Tag: goals

ENCOURAGEMENT

Go Buy Yourself a Shovel

Allison Divine
shovel
It may be time to start digging up the real you!

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So much pressure. This world comes full of it. Pressure to conform, pressure to excel, pressure to be different. Trying to wade through all of that can be overwhelming to say the least, especially when your life seems to depend on it.

At least your financial life.

What I’ve learned since I started writing is that I don’t really care if it brings me money. Well, let me clarify that! Making money is great, and I’m not going to ever turn it down. But it’s not the be all and end all of this writing thing.

Photo by Julia Joppien on Unsplash

I write because it’s in me to write. Does that make sense? I was born to write–to dig down deep and get my feelings on paper. For years I thought that my ability was a gift that I was supposed to hoard for myself. I didn’t realize that the only real way to keep something is to give it away. Then I thought–well, I’m too old to start now!

You Probably Don’t know Everything You Need to Know

It’s a learning process. And at my age I should know everything already (right?), but for 30 years I’ve just been sitting on all these words. I never made a real effort to share them with anyone else. My story needed to be shared. My words may help someone else through the darkness, or encourage someone who struggles.

Photo by Ayo Ogunseinde on Unsplash

Now I don’t expect that I will normally dump my business on you this way, but I decided to go ahead and let you know that technology also sometimes mystifies me. Maybe that’s an age thing? I think sometimes that my four year old grandbaby can do more with it than I can. There’s always more to learn!

The Best Rewards are Not FINANCIAL

Having the wrong motivation was frustrating the creative process until I realized I wasn’t writing for money, but for the pure joy of giving something of myself for the benefit of others. It seems crazy, but it’s the absolute truth. I don’t write for financial gain. I write to share hope, insight, humor, and joy with others.

So, tonight I’m making changes and eating dark chocolate. I’m finding peace and comfort in helping other people. Money will never satisfy the need I have to make a difference. Here’s what else I’ve learned as I’ve been digging through this process:

It’s NOT About AGE

It doesn’t matter how old you are. If God’s given you a vision for your life AND the ability to pursue that vision, you don’t have the right to throw it in His face and say, “I’m afraid, so I’m just going to bury this over here until You come back.”

We aren’t “fine” accepting a mediocre life just because it’s easier than stepping out of our comfort zone! We aren’t “okay” if we’re making excuses or creating chaos to avoid taking charge of the situations we find ourselves miserable in. It isn’t our best life if it’s one someone else has created for us!

Your SHIP Hasn’t SAILED!

Photo by Larisa Birta on Unsplash

At my age, it would be easy (and expected) for me to say, “Oh well, I could’ve been more,” or “I could’ve…but that ship has sailed now!” Well, it HASN’T sailed for me! I still have dreams, and I believe I can make those dreams come true.

Are you going to let fear stop you? In the words of a person who I once knew, “YOU CAN’T BE SCARED ALL YOUR LIFE!” The only way to know if you can do something is to try!

It’s YOUR life and YOUR dream!

I don’t have to be stuck in someone else’s definition of what my life should be! I know what God has put on MY heart, and that is to pursue a ME that is better than the ME I used to be, so that’s what I am going to do.

My dream doesn’t diminish anyone else. In fact, the Bible says that no one lights a lamp to place it under a basket, but puts it on a stand so that it lights up the whole house (Matthew 5:15). The thing that light diminishes is darkness.

Some People Won’t Approve

If you’re doing what God has called you to do, it may scare some people. The closer you get to achieving your goals, the more they may think you don’t need them anymore. The ones closest to you may realize that in order to remain a part of your life, they’ll have to step up their own game!

If you’re being discouraged, consider that maybe the one who’s being negative has accepted the lies society and culture have thrown at them since they were old enough to catch! Remember that you can’t control other people. All you can do is work on you!

Photo by N. on Unsplash

It’s Not Too Late

It isn’t your job to try to convince anybody to get on board with your dreams and plans. NEWSFLASH! They don’t have to! You just use what God has given to you to do what He wants you to do. Live the life you were intended to live. If you’ve forgotten your vision, or if you’ve buried your dreams, go buy yourself a shovel and start digging. It’s not too late.

To read this story on Medium: https://medium.com/@allisondivinebridges/go-buy-yourself-a-shovel-33a461bb60c4

BUSINESS OWNER, ENTRE SUCCESS

What’s Your Side Hustle?

Allison Divine

Things Are Different Now.

The world is changing, and the way that we do business is changing with it! The things that used to get you through life don’t work anymore. The good old Internet has caused a dramatic shift in the mindset of entrepreneurs. While it was once the norm to have one job, lots of people now have a job and a side hustle.

Women, especially, have taken on the task of creating businesses with an eye toward the future. One of the main reasons for this is the uncertainty of the economy. Another is the long term sustainability of retirement programs and social security.

I Get That You Want to Contribute.

But Do You Have the Support You Need?

These goals, no matter how much we believe in them, aren’t always met with acceptance and support from those closest to us. People who have vowed to stand beside us through thick and thin sometimes have trouble looking down the road. They don’t always see the myriad of possibilities and potential benefits of personal business ownership. Instead, they feel an overwhelming sense of impending threat. There isn’t always a clear answer for why this happens. It seems that rational decision making flies out the window, and it becomes a struggle for power and control instead.

Instead of embracing the reality of mutual benefit, sometimes a significant other can pull so hard on the other end of the rope that you are either forced to let go of the rope, or be dragged into chaos, control, and confusion. That cannot be the way that God intended relationships to be.

A situation like this is made even more impossible when the initial response was positivity! Later, that pseudo support suddenly morphs into a hostility which makes the person and relationship completely unrecognizable. It can be a sad postscript to a relationship that was troubled from the start but showed great promise.

I Have Something to Ask You.

So this reality leads me to ask the questions: What’s your side hustle?

And if you have a side hustle, which most of us do, does your spouse support you? In what ways are you supported or not supported? Is it worth pursuing? In other words, is the benefit worth the cost?

What are your long-term goals? Your reason for starting the business? What’s your WHY? How would you feel about someone who tried to steal your dreams? If God starts something, does man have the right to stop it?

Asking for a friend….😂