At the time, I didn't recognize the significance that trusting my inner guidance and leaving the comforts of an incredibly uncomfortable job would hold for my journey. I just did it. For the first time of many, the universe didn't have to force me to make a necessary change. It was the beginning of me finding the flow with source. I put in my notice and left that job, where I'd become comfortable in the chaos the disfunction and familiarity - to leap into the unknown.
I assumed it would be an easy transition. Surely I wouldn't be guided into difficulty. I convinced myself that once I announced the grand opening of my shop orders would flood in. Grandiose expectations without once having a conversation with source. I announced my opening on my Facebook page and got a whopping 3 sales and 5 likes. It was cool, I acknowledged the truth that my offerings may not appeal to people on my friend list. I also acknowledged the truth that many people would rather celebrate you getting a new job rather than starting a business. It's not to be taken personally, it's just a fact of the psychology of many people. I knew there was a target audience interested in exactly what I had to offer, I just had to find them. So I began researching "how to find your target audience" and following the advice of any self-proclaimed guru that seemed to know what they were talking about. Many gurus suggest getting very active on social media, so I began posting on various platforms. Crickets. Other gurus say you must use the correct key words to find your audience, so I began using all the buzzwords in my posts. Crickets. I watched videos of people expressing joy for hitting $10,000 months within months of starting their business, they said their website was the key to their success. I measured my website against theirs and rebuilt mine from scratch. Then tweaked it about 7 times trying to get it perfect. Once I felt really proud I ran a paid ad to drive traffic to my newly designed website. It got a low buzz, but mostly crickets. I started to become frustrated because my savings was running out and business hadn't picked up the way I expected. I began to question whether the market was too saturated with what I had to offer. Everywhere I looked people were selling t-shirts, candles, and low content notebooks. I thought -maybe I should pick something else to sell. Many people claimed to make money in dropshipping, so I took a stab at that. It didn't last. Finding cheap products from overseas and selling them at ridiculous prices felt very gimmicky and dishonest in a lot of ways. Besides that, so many people were selling variations of the same product and vying for the same customers that it felt like the rat race I wanted to escape in the corporate world.
For the first time, I stopped and asked source for some help. With that came a shift in my brand. When I ask, it is given. The content I found myself drawn to shifted. No more 'get rich quick', but rather 'build something meaningful and sustainable'. I was inspired toward 2 mentors with different offerings that I resonated with. I significantly trimmed down my product catalog and shifted the focus of my brand from a little bit of everything to one niche: personal development. While orders hadn't yet began to roll in consistently, I was feeling better about my offerings. After several months of transition and still trying to find my way, I asked source for help again. Posting what I thought was click worthy content wasn't helping much and I was not interested or in the position to waste money on ad campaigns. I was guided to read The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav. When I seek, I find. After reading a few chapters I knew exactly why this book was necessary for me. The author identifies 2 types of businesspeople: 5 sensory personality and multisensory reverent personality. The 5 sensory personality approaches business with profit as the motivation for doing business. If this type of businessperson helps others it is only after they have made money from them first. The multisensory reverent businessperson seeks to serve first with meeting the needs of others as the primary motivation. I took this to mean my motivations as a businessperson were misplaced and misaligned with who I truly am. This was great, I was given a major key, but I remained in confusion. How is the answer "serve first" but it costs money to run a business!? Should I just give product away? I offered a few really low priced sales and even created an e-book to give away in exchange for joining my mailing list. Yet again, a little bit of buzz but mostly crickets. The weeks continued to pass and I had periods of feeling discouraged and frustrated, but never the desire to quit and return to a traditional 9-5. I convinced myself that in due time things would fall into place as they were meant to. There's no way the universe brought me to this point to let me fall. It may at times feel like I'm falling, but that's only because I'm unfamiliar with what it feels like to fly. After a hearty cry one night I told God I won't quit. We'll keep making adjustments until I get it right. When I knock, doors are opened to me. I was led to begin reading Three Magic Words by Uell S. Andersen. Within the first chapter all of the puzzle pieces began coming together in an instant. My subconscious desires to help people and be of service using my unique gifts, talents, and abilities, were not being supported by my conscious actions. The truth hit me like a massive wave when the author described 2 types of individuals: those who compete and those who create. The competitor seeks to be like - to do the same things that others are doing, only better. Creativeness attempts to be unlike, embracing uniqueness. When you are competing you are operating on a scale of values that aren't even yours. You are attempting to meet and supersede these measurements of success that require you to constantly compare yourself to others. Creativeness carves your own lane. All along, I had been operating as a competitor instead of embracing my uniqueness. Though being impactful is most important to me, I was giving all of my energy to making money.
I became aware that business wasn't the only area I was competing instead of creating. Success, for me, happened the instant I made the choice to follow my inner guidance without being forced to do so. The moment I agreed to take this journey into the unknown. Before I created my first website or product, I was already successful. All of the inner work that has taken place and all that I've learned is the only evidence that I need to know things are unfolding as intended. I cannot adequately describe the feelings of the invisible weight being lifted and sheer excitement for making it to this space in my journey. The spring new year has just occurred (March 19, 2023), and with it comes fresh energy. I'm rebuilding my brand on a firm foundation in complete co-creation with source. In complete authenticity to my soul's purpose and with clear intention. God is amazing.
I hope you have found this to be impactful in some way. If so, leave a comment!
Go to my YouTube page here
Comments ()