Pivots and Patience…
“The only constant is change.” -Heraclitus, Greek philosopher
I had an epiphany while venting my frustrations to my husband about various hurdles I’m encountering launching this project…I titled this post “Pivots and Patience” because I realized while talking to him that the two are linked(and that I need to work on the latter😝).
2020 came in like a wrecking ball and required us ALL to pivot in some aspect of our lives…whether it was on a professional or personal level. With the extra time to…reflect…I decided to pursue a dream of mine and launch this project.
Pivots. Ok, back to my epiphany…I was venting to my husband about…the challenges of promoting a project on social media that involves nudity…the seemingly slow progress of gaining traction out side of my network…when I decided I needed to create a vision board for this project. I’ve never created one before. I never saw the need. I’ve always been a goal-oriented person. Anything I’ve set my sights on, I went after and achieved.
First-generation college student obtains law degree-check
Run profitable law practice-check
Educated black female gets married-check
Have healthy pregnancy and baby after 35-check
Launch an empowerment movement-well…
Everything I accomplished in the past, I did so because I could always SEE myself doing it.
This is such a new avenue for me. Admittedly, I am having difficulty visualizing the success of it. Partly, because I haven’t clearly defined for myself what “success” is for this(hence the need for the vision board). Is it…gaining thousands of new followers, selling all of my prints, having my book make the best-seller’s list, gaining a new coaching client, or inspiring someone to say YES to whatever they had been saying no to and take a risk?
If I’m being honest, I want it to be ALL of those things. But before it can be I need to pivot. I need to change my thought process from being so number and metric oriented and recognize the “successes” I have achieved to date…producing the book, designing the website, AND just putting myself “out there” in such a personal way. Each of these things has marked a “success” and is not to be overlooked. Pivoting my thought process from “the numbers” is going to help keep me focused on what I set out to do…put out good, authentic content and empower you!
Patience. I’m always the first to chide the “microwave” society we live in. We want maximum results with minimal effort AND we want it fast!
Life is comprised of seasons…the season to sow and the season to reap. With any new endeavor the initial season is for sowing….
One of my favorite reggae artists, I-Wayne, sings…
“I love to see my people living in love. I hate to see them fighting & swimming in blood. ‘Nough neglect the farming scorning the mud yet they want to be the first to reap the fruit as it bud.” -Living in Love
Whew! I felt that! To some degree we all want results WITHOUT putting in the effort. Effort is work…effort is consistency…effort is patience. So… in addition to pivoting my thought process, I am working on my PATIENCE. My new mantra is “Chic-a, relax this is your sowing season”. (See I told you this was going to be a journey for BOTH of us).
Here’s to patience while pivoting!
What area(s) in your life do you need to pivot or exercise patience in? Talk to me!
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Chic-a, the Self-love Advocate
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
