Where we are now is sacred ground. We don't get our confidence from us. We get our confidence from God. You are being positioned for the breakthrough that's coming. We don't have to carry all the weight ourselves. We can give it up and hand it over.
I don't know about you guys, but Jordan and I, we've been feeling like we're trekking through the wilderness over here. And the way that I picture this is it's almost like so many of us are in an in-between season. Like, we know that we're exiting out of a season, we're closing a chapter, and we're going somewhere new, but the key word there is word "going." Like, we're in the act of going there; we're not there yet.
And I feel like it has a lot of us feeling uncomfortable, frustrated. We're lacking clarity. Like, we don't have an A to Z playbook on how to get where we're going, and I think for some of us, even knowing fully, like, where we're going.
We're in the midst of transition. We're in this transitional period of time, and I know so many of you listening to this, you can relate to that, like feeling this uncertainty, feeling this unsteadiness, maybe even loneliness as you're trying to find the clarity of like, "What's happening right now? Where am I going? How am I getting there?"
This season, I think, is definitely marked by a lot of discomfort, and a lot of us often fight uncomfortable places. I mean, none of us wake up in the morning thinking like, "I'm gonna go feel uncomfortable today. I'm gonna go, like, do the scary thing today." Like, we might try to hype ourselves up, but the nature of how we're built and designed is like, we try to avoid what's uncomfortable, because there's often like a fear associated with that.
But I believe that in attempting to avoid discomfort, we actually deter and further ourselves away from our calling and the work that we're meant to do. And so, today, we really wanna have a conversation around this transitional period that we're in, because I believe that this season, although it's marked by a lot of these, like, negative, quote-unquote, feelings, I believe that it's actually preparing us for transformation. It's preparing us for the destination, and this season, I would argue, is more important than where we're going, because it's gonna determine not only where we're going, but how we will arrive there—how well we can actually sustain once we arrive at that place. Because the reality is, many of us, we can list off all the things that we want, all the goals that we have, all the desires that we have, but with each of those line items, we have to think, "What responsibility accompanies that? What responsibility accompan- accompanies that desire?" Because with every single blessing, with every single accomplishment, growing and going up a level and another level and another level comes an increase in responsibility, and that's why these seasons of transition and in-between exist, because it's actually sacred preparation.
And so, often we try to avoid these seasons, because we just wanna get to where we're going. We just, like, wanna go there, we wanna get there, we're gonna enjoy the bliss at the top of the mountain. But where we are now is sacred ground. It's sacred preparation, and it determines how we arrive at that place.
So, this time, right now, of discomfort and not knowing, but still moving, like, it's not wasted. It's actually extremely valuable. And so today, we just wanna acknowledge this season that so many of us are in, and we also wanna share a few things that we can all leverage and really anchor into in this in-between season so that we don't just have to, like, wake up every single day just surviving, but we can actually really enjoy and soak up all of all of the preparation, all of the blessings, all of the beauty that this season has to provide, knowing that it's leading us to exactly where we're meant to be. And once we get there, we can actually carry and sustain that space and that level.
I feel like life really is all about preparing us. We're always in some form of preparation for the next thing, and that's not to say we should always be like, "When's the next thing gonna happen?" and never content with where we're at., but I feel like that is such a good reframe to think more about the fact that we're being prepared through moments of hardship and through seasons of hardship when we're stressed out or frustrated or disappointed, maybe 'cause we're not where we wanna be, or we're sad, or whatever it may be, when we can just accept the fact that we're always being prepared every step of the way.
I also feel like that alleviates some of the pressure, 'cause we're just becoming and growing, and even though moments and seasons can be hard, we're being prepared for the next thing—and we're growing stronger in that. And I feel like this season a lot of us have been in has been a time where it's just been kind of, like, frustrating or, like, we're at a standstill, or we're disappointed 'cause we're not where we thought we would be by now, or we're a little bit lost and confused because, like, "Where are we going?" You know?
I feel like most people feel this general sense of, like, one chapter has closed and another is beginning, but we're kind of, like, in the middle right now. We're, like, on the cusp of something new, and I feel like we've been I feel like we've actually been here for a while now. Like, I was—
Yeah.
—feeling this for probably, like, a few years, that, like, something was, like, coming, but, like—unsure of what that would be, and still kind of uncertain. But—
I feel like it's reached a pinnacle, though.
Yeah.
We're at the pinnacle right now.
Yeah. And like, there's just been so many cultural things that have shifted as well, and I think just, uh, an easy example being, like, AI and how that's changed so much, and now everything's kind of like, wh- you know, we're like, "What are we doing here and where are we going?" And it's just, it's like, there's a lot of hope in that. Like, you can see it for what it is, like, there's so much possibility and we don't really know where we're going, but something's happening and, like, that's exciting. Or you can see it through a more, like, fearful lens and be scared, and that is, like, a normal reaction, but we get to choose, you know, what we're going, what voice we're gonna listen to, like hope or fear.
Yeah. And Yeah. You know?
I feel like life is boot camp. Life is just constant preparation, but I feel like so many of us give into this idea that, like, we should be hitting this goal, accomplishing this thing, doing this thing, reaching this level by this certain time, and a lot of that is informed by social media. A lot of that is informed by, it just feels really good to hit our goals and get to where we want to go.
But the reality of it is, ask anyone who is older, ask, ask any experienced entrepreneur, well-known name, they will tell you that 80 to 90% of your life is lived in this preparation phase. It's lived in the valley floor where you are literally, like, trudging through the mud, and you're working your way up to the top of that mountain.
So, the more comfortable that we can get with these seasons and the more that we can actually embrace what these seasons have to offer us versus trying to fight it and resist it at every single turn, the more we can benefit from it, the more that we can actually be equipped and be prepared for where we're going. And that's why we want to have this conversation today. I mean, it's not just applicable to this current season. Although, like I said, we're at the pinnacle of this transitional period. But it's applicable to so much of your life and so much of the journey of entrepreneurship and really doing anything meaningful in your life. Like, you are constantly being prepared and refined and strengthened, and that's just a part of it.
That's just a part of life that we have to accept.
Yeah, so today we kind of wanted to talk through some key things to just keep in mind in this season, but also, like you just said, it's just in general, you know, good things to keep in mind as we move forward. One thing that I find so important is our words and the power of our words, and I feel like most people know this and most people might understand that our words have power, but, like, do you really understand? Do we really understand how much power they really have?
And in any season of uncertainty or frustration or fear, it's so easy to confess from our mouths, like, the wrong thing because we're speaking from feeling, and we're speaking from our circumstances and where we're at, and we're not really looking ahead to where we're going, the hope for a better future. We're just so stuck in the present moment and the present season and feeling so frustrated by it. And it's so important to keep in mind that what you confess, you cause.
I really do believe your words have way more power than you might realize, and it is far too easy for us to speak negatively over ourselves and our circumstances. It's like the natural default, I feel.
Especially if you're speaking from feeling and you're already feeling frustrated or sad or disappointed or whatever the case may be. The words that come out of your mouth might come from your feelings and the thoughts that you're thinking, and those words, the more you say them, they form your beliefs about yourself and about your circumstances and where you're at, and those beliefs dictate your actions or your inaction. And that's why, that's one reason why it's so important to make sure that you're using your words wisely, and it's just a simple thing that a simple shift that we all can make. in those moments of frustration and this time where you m- maybe feel uncertain, just anchoring yourself in the truth through your words.
And maybe just a practical approach you could take is having a pa- a piece of paper or something, writing down some hope-filled statements for yourself that, like, speak truth over you and speak truth over your circumstances, like the truth that everything is working together for your good, the truth that you will get where you're supposed to get when you're supposed to get there, like these truths that we need to believe in and anchor ourselves in. And maybe write that down, and you speak it aloud over yourself every day and in especially in those moments where you're feeling whatever those icky feelings are, if you're feeling frustrated or upset or disappointed, especially in those moments, leaning into the truth and confessing it over yourself and your circumstances, even when you don't necessarily believe it. Because that belief is formed slowly over time и the more you speak positively over yourself, not necessarily just positively for, for positive sake, but speaking truth over yourself, anchoring yourself in that, like, that will help inform your beliefs, and that will help dictate your actions as well.
As a believer, I know my Bible says that death and life are in the power of your tongue. And the more that I sit with that and, like, meditate on that, I'm like, "That is psycho. That's crazy." So you mean the words that I'm speaking all day, every day have the potential to be life or death. Now, whether you're a believer or not, the truth rings true, and you can go unpack all of the science behind it, that your words carry power, and like Jordan said, your words, they create your environment, your reality.
I heard this analogy one time that the more you think something and the more you speak something, imagine that with every thought, with every word, you're taking a machete, you're in a forest, and you are chopping a path. So if I think, "I'm ugly," and then I say that, "I feel ugly today, I look ugly today," every single time I think that, every single time that I speak that, I am taking that machete, and I'm going further and further and further down the path, and you know what that causes? That makes it easier and easier and easier to keep going back down that path, to spiral further, to go further down that path every single time.
So once you've carved that path, and you've gone that distance, you have to create the opposite effect, "I am beautiful." You have to think it and speak it, and then the more you do that, the more that that path grows.
The more grass grows in that path, and it completely builds back up, and you create a new path. So think about that anytime you're thinking and then speaking something, because a thought is one thing and a word is another thing, because your word is confession. It is literally you confessing and declaring something over your life.
And listen, you might be thinking to this like, "Man, you guys are serious." But I am sorry to tell you, this is something that was ingrained in us growing up. You remember when we would fight and we'd be, "I hate you," and mom and dad would come around, "We do not speak like that."
Yeah.
"We do not" "We always had a sit down, your words have power, death and life is in the power of the tongue, and you don't speak things over people or over yourself that you don't want to claim and declare and reinforce."
So growing up, we have by no means been perfect in this area, but we recognize the power of that, and we've seen things even in our life that we have confessed that have been brought to reality and fruition, and I've also seen things that I've confessed that I really started to believe and live out that were not the best. So then you have to rewire and rebuild.
But all that to say in this season where things are so unsteady, where you feel like you're kind of easily swayed or shaken or you don't exactly know where you're going, you don't exactly have clarity or in the in between, it is more easy than ever to give into those little thoughts, like, "You don't know what you're doing. You can't do this. Who are you to be even going in this direction?" Whatever it may be, then you start to speak that.
So do the opposite, be more conscious than ever in seasons like this of your words, of your thoughts, be proactive with your confession as well. Like, we were taught to come up with a, a list of confessions and truths that we wanted to speak over ourselves every single day, and there's a science behind that, the repetition of speaking things over yourself and what it reinforces in you and how that affects your behavior.
So that's a good note for, for those of you that feel like maybe you're, you're stuck in a negative train of thought and negative confession, create a list of even 3 to 5 things that you want to believe and say them before you believe them. That doesn't make you inauthentic. That makes you someone who wants to have more, who wants to be more, who wants to call yourself higher.
I think that's another thing, that's another qualm that people have with affirmations and things like that. "Well, it doesn't feel authentic to say so- something that's not real." Well, for me as a believer, I know what truth is, so I have to have faith in that and speak it before I believe it. And I'm getting ahead of myself here, but make a list of things that you want to believe and speak them before you believe them and watch as that reinforces your beliefs and your reality and your environment around you.
Amen. I feel like that was the, I was preaching. I just had to say all of that, you guys. I just had to go there. And like I said, I got a little ahead of myself, but another thing that we feel is so important in this season is your faith. your faith in what you want, and where you want to go, and what you want to have.
Faith by definition is deep seeded trust and confidence in something or someone often without complete proof or understanding. That's the hard part. Believing without having any reason to believe it, with no proof, no understanding, and that's where many of us are at right now. We don't have the A to Z plan. We don't understand exactly what we're building for, where exactly we're going, what this transition looks like for us and our business and how all the pieces are gonna come together.
But having faith in your vision, having faith in your calling, in the work that you know that you're meant to do, in the truths that you hold dear, even when everything else around you may look the opposite. It might look like you're crazy. Like I- I want- I want Leo to look at me and I'd rather he say, "She's crazy to be like having faith for that when like this is happening." Than the opposite, of just kind of like sulking in where I am and not believing for anything more.
Like I wanna be labeled crazy. I wanna be that crazy faith-filled woman that's like declaring and believing and confessing and going for the things even when it doesn't make sense because you know what? I'm gonna get there by having that posture and that mentality.
And we were talking about this in a recent training. Jordan, you actually unpacked this, and I really, really felt this was important to bring to the podcast. We get a lot of questions about maintaining confidence. I think a lot of us think and talk about being confident in the online space. "I wanna feel confident when I show up on stories. I wanna feel confident when I'm doing trainings or when I'm selling."
But I actually think that the foundation to confidence is faith. Confidence is often based on evidence, so we are often prompted to think about your ability to do something based on what you've done in the past.
So it can often be rooted in proof or performance, and therefore that can be unstable and unsteady, especially in seasons where it feels like there's a lot of chaos around you. So when you're stretched beyond your comfort zone, confidence shakes. It's often reactive and tied to outcomes, feedback, and external validation. And man, that is a really rough place to be in where you're looking for that steady foundation based on proof, based on what other people have to say.
But faith really goes way deeper than that. It isn't dependent on evidence. It is quiet. It is that unshakable belief that something is true even when you cannot see it. It's rooted in things like trust and surrender and really a source that's greater than you, really in God.
So faith doesn't look for validation. It doesn't look for proof. It's really a posture that you carry. It's choosing to confess when you don't see what you're confessing. It's choosing to show up even when you don't feel it. It's posturing yourself for the breakthrough that you want, and we don't do that enough.
A lot of times we just sit where we're at and we complain or we become complacent or we compare. But what if we actually postured ourselves for the breakthrough, and we actually showed up today how we needed to show up 5 months from now or 5 years from now when we achieve the thing? How are you showing up then? Well, why- why aren't we posturing ourselves for that today?
Yeah, and I feel like with confidence, people tend to think that it just comes from within them.
It kind of feels like we have to come up with that confidence ourselves. Like if When people talk about confidence it's just like, how do we- how can we be more confident? How do I be more confident? How do I get there? And maybe it's not something that we can, like, do on our own.
And I think that the conversation about faith is so important because it is so much deeper than that. It's like, faith is having trust or confidence in something or someone, and I feel like that's just such a great reframe—because confidence, in the way that we tend to talk about it, almost feels more like bravado and like we're trying to make ourselves feel, like, good and like we, we got this, but faith has so much more to do with, like, letting go and, like you said, surrender, and just trusting and believing in that which you cannot see.
And I feel like it actually feels so much better to stop trying to make myself feel more confident and actually just having more faith in, in what I'm supposed to do and where I'm supposed to go, and having faith in the vision, having faith in the truth of who I am and, and what I'm meant to do here. But confidence can feel like I know, confidence isn't a bad thing, but I just think that sometimes we get in our heads thinking that it just all has to come from us, and it's like, we don't get our confidence from us. I believe we get our confidence from God, and like, that helps to fortify us and build us up, but it's not from us.
I feel like that just puts so much pressure on us to, like, do it all on our own and get ourselves through these really tough moments all on our own, get ourselves through these, like, uncertain seasons all on our own. Like, it's just putting so much pressure on ourselves to do it all, all by ourselves.
Like, all on our own. And something I've been thinking about so much recently is that we meet our own end at some point.
Like, we run out of strength. We run out of faith. We run out of these things. Like, it, imagine, like, a, the battery on, like, a phone—Yes—and, like, the d- it just drains. We, we drain. Like, we have an end point, and I think that's actually been such a good thing for me to realize, because I'm like, "I don't have to do it all on my own."
Like, when I get drained, there God is to, like, come in and, and help lift me up. When I am too drained or when I have no faith, when I have no vision, when I have no confidence or anything, no strength, that's actually okay. Like, I don't have to.
Mm, yeah, that's not a weakness.
Yeah. I think it's actually a strength to let go and lean in, to lean on something bigger than you. You don't have to muster up all the confidence on your own and power through all the time. Obviously, action is important, and action is a part of faith. Like, faith is a motion. It's an action. It's moving. So, you don't just sit there and wait for things to fall into place, but you do get to believe in something bigger than you, something greater than you, and it, you don't have to do it all and achieve it all by yourself. It's so freeing when you realize that.
And ultimately, a phrase that I've clung to for my entire life is, "The road will rise up to meet you every step of the way." There are so many stories that my parents would tell us growing up where they looked like they weren't about to have enough, like they weren't gonna be able to pay their rent or put food on the table. I mean, my dad went into business. He started selling because he wanted to have food on the table for, like, my mom, who had They lived in a chicken house. They were at a very low income level, like low, the lowest of lows, okay?
And every step of the way, the road would rise up to meet them. If they needed food the next night, they somehow got food on the table. Think about that in your business. If you need that sale or you need that level of income or you need to find that team member or you need that clarity, the road is gonna rise up to meet you. If you're in those moments where you're spiraling, that is such a beautiful sentiment to cling to, and it reinforces your faith everything's working out for you. It's all gonna be good.
Something that we keep saying all throughout this episode is that you may be feeling this way, and our feelings can become all-consuming and overwhelming in seasons like this where everything just feels crazy. We feel like we don't wanna show up. We're feeling off. We're feeling like we're not confident.
And something that we don't often talk about in the entrepreneurial space but I feel is very important, especially when it comes to our feelings, because we don't always need to follow our feelings and let our feelings dictate, everything. I'm just thinking about the gravity of that, like letting every feeling dictate how you show up, how you don't show up. I mean, man, I've been missing so many client calls. I feel like I'm never online again, okay? I just be gone. I be, like, freaking, like, lounging in the pool, okay?
We can't let our feelings rule us, and so what we have to have in place of that is this concept of obedience, being obedient to what you desire, being obedient, even greater than that, to the work that you feel called to do. Something we've talked about quite a bit this season is this concept of calling. the calling on your life and the work that you feel called to do, that should be something that you're anchored into in seasons that feel unsteady. And we have to find a way to be obedient to that call, even when we don't feel like it, and I know I have to exercise that a lot more often than I would like.
One thing that I really love about this concept of obedience is that it's so tied to surrender, and I wanna read off a couple definitions here for obedience: compliance with an order, request, or law, or submission to another's authority—A form of social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure.
I love this idea, and I feel like I've been learning this actively in my life in this season, this idea of submitting to and yielding to something greater than me—uh, and not trying to carry it all on my own. Like I was just saying before, not trying to do it all on my own, but surrendering and fully submitting myself to God's plan for me, my calling, the work that I'm supposed to do. I feel, like, that's just such a, it's such a beautiful thing, like, yielding and surrender have to do with, like, giving up and giving over, giving away. And it's such a beautiful image to me, because it's like we don't have to carry all the weight ourselves.
We can give it up and hand it over, and hallelujah that we can do that. That, like, praise the Lord that we don't have to carry it all on our own, um, but I think that this is something that we have to learn in this season is, like, how do we just obey our- our calling, obey, do what we can with what we have right in front of us? And how do we relinquish that control?
That's something that I've really been coming to, like, face to face with, l- like, in this season of my life, because I have the tendency to want to control every part of everything. Like, I wanna control how this thing happens, and I wanna control the outcome, and I want to do it by my own volition, of my own volition. Like, it's on me. And then that creates so much stress and pressure, because then I'm trying to carry it all on my own.
And I've been learning really how to relinquish that control, and I'm still actively learning how to do that. But obedience requires us to relinquish the control, to abandon our will and our d- even our desires, our- our selfish desires 0 or- or ambitions for God's plan, which is greater than ours, giving up and giving over. And I really love, I love that image the most.
And I- I hope that, moving forward, you know that you can give it up and give it over, whatever it is, and whatever it is that you're struggling with right now. I think, right now, in this season, I have been meeting my own end. I think a lot of people have, and I think we're realizing how our self-sufficiency may not be enough to, like, carry us forward. And that's actually okay, and that's actually a good thing. Like, if our sufficiency ends, God's sufficiency is greater for us. And it's just something that I've, like, I hope that you're able to do, is, like, relinquish your control over, like, the outcome and the plan and what you, what you want things to look like, trying to get a square peg in a, in a round hole. Like, it just isn't working, and just let go.
And it sounds so easy, and it sounds like such a cliché. It's easier said than done. I think it actually requires more of us to just be willing to let go. But I think that, moving forward, I- I hope that for you, that you're able to relinquish that need for control and just let it be. And that will create so much more peace and- and joy in the uncertain moments, in the scary seasons, or this time where maybe you're feeling like you don't know where you're going. It makes it so much easier, and it makes it actually enjoyable to some degree.
Yeah. I love that concept of obedience being tied to surrender, because I think when we hear the word obedience, we picture, like, a taskmaster. And we're just like, "You know, you've gotta do this, this, and this and this, and you gotta follow all these rules." But in the definitions are submission to, yields to, and again, that concept of just surrendering. like you've got your palms open facing the sky and you're just surrendering in the unknown, which feels like the hardest time But in the definitions are submission to, yields to, and again, that concept of just surrendering. to surrender. But I've had a lot of conversations with God about this. I'm like, Fricking dude. Why? when I need it the most?
Okay? And sometimes we just have to be okay with the mystery and again, the process and the preparation. We have to be okay with this being a season and with the unknown, and that's why you need your confession, that's why you need your faith, that's why you need to leverage obedience, because you're in the unknown.
Yeah. with the unknown. And that's why you need your confession. That's why you need your faith. That's why you need to leverage obedience because you're in the unknown. you don't know and you actually don't have to do all of the things on your own strength. You can lean in and that's also speaking to your friends and your family and your team and people around you like you don't have to do all the things on your own. But it is so important for us to be okay with not knowing everything and just being willing to surrender to the You don't know. And you actually don't have to do all of the things on your own strength. You can lean in. And that's also speaking to your friends and your family and your team and people around you. Like you don't have to do all the things on your own.
But it is so important for us to be okay with not knowing everything and just being willing to surrender to the unknown. It sounds cheesy, but just surrender, because I think what can happen if you, if you do the opposite, you end up just trying to force things and push and strive and chase, and you freaking burn out, number one. But number 2, you may tr- be trying to force something that's actually not meant to happen. It's actually not where you're meant to be going because you won't let things play out. You won't just trust that there will be a series of steps that you're guided to take and you will get to where you're meant to be.
And I have definitely been in seasons like that where I was just like, I'm going to do all of this because I wrote it down in my planner and I've got the line items here and I know the A to Z. Okay? So I'm going to do all these things so I can check them off and feel really good about that. And then I get there and I'm like, This is not what I was supposed to be spending my time on. I'm trying to force something that I'm actually not meant to be doing. There's no life on this. I was not meant to do this particular thing. I've actually gotten off the path because I'm trying to force versus trust.
Sometimes there is a time to press in, to freaking work hard, and you can work hard in the season 2. We're not knocking that. But you do also have to trust and create space too. You have to let go of control. You can't know all things at all times. Actually, like that's impossible for anyone on the planet. The more that you strive to know and like map it all out and force it all, the further off the path that you're going to get.
So embrace this truth and let this free you that you don't have to, you don't have to be an endless pit of like energy and wisdom and confidence. You don't have to rely on your own strength all the time.
You can actually just trust and surrender and things will fall into place and the road will rise up to meet you. Trust looks like obedience, and it feels like surrender. So when we are trusting that everything's going to work out and we're trusting the process, that actually requires us to obey what has been put before us to do. I think obeying the calling, the work that you are called to do, and also just surrendering at the same time. It's a mixture of both, like put It's like faith and works. It's like, uh, trusting the process, doing what you can with what you have, but also having faith that it's all going to work out and just surrendering to the process. So
Yeah.
This season isn't punishment, even if you feel like it is. I think so many of us are like, Woe is me. Why is this happening to me? Everyone else is so successful, or, Everyone else has all the clarity, or, Everyone else is at this level. They're doing this thing and that thing. And that's why comparison is a bad thing, guys.
