As a recovering perfectionist, I confess that I am prone to play it safe. The thought of failing makes me shudder. In fact, I feel most comfortable when I am “armored up” behind the image that I have everything under control. While I have definitely taken chances in my life, they were often calculated and low-risk.
Until now.
In the past few months, I’ve shed my armor, my image, and my need for control. I’ve traded it all in for vulnerability, authenticity, and risk-taking.
The journey has not been an easy one, but worth it? Most definitely.
In fact, this journey has led me to the post you are reading right now.
The Journey to Here
In January of 2019, I texted a few of my closest friends and asked them, “If I were not in my current career, what would you see me doing?”
The responses came quickly: speaker, writer, consultant, coach, and even preacher (watch out, my Baptist friends!).
In my haste to return to my love of writing, I reached out to a website designer. For the next few weeks, we exchanged emails, logos, and pictures.
And then, life fell apart. I fell apart.
And in the middle of my falling apart, I started questioning myself and the potential my friends saw in me. The doubts rolled in…
- Why should I bother starting a blog anyway?
- Does anyone really care what I have to say?
- Besides, hasn’t someone else already said it?
So, the blog sat there. For a year and half.
Until, the moment when a friend encouraged me to start posting on social media.
So, with every ounce of courage I could muster, I wrote my first post about giving myself a permission slip to do the things I enjoyed. I loved writing so much that I just kept posting.
That’s when I remembered. I had a website waiting to be filled with my writing. So, I reached out to the designer to restart the process.
“Why now?” you ask.
Because I am no longer living from a place of scarcity–a place where I feared failure, needed the approval of other people, and maintained control at all times (all of which gave me writer’s block).
Now I am living from a place of security and abundance and most of all, I am writing for myself.
If we are going to lead where we are, then we must answer the call deep within–regardless of the risk or the response.
We have to step out of our comfort zone and into the place where our “deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
We will never fully find our true selves until we do.
Taking the First Step
So, how do you take the first step out of your comfort zone and do the thing that you feel most compelled to do?
- Just start. Whatever it is…just start. Whether it’s reading a book on the topic, conversing with someone who is already on the road, or putting yourself out there in some small way, just do something. If we are going to lead where we are, we cannot sit around and wait for the proverbial “tap on the shoulder.” We have to take the first step.
- Ask for help. After I wrote my first post, I went over to a friend’s house and she showed me several tips and tricks for using social media to communicate my message. Her help was invaluable, and I owe much of what I know to her wisdom and willingness to share.
- Listen to the voices that matter. While I made the commitment to write for myself, I do not write in a vacuum. Whether I want to admit it or not, people read what I write. And although it’s not about the likes or the comments, God has a way of affirming His calling on our lives. Shortly after I started posting on social media, five different people unexpectedly reached out to me in a 24 hour period to affirm my writing and encourage me to continue. As a result of one text in particular, I decided it was time to push my website out to the world. God had given me all the affirmation I needed from the voices that mattered most.
So, what about you?
What is keeping you from stepping out of your comfort zone and into your calling?
I would love to encourage you, so be brave and share what is stirring within you.
Books for further reading:
Let Your Life Speak by Parker Palmer
Pursue the Intentional Life by Jean Fleming
The Call by Os Guinness
