I had planned an order of operations for myself, and this new state of affairs was not part of my strategy. In retrospect, I realized that, during this particular season of my life, I was beginning to hatch out of what I was good at and break into what I was created to do. Unfortunately, I did not take hatching into consideration when weighing the pros and cons of this offer. Needless to say, I took the job.
While it was an amazing opportunity and I excelled in my role, I once again found myself back in the same rut I had been trying to escape. I was feeling unfulfilled. As if that was not enough, because the position was extremely demanding, it was not long before I had to resign from my volunteer role with the children’s ministry. Even now, when I think about this turn of events, I sigh out loud. Because I was unable to invest the needed time and effort into what I believed the children and their parents deserved, I let it go.
This was such a conflicted time for me. Working with the children—motivating and inspiring them—was the place where I had felt the most joy. But I had to give it up for more time to work in a job that I was “good” at. I was right back where I had been before. This turned out to be a huge setback to my hatching process.
Once again, I began to feel the tightness of an invisible shell around me that I desperately needed to break through. Once again, I realized that my comfortable place was anything but. I just had to hatch.
Looking back at those feelings, I understand now that the process of breaking through your own personal shell can take the form of many obstacles. My fundraising abilities were just one thing keeping me from breaking free.
I am here to tell you that the process of breaking free is no picnic.
•It is scary.
•It is tiresome.
•It is difficult…but in the end, it is definitely worth it!
The primary reason that breaking through and breaking out takes so much effort is because finding out who you are created to be does not always feel good. It is not easy to reevaluate yourself. But, one of the most fascinating exercises that I have ever done is to look into my own psyche. I vividly remember the erratic emotions that erupted as I hit this unfamiliar place in my process. The feeling I remember most was vulnerability.
I had grown through the ranks to become a master at fundraising. Did breaking out of my shell mean that all the knowledge I had acquired over the years would be for nothing? An even greater concern was that I might have to make my way through the ranks of a completely new area of expertise.
The answer was yes and no. No, because my fundraising skills would become essential tools to help me build my personal brand. And yes, I would have to grow and learn additional skills while transitioning into my next role. Although I was intrigued about what I could become, I was much more uncertain of what that role might be.
“Your talent is bigger than a profession. Your talent was given for a purpose. Use your talent for the purpose for which you’ve been put on the planet.”
—Dr. Steve Perry
When you are in pursuit of your purpose, or if you are deciding whether you should follow your dreams, the pathway forward may seem questionable. Many questions will run through your head. Is it the right decision? What could go wrong? What will happen if everything goes right? I asked myself all of these questions, and sometimes I still do. These are the times when you should really dig deep, find your self-confidence, and take the advice of motivational speaker Lisa Nichols. I had the opportunity to attend the Disney Dreamer Academy as a member of the press and sit in on a session with Lisa. This was my third time hearing Lisa live at a Disney Dreamer Academy, but on Friday, March 9, 2018, she changed my life.
I am not sure if it was her pure genius, my thirst for knowledge and growth, or the timing of my life. I was ready to take a risk and believe in my own magic. Lisa’s amazing story begins when she was a single mom on public assistance with twelve dollars in her bank account and a baby wrapped in a towel (instead of a diaper). She had hit rock bottom. She struggled trying to care for herself and her son.
Then she had a shift and today, more than twenty years later, she is a millionaire entrepreneur, a best-selling author, a humanitarian, and a motivational speaker. It felt like she was speaking directly to me when she said, “Bet on You!” It was at that moment that she aroused a sleeping giant within me. As she stood there, bold, radical, powerful, and passionate, I could not help but hang on every word as tears streamed down my face. I finally felt that I deserved to give myself permission to Bet on Me!
You can have the same epiphany. You have to bet on yourself before anyone else does. Believe in the fact that all of the essential elements you need are already inside of you. Believe that you can and will succeed in accomplishing even more than you have ever dreamt about. This journey of living out your dreams is like relying on an internal GPS tracker. Trust that, even if you have to recalibrate, your navigational system will always safely guide you to your destination.
As you venture toward that passion, remember that, even if you take a wrong turn, you have what is needed inside you to get to your personal place of fulfillment. The most important action you will take is to engage yourself in this process.
As difficult as your journey may become, you cannot worry about what others think about your actions. Only you can decide if your decisions are right or wrong. Reserve that power for yourself. And trust yourself! Give yourself permission to change direction. If it is not what you originally planned, so what? Life is all about change, and taking a new route is your choice to make.
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you do not take.”
—Wayne Gretzky
When you begin to reevaluate and discover yourself on the pathway to purpose, expect a definite learning curve. This process is not always comfortable or uncomplicated. But there is a simple way to become more at ease with your possible missteps and new learnings. Open yourself up to the vulnerabilities of not knowing where you might land. This is especially true if you have been at an expert level for many years in a totally different area. If you learned how to excel once, you have the potential to learn again. Imagine how you will thrive and achieve that much more once you tap into who you were created to be!
I bet you want to reach out to ask me, “Is there one specific thing that I should do to become who I was created to be? If so, how do I find it?”
To be honest, there is no one, cookie-cutter answer to figuring out exactly what you will do or who you will be next. Remember that hatching is about removing restrictions. In this process, you can and should explore new opportunities as they come to you.
For example, I remember the first time my friend Vickisa invited me to a Bikram Yoga class. Initially, I did not know if I should be insulted or inspired. When someone is insecure, she (meaning me) might easily misinterpret an innocent remark. I took the high road and initially thought doing yoga seemed easy, but the heat factor gave me serious pause. I thought, You mean to tell me that we are in one room for 90 minutes, in 105-degree heat, at 40 percent humidity, and doing the same 26 postures in every class? The class did not sound like something I would voluntarily sign up for. “Oh, okay girl,” I said to Vickisa in my sarcastic voice.
A few days later, I walked into that same Bikram Yoga studio with a plastic water bottle, a rented mat, and no idea what I had gotten myself into. But surprises never cease! I used my thirty-nine-dollar trial pass several times over the next few weeks and, once my trial ended, I found myself subscribing to a monthly plan. I ended up attending classes four to five days a week. I still practice Bikram Yoga so many years later. I have made significant progress in my practice, even though I still cannot
