When I started building my platform in 2015, I used to blog consistently and share my journey transparently with my audience. To be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about branding, growing a platform or even followers. I just wanted to share my faith lessons with others so they too can see that God is real and how He can turn our mess into a message.
Recently, I was re-reading some of my blogs from those days and I was so shocked at how open I was; it reminded me that this purpose walk is truly not about me but my focus is to bring God glory.
As my brand grew, the attacks grew and my fears grew.
I got less and less transparent because I didn’t want to be judged anymore. Perhaps I wasn’t being as obedient anymore or maybe my fear of men became greater than my fear of God, but I was no longer motivated to blog as much.
Then entrepreneurship happened.
When I followed the top entrepreneurs I admire, it seems like being honest about our business struggles or challenges would cause more harm than good to our business image. It seemed like I should hide the “ugly” part of my journey and only share the “pretty” parts because that’s what people want right?
It took a really heart-wrenching disappointment that happened last week for me to realize that I must only be MYSELF. If I feel led to share my failures with the hope that someone will learn the lessons and avoid going through what I went through, then I should share it. The truth is, who is for you (who God has called you to serve) will appreciate YOU and you will attract those people when you are true to you.
So, how did I disappoint myself this year?
Well, there are many😊 But, the biggest one that convicted me was my commitment to blogging more.
I started sharing my Kingdom Entrepreneurial journey, goals and lessons in January and in May, I stopped. Not because I didn’t have time or felt to do so. I stopped because I wasn’t accomplishing my business goals as I desired to and I felt I shouldn’t share my failures with my audience because I didn’t want them to judge me or feel like I am a fraud.
Here’s what I realized, life is always happening, and failures are inevitable, but that doesn’t define who I am and the value I bring to the table as an entrepreneur, mother, sister or friend.
The word disappointment means “a feeling of dissatisfaction when one’s hopes, desires, and expectations fail to come to pass.”
When we have expectations that are not met, whether we feel it was caused by someone, God or even ourselves, God has already equipped us to bounce back from that feeling of disappointment and to trust Him with all our heart (Proverbs 3:5) that all things will work together for our good (Romans 8:28).
Here are 3 Ways You Can Do So
- Learn to accept God’s grace and be kind to yourself – it’s hard to accept that we are being hard on ourselves but most times we are. Give yourself permission to forgive yourself from mistakes and remind yourself that there is nothing too hard for God to do.
- Allow yourself to FEEL disappointed and express it – whether you write your feelings in a journal, share with a friend or write a prayer to God, learn to express the emotions of disappointment.
“In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him into his ears.” – Psalm 18:3
- Look forward to doing better and learn to fail forward – Don’t stay stuck in the disappointment, plan to move forward. Make note of the lessons and keep pushing.
So, I have made a commitment to blog weekly. I hope you will
Listen to these two videos as an encouragement