Procrastination is the Enemy of Success
Hello Again Friend,
Have you ever had something you feel you should do but you just keep putting it off because of fear and doubts? If I’m being honest, that has been me the last year. Choosing to continue with this business, working alongside the person I love the most in this world has had its many challenges. My husband’s love and patience have taught me so much and I couldn’t ever thank him enough for all he’s done. Yet, there has always been in the back of my mind this project I felt called to do but I didn’t feel like I had all the tools to do it. I also didn’t want to overwhelm myself by adding something else to the list of to-do’s until I was sure we were ready. I'm sure you can relate.
It's true I was waiting for everything to line up before it started, but I was also scared because I didn't know whether people would like me still for doing something so courageous. The back and forth was endless and my project sat on the back burner while I stewed over it. But it seemed all of my reasons for not starting were superficial: "Would others still like me?" "It's going to be so much work!" "I can't do all of these other things that are important too."
Truth be told, there were a lot of good excuses, but I wasn't looking at the benefits hard enough. I wasn't looking at what I would become by doing it. It's funny how we know certain decisions will help us grow more than others but we choose not to do them because they are hard. We know they will make us better people more than any other thing we could do, but we still choose not to do them. I am putting out a call to all of you. You know what you have been called to do. You've thought of that one thing that will help you be better. It's hard. It's time-consuming. It's worth it! Start right now to do something to accomplish it. Set up systems so that you won't fail, so that you won't quit. Have other people hold you responsible for it. You can do it because you are AMAZING!
So what is the project? Before I tell you that, I want to explain that God was shaping me to be able to learn what I needed to learn to make this project possible. I could have had someone else do it for me, but I knew that for what I felt inspired to do, I needed to learn new tools for myself. I also needed to be in the right frame of mind. I get anxious very quickly about learning things I don’t understand or that are super technical. I got through school so I could play sports. I honestly think sports helped me concentrate enough to pass. I had to learn how I learn and I had to learn to be patient with myself...okay, I may still be working on that part. It was hard for me to struggle through school and watch my siblings breeze through it (and some even ended up valedictorians, which made me feel even more inferior) so this was a big deal to me.
With choosing to put faith in my Savior and in my abilities and with hours of learning I decided it was finally time to create our very first Christ-Centered Gratitude Journal! We decided on a 30-day format because short-term goals are much more achievable and we wanted to create a new journal every month for the next year. Another benefit is you get exciting mail every month and you get to experience a new topic every month with new prompts and new themes.
The first theme we created is, “Finding Strength in Trials.” We are pretty excited about this topic because I'm pretty sure all of us have experienced some pretty significant trials. Having gone through these challenges can make us stronger but it can also feel overwhelming, lonely, and really weigh us down. When going through trials having something like this journal will draw you closer to your Savior and help you find more peace. I only take about 5 minutes each morning to write in mine, and when I do it makes a significant difference in my day.
I believe that this small investment can make a huge impact in your life. I have felt God's hand guiding me to do this project even if it didn’t come naturally to me. There have been many stumbling blocks. As much as I know Jesus Christ lives, I also know Satan is real and that he does everything in his power to prevent those things that will bring others unto Christ. We have felt him trying to break us down and trying to tear us apart. He is real, but so is God! We have more power than Satan, and we will win when we have God on our side.