a living I subtly redirected the conversation and evaded the question. I felt ashamed for what I thought I wanted to do at this point in my life. Then, there was a pivotal moment after doing some market research everything changed. I wanted to shout from the rooftops what I was doing and get everybody on board, the momentum felt great!
During my journey I've also learned you hit benchmarks that help you gauge your success, or failure at different points along your path. Those failures do you a favor to move you away from what wasn’t working for you. Even though I was impatient for things to happen on my journey, they wouldn't have been sustainable. I needed to learn the inner workings at each level, be fully immersed in it to grasp what was going on and build upon that foundation to advance.
Yes, there are many thought leaders on the internet, your friends, family, even random strangers who may ask what you do then give their advice on what they believe is right for you — but the thing — is it's all up to you. It's okay if you need to take your time to gather data, research options, and contemplate what to do next. Trust me, when you give yourself time to tune in you will know when you want to start. I wish I could convey to you what it felt like at that moment when I said to myself, "okay, I'm ready".
There was a sense of deep peace and awareness, it was palpable.
Thankfully I've been able to apply this mindset to all that I do in my life, give things time to marinate, grasp what's really going on, then proceed forward. If I don't then it's futile. When I speak to people I encourage them to start at point A, then when they're ready move onto point B, and so forth. Bottom line: you can't leave your house and get to the store without walking to the door, opening it, getting in the car, etc. The beauty of this is, you begin noticing forward momentum by creating sustainable habits. Now, you have real time results that give you a sense of accomplishment. Once you feel the forward motion there's no limit to how much you can do, how quickly you do it, and the results you will gain.
There are lessons to be learned at every stage, especially if you're learning something you've never tried before. When I started this journey, everything was new, it's been exciting and daunting!
Really, this was my first ever post. I put it on the back burner for a bit, and decided to go ahead and post it because of two things; it was relevant to my message, and I needed to test my new website. Talk about trying something new. I think I broke my brain, haha!!! Take care, Mindy