The 1159: Follow the Blessing
Weekly Recap
Happy Tuesday! Welcome to Q2! For a planner like me, there was a combination of a deep sigh of relief with a slight feeling of anxiousness as we begin the 2nd quarter of the year. I love new chapters, and yesterday was exactly that. Hope your spring is starting off well and you're able to find peace amidst all the busyness.
Follow the Blessing
I've been thinking all day about what to write and then a text message prompted this. So here we go...
I met with a good friend recently, someone I look up to immensely (experienced leader, husband, father, man of God, etc.), and he shared a very simple phrase with me that changed how I view "success". "Follow the blessing."
He explained it in terms that resonated with me as an MBA-wanna-be (still praying I hit that income goal this year so I can apply) so I'll just use that today. When a company has two projects going on (say product 1 and product 2), and one is not doing well at all, but the other is soaring, what is the reasonable action? Discontinue the product that is failing. It's a basic, yet strategic, economical decision.
See, businesses are much better at this than are non-profits. No offense to NGOs or anything like that, but it's just not as common to make this kind of decision in these types of organizations. We generally start up campaigns to raise more funds to support the failing project or begin routing talent from the more successful projects to the failing one - in an effort to save it. And we do this in our own lives.
His proposal was this: what if we followed the blessing? What if we set our pride aside and let go of that which clearly wasn't working so that we could focus on what WAS working and flourishing? It's hard. Because generally, the project not working out is very special to us and a part of who we are - it's a piece of our identity.
[NOTE: neither he, nor I in sharing this, were or are suggesting that hard work or massive investments are a sign that something is failing. This is more focusing on the clear areas where things are clearly "clicking" or obviously flourishing. As to how we discern when things aren't, that's reserved for another post.]
I have seen this in DOVITO, my main source of income, the only company I fully own myself. I started out last year endeavoring to start a Marketing Consulting and Fulfillment Firm, since that's what I knew how to do - marketing. I had a bit of experience, sure, but more than that, I had a unique network of partners which made this a no-brainer opportunity. I also was doing little contracting projects here and there, with one being bigger and more well known, that focused on developing systems and defining processes for organizations, helping them scale (rather than just grow).
Funny thing was that the marketing side just wasn't taking off. It wasn't a fulfillment issue - we could deliver, and better quality than most of the competition - it was that nothing I seemed to do could get me in front of the competition... which I thought was crazy. The systems/process development began to pick up and has been growing ever since I decided to let go of pursuing only marketing and focus instead on increasing the value I can offer to my other clients in the scaling stage. Follow the blessing.
It has been a huge punch to the gut making this pivot though. I knew I was capable at providing exceptional marketing services, but I "failed" at launching a firm that would handle it. (technically making this the 4th failed startup I've been a part of ... yikes!) Simultaneously, something I never thought I would be doing until I was 35 or 40-years-old quickly became my main source of revenue, has opened more doors than I could have imagined, and led to some of the most incredible connections I could have dreamed of meeting. It "clicks" and has been such a smooth process overall. (plenty of room to grow, don't get me wrong...)
Follow the blessing.
This isn't a success story in that "hey I figured it out," actually it's more of a humbling tale of how I learned this first hand in the last 8 months and had to come to terms with the fact that my original idea wasn't the "best" idea. It's embarrassing to say that. It's uncomfortable to admit it. My ego is majorly hit as I type it.
But here's the deal. God is faithful. Every time. My encouragement to you, just trust Him. It probably won't be writing in the sky. It likely won't be this loud audible voice. (that's super cool if you get that though) Sometimes, it takes a step of faith in a direction that seems most wise at the time, and then being willing to pivot when He leads around a bend. Don't run off a cliff because you thought straight ahead was the path you were supposed to be on. Sometimes God guides us around a bend and down to the beach a safer, more beautiful way. But only if we let Him.
Follow the blessing.
Fun fact, DOVITO still offers marketing services and consulting, in fact a proposal went out last week for that, but now it's a supportive service we can offer clients who genuinely need it. And as I onboard more clients in the coming weeks and months, I'm blessed as I see how God provides, especially in ways we don't think we need, or don't think He will. He IS faithful.
Follow the blessing.
I hope you have an incredible week! Follow the blessing!
-DC