I was on Facetime with a friend of mine recently. We were both typing tirelessly on our laptops, sending emails all while catching a few big belly laughs in between hitting the send button. We are business owners and often trade ideas and exchange war stories that offer much-needed support and accountability to each other.
In the small pockets of silent moments, I experienced a nudge in my side; a sign that my gut was trying to tell me something. I shrugged it off briefly in an effort to move through my workload faster, until it happened again, only this time I couldn’t ignore it.
“Cee, I’m getting a weird feeling that we are going about this the wrong way in this season,” I said while thinking about the next few months. September is a reminder that Q4 has the potential to be our biggest sales period or our worst.
She replied, “What do you mean?” To which I then shut my laptop and leaned in towards her with my arms folded.
What followed was a beautiful exchange between us. Cee and I engaged in a talk about our faith. It’s a topic that comes up often with my closest friends. Any time we feel like our faith is taking a back seat or overshadowed by anxiety, we immediately address why and how to get back on track.
While we were sending emails, drafting pitches, and setting up meetings, a feeling came over me that we should cancel the day and focus on resetting our mindset and foundation, visualizing our goals and talking to God about it all.
I told her I didn’t want to look for my next opportunity, I wanted to attract it. I reminded her that we have planted a lot of seeds over the years and alongside the work we put in, we ought to trust that God is also working behind the scenes on our behalf.
On any given week, it’s easy to fill your day with ‘busy work.’ When running a company, there’s an endless list of things to do and some of those tasks are directed by your favourite online coach or expert. But when was the last time you asked God to order your steps? When was the last time you waited on instructions from Him about what move to make next?
At this point, I might’ve lost a few of you and that’s OK. But for those of you who are still tapped in, hear me out. Sometimes we get so caught up in the networking and marketing and the captions and public applause, that we totally miss the impact of small gestures that also move the needle forward in our lives and careers such as prayer.
I make it a habit to schedule time with friends to pray over our families, mental health and our businesses. But my therapist always reminds me that God is omnipresent. Yeah, you can find Him in prayer, scripture and communion, but you can also find Him in the silence during a long drive to nowhere (my fave!), in a gentle hug from a parent, a kind person at the store, the energy passing through a body of water, and even the faint whisper in the tree leaves. You choose how you want to experience and hear Him everyday.
Peace is knowing that you can afford to wait (on Him) and await without anxiety. Q4 will either be prosperous or turbulent. But I promise you the answer to your worries won’t be found at a conference or in a course. As your big sis, please don’t get so caught up in the hype that you forget who the real source is.
Cee and I did, in fact, cancel our entire agenda that day – guilt free. And without being too open, let’s just say whatever hiccups in my business that needed to be ironed out, were handled and then some.