Hey lovelies,
Have you ever sat down and started thinking about everything you haven’t done?
That was me recently.
I started thinking about the podcast episodes I hadn’t recorded, the blog posts I hadn’t written, the things I hadn’t posted, and everything else sitting unfinished on my mental to-do list.
And before I knew it, I was thinking, Lord, what have I been doing?
But then I had to catch myself.
Because I haven’t been doing nothing.
I’ve been working. Learning. Building. Taking care of responsibilities. Trying new things. Figuring some things out and realizing other things weren’t working the way I thought they would.
I’ve been living.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that, I’ve been becoming.
We’re So Quick to Count What We Haven’t Done
Why is it so easy for us to remember everything we didn’t accomplish?
We remember the business we haven’t launched, the money we haven’t saved, the weight we haven’t lost, the application we haven’t submitted, the content we haven’t posted, and the promise we made to ourselves that we still haven’t kept.
But when was the last time you stopped and counted what you have done?
Think about it.
How much have you learned over the past year?
What have you survived?
What do you understand now that you didn’t understand before?
What are you finally willing to do that you were once afraid to do?
Maybe your progress doesn’t have a certificate attached to it. Maybe nobody clapped for it. Maybe you didn’t announce it on social media.
That doesn’t mean it wasn’t progress.
Sometimes growth is simply being able to say:
I don’t think the way I used to think anymore.
I don’t accept what I used to accept anymore.
I know more now.
I’m stronger now.
I’m willing to try again.
That counts too.
Maybe You’re Not Stuck
Sometimes we call ourselves stuck when the truth is that life simply isn’t moving according to the timeline we created in our heads.
By now, I should have…
How many times have you said that?
By now, I should have the degree.
By now, the business should be successful.
By now, I should be making more money.
By now, I should have figured this out.
By now, I should be further ahead.
But who created that timeline?
We have to be careful, especially when we’re constantly seeing other people’s accomplishments online.
You can’t look at someone else’s chapter twenty and decide your chapter five isn’t good enough.
You don’t know what it took for them to get there.
And more importantly, their journey isn’t yours.
Some things take time.
Some things require experience.
Some things require failure.
And some blessings require us to grow into the person capable of carrying them.
Becoming Can Be Messy
I think we sometimes imagine growth as this beautiful, straight path forward.
It isn’t.
Becoming can look like starting something and changing your mind.
It can look like having ten ideas and only finishing two.
It can look like realizing something you wanted badly isn’t right for you anymore.
It can look like resting.
It can look like asking for help.
And sometimes becoming looks like returning to something you neglected and simply saying:
Okay. I’m ready again.
No big announcement.
No beating yourself up.
No spending another month feeling guilty because you disappeared for a while.
Just start again.
That’s exactly what I did with my podcast.
I realized I hadn’t recorded in a while. I could have continued feeling bad about being inconsistent, or I could turn the microphone back on.
So I turned it back on.
And guess what?
The first episode back was recorded in one take.
Sometimes the hardest part really is deciding to begin again.
You’re Not Starting From Zero
Here’s something else I want you to remember.
When you return to something, you aren’t necessarily starting over.
You’re starting with experience.
You know things now that you didn’t know the first time.
You’ve made mistakes.
You’ve learned what works and what doesn’t.
You may even understand yourself better.
So stop thinking that every restart puts you back at the beginning.
Sometimes the second start is stronger because of everything that happened between the first attempt and now.
Give Yourself Grace — But Keep Moving
Now, grace doesn’t mean making excuses forever.
There are things we know we need to do.
There are goals we’ve neglected.
There are promises we made to ourselves that we need to start keeping.
But there is a difference between holding yourself accountable and tearing yourself down.
You can say, I haven’t been consistent, and become consistent again.
You can say, I got distracted, and refocus.
You can say, That didn’t work, and try something different.
You can admit that you need to do better without deciding that you are a failure.
Give yourself grace.
Then move.
Stop Waiting. Start Becoming.
This is what Stop Waiting. Start Becoming. continues to mean to me.
It isn’t about becoming perfect.
It isn’t about having your entire life figured out.
It’s about refusing to spend another year waiting for perfect circumstances before you start becoming the person you know you’re capable of being.
Stop waiting until you’re fearless.
Stop waiting until everybody understands your vision.
Stop waiting until you have more money.
Stop waiting until life gets less busy.
Stop waiting until you feel completely ready.
Sometimes you have to move first.
Take the class.
Write the first page.
Apply for the position.
Start the business.
Record the podcast.
Make the phone call.
Try again.
Whatever your thing is, do something that moves you toward it.
And if you’ve been sitting there thinking you’re behind, I want you to ask yourself a different question today:
What is one thing the person I’m becoming would do next?
Then do that.
Maybe you’re not as far behind as you think.
Maybe while you were busy looking at everything unfinished, you didn’t notice how much you were changing.
Give yourself credit for that.
But don’t stop there.
There is still more in you.
Stop waiting. Start becoming.
With love,
Sharon
