Hey friend! Life is a crazy ride and if you are pursuing entrepreneurship in any capacity - you fully understand that it can feel like a rollercoaster.
There are high HIGHS and low LOWS… but what is REALLY normal?
What do all the “dips” and “turns” mean?
Does it have to be so hard?
How do I handle all the ups and downs anyways?
After all, I know you just want to feel stable and at PEACE on your journey.
In this episode, I share 3 strategies for how to overcome and remain STEADY on the ride of entrepreneurship.
LET’S STAY CONNECTED
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Michelle5Hiatt
Email: hello@nourishingmichelle.com
Full Episode Transcription:
0:49
First, I want to read a review really quick from Lejlah Lantz and forgive me if I said that name wrong, girl. She says "Michelle is like finding a diamond in the insanity of life. I felt encouraged, uplifted and spurred on thanks to her candid vulnerability and joy. It's so nice to hear someone who shares their struggles and also their successes and what they've learned in a way that we can all relate to. Listening to this podcast is like getting a big hug from a friend that truly knows and get you. I look forward to more episodes and journeying with Michelle as we seek to live our lives to the fullest, struggles and all."
1:22
You got that right girl, struggles and all! We got to keep it real over here and I feel you every bit of it. Thank you so much for the kind words. I truly appreciate it. I'm really thankful to be connected with all of you on this journey. So if you know any other work-from-home mamas, please share this episode with them today. This will just be a way that you can encourage them and also, be sure to take a quick moment and leave a review on this podcast too. It would mean so much, it lights up my heart to hear what God is speaking to you through our conversations and it honestly helps me reach other people. So leave a review just take a quick minute when you get a chance even pause it right now.
2:00
Last reminder, if you are feeling so ready to celebrate the end of the school year and you would love to try some of my Nourishing Cupcake jars, they are only available for a limited time from time to time. Join the email list today over at NourishingMichelle.com wink wink. I'll have an opportunity for you very soon to purchase some of these incredibly delicious and nutritious cupcakes in a jar and also to WIN A BATCH FOR FREE. You'll be the first to know when you're on this list. So head over to NourishingMichelle.com, join the list. I'll keep you updated on new podcast episodes and when these fresh batches of cupcake jars are stocked up on the website.
2:39
They are so amazing if you don't know what they are organic, gluten-free, grain-free, refined sugar-free, fun, truly an experience, one-of-a-kind you will love them so much just delicious and an awesome end of the year gift for teachers, friends, just a great way to kick off summer and celebrate some awesome accomplishments this year.
3:04
Welcome back to The Nourishing Mompreneur Podcast, where we get encouraged and empowered as we pursue our greatest potential within the walls of our home. Hey Mama, my name is Michelle Hiatt, and I'm so thankful you're here. Do you feel like your life is good, but something in you feels unfulfilled? Do you feel stuck in the trenches of motherhood, exhausted and working so hard, but feeling like you're getting nowhere? Do you have big dreams you hold in your heart, but you've been living small? Are you motivated for more, but don't have the clarity or the courage to do anything about it? Do you want to discover God's best and see if it's really possible to be an excellent wife, an intentional mother, and be successful in business, all for the glory of God? As a wife of 16 years, a homeschooling mom of five, and an entrepreneur, I know exactly how you feel. Every bit of it. I truly believe that the most important work you will ever do is within the walls of your home and that there is purpose in every season. If you are a fellow business-minded mama, with a heart for home and a love for Jesus, let's process this journey and grow together.
4:06
Hey mama, I don't know where you're at in your entrepreneurship journey but I'm sure that you figured out by now that it is not easy and it can often feel like a rollercoaster ride. Maybe you're feeling tired and weary, dizzy, nauseous. Maybe you're tired of the ups and downs not sure if you're actually making progress at times. Maybe you're feeling lost and not sure if your work is actually making a difference- that impact that your heart so desires. Maybe you're wondering if all this is even worth it? If those dreams are even possible. You're feeling insecure. You're tired of being uncomfortable, facing your fears, and doing the hard things day after day. You're ready for an out, an easy way, feeling like at some point you'll hit a stride and there won't be so much struggle. Well honestly, I relate with every way that you might be feeling and I don't think that there is necessarily an easy way.
5:01
In entrepreneurship, you got to put your head down and go through the grind to move forward, but it doesn't have to be burdensome because God's promises, He says His yoke is easy and His burden is light. So if you're walking in obedience to God, you can certainly cling to this truth. It doesn't mean that you don't have to work hard, doesn't mean you're not going to go through challenges, but your spirit can be light when it's surrendered to Him.
5:23
I think I'll forever be learning and practicing this truth out of myself life and business it just feels so heavy, but out of His Spirit there is peace and ease. I feel like He's teaching me a lot about this new walk, this walk in surrender so naturally there's this bouncing back between striving and surrender and let me tell you, there is a difference and you feel that difference. Have you experienced any of this before? You know some of my biggest weeks in business some of my biggest work weeks, I've been graced with such an ease and such a peace. It's like there's more going on than there ever is. There's so much work, I've had less sleep, there's more stress all of these things, but yet, it feels light. It feels easy. There's just this grace for it. There's this peace within. It just flows. But then there's other weeks where there's not so much going on and you just feel funky. I don't know life is just funny like that.
6:21
But the point is, is that our circumstances don't have to determine our walk it our journey and our experience along the way. I'm not here trying to tell you sweet things to tickle your ears but just to give you hope and encouragement rooted in truth and always keep it real. So let me just start by validating you for a minute and tell you that the emotional rollercoaster, the emotional journey that you're on is pretty normal. The struggle is real and you are not alone. I love the quote that the only time to look back is to see how far you've come. I have a natural tendency or I've had a natural tendency to always want to kind of relive the past, but I just want to make sure that when I look back, it's always with a heart of gratitude it's always out of respect for the journey, not out of a place of guilt of shame of regret and so I'm really intentional whenever I do look back and reflect.
7:17
As I move forward towards the second half of the year, I wanted to archive some of my journals and reflect on the journey so far this first part of 2021. So I took a walk on the treadmill over the weekend and I was going through my journals from you know, I think I was January through going into May here and what was amazing and glaring to me is how many ups and downs there were and in close proximity too. Literally it was like clockwork- there'd be a day of breakthroughs of milestones of achievements, just happy, happy, amazing stuff, followed by a day of floundering weakness. I could just sense the struggle in the words that I was writing. It's not a reflection that I'm an unstable person, I'm unfaithful, I'm emotionally driven, I'm inconsistent. It's not really what it was saying. It's just that reflection that hey, highs and lows. It's part of our faith journey and really, this includes all aspects of life. If we're women of faith, whether it's business, whether it's motherhood, whether we're just working in the home as a wife, in our marriage, whatever that looks like, in our journey of faith there are ups and downs, there are highs and lows, and it's perfectly normal. It doesn't mean that it's always easy to swallow and to accept but it is normal so I just want to remind you of that and kind of validate that business especially is emotional because as women we're emotional and you can expect to feel all the feels just like you do in everyday life with your business, but we don't want emotion to drive our business. You're gonna have struggles, disappointments and setbacks, and then sometimes nothing's gonna be wrong at all, but you're just gonna feel a little bit lost or funky. It's part of riding the waves of entrepreneurship.
9:00
Friend, you are caring a lot snd I know that you're doing a great job. Just the fact that you're listening right now says a lot about your character and I'm proud of you for not giving up on your journey for continuing to work hard to pursue your greatest potential to pursue more, all that God has for you, His best. So as your podcast friend, I can just say good job, you're doing an awesome job. Keep up the great work.
9:27
It's in the highs that we need to expect the natural letdown as we come off of the mountaintop. I've been reminded over and over that you don't live on a mountaintop. The effort that it takes for that mountaintop moment, the work that goes into getting to that place where you're standing up tall and you've got that achievement, you've hit that milestone, you're on that mountaintop, that effort that it takes to get there sometimes that final push, it's not sustainable. So when you hit that milestone or that achievement, you often need some time to rest. That alone is going to bring you back down. So it doesn't mean that on this journey you've got to go from mountains to valleys it just means that you can be intentional not to get in a funk and not to get let the natural lull of this ride get the best of you when you walk downhill for a minute.
10:19
Success is not linear. We know this we can be reminded all the time. It's just good to always remember what it looks like it doesn't just go straight up. I've never seen a roller coaster ride that just goes up. It always goes up, there's downs and there's dips and I'm not saying that business and entrepreneurship has to be crazy, like a roller coaster. That's not what I'm saying, but I'm just saying that the natural flows of life. It just doesn't go straight up. It's not how life works. Things that go up do let down and that's how business has been. That's been my experience. I'll have some of the most Pinnacle moments and then there's the aftermath that let down and it's just a natural flow it's the ebb and flow of life.
11:00
So it doesn't have to be crazy, like I said, but for sure entrepreneurship, you're going to be in for a ride. So what I want to remind you is just to embrace the struggle, the moments where you feel lost, and you question everything. Out of this place, we run back to our why, why we're doing what we're doing but when we do that we gain greater clarity. It's an amazing aspect of progress. Clarity is such a gift and once you have it once you have more clarity, you just got to walk in it walk in obedience and steward that well. You will most likely be tested with that.
11:36
I recently had a business opportunity and I knew what to do. I've done it before. It seemed like a good idea. I mean really, it was just a win win. It was it was just going to be good. It was going to bring in some money it was going to be a great opportunity. However, I was fully aware before that that I am in a different season. This is not my main thing right now. It's a side thing and it's kind of supposed to be resting right now. It's not my main focus, and I knew that so I think I was praying about it before I set out. I'm like God, how do I work this opportunity? Take advantage of it. My intentions are good. I want to walk in obedience, but I'm just trying to figure out how to how to walk this line here. So I was trusting God and moving forward, feeling a little bit fuzzy on how I was going to steward this, this opportunity, if you will this sale. It took a little bit of time, but I had time and it wasn't going to hurt anything was just going to be a good thing. So sometimes what I learned is that sometimes we have to take the action and try that thing and just step out in faith to feel maybe what doesn't feel good, or maybe what we're supposed to do or what we're not supposed to do. We have to try things sometimes to get that clarity. Clarity comes through action.
12:52
That day, I prepared. I move forward in faith wanting to be intentional wanting to do the right thing, but hey, this is an opportunity. Let's do it. Let's go for it. I've been here before I got this. But you know what that day I sacrificed my peace pretty much everything that could go wrong, went wrong. I wasn't into what I was doing. My heart wasn't in it and I just physically felt sick. I actually had a migraine that day. It was just I was so off. Everything was out of alignment. But you know me I just muscled through. I'm not a quitter. So I just kept going and I was like I'm just gonna just finish and you know, see what happens. I wasn't necessarily sinning or doing anything wrong. I just something was off but I just kind of went through it. At the end of the day, it was clear that my season with this business opportunity was up, my time was up. The grace had been lifted. My heart just was not in it and I didn't feel the blessing or the permission to move forward. It was out of a sad moment kind of at the end of the day feeling just the grief of man what was that? What the heck was that day all about? What just happened here? Why did everything go wrong? Why do I feel the way I do, why do I feel so defeated and discouraged and just icky? Well, I got clarity on that. And that clarity is always a gift. So once I embraced this truth once I understood oh okay God you're showing me something. I'm learning something new. Peace just flooded my heart.
14:29
The next day, surprise, the opportunity was extended to continue. It's like hey, there's one more chance to run with this thing. I was super tempted to work again. Even activating an account. I didn't. I literally, I literally left money on the table in order to be obedient. I thought about it. I thought it through I wrestle with it a minute and I was like, no if I know what I'm supposed to do, why would I? Why would I not do that? My reward was peace.
15:01
And isn't that what we all want guys? We're here in Christian entrepreneurship. Yes, we want success. Yes, we want to make money. Yes, we want progress. But at the end of the day, we want freedom. We want peace. We want joy. We want to feel light. We want to be fulfilled. Don't sacrifice your peace on the journey. Walk in obedience.
15:24
I feel like when we lose our peace, it's the Holy Spirit's way of, of just kind of raising the red flag and drawing our attention to hey, something is off, slow down in those moments and take those those signs to get greater clarity and just to ask him, "God, what am I supposed to be doing?"
15:41
Another thing that I was reminded of in this situation was that there are natural lulls in life, but in those moments, we have to be on guard against confusion or temptation. Let the struggle, let it serve you by giving you greater clarity and confidence as you move forward. Make sure that the enemy doesn't want to plant seeds because he does of fear, doubt insecurity and let discouragement set in in these moments. His goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants us to live a life that's defeated. He wants to steal our joy, to kill our dreams, and destiny. To destroy the truth of who we are in Christ. And it's in these moments of weakness that the enemy most likes to pounce. He has an agenda and it is the opposite of God's purpose for your life so don't be surprised when you feel oppressed or under attack or tested. Rise up in authority as a daughter of the Most high King and get your eyes back on Jesus. He is the author and the finisher of your faith. You can have confidence in that he has the final word and the victory is yours in Him. It's in God that we overcome in all these circumstances.
16:52
So don't let the letdown of business, of entrepreneurship, of life- don't let the letdown bring you down. Don't take a step back when you have a setback. Keep moving forward. So we understand that in entrepreneurship it is crazy. There are highs and there are lows. There are mountaintop moments and there's just those natural let downs. But how do we overcome, how do we stay steady on this ride? I know so many times we cling to what's comfortable. I think that's one of the biggest things we have to overcome in life and entrepreneurship is our instinct our nature is to want to be comfortable to want to be safe and when you step out in entrepreneurship, hey, you are facing all of your fears. I mean that is that is the path to moving.
17:41
How do we steady ourselves? We want this consistency. We want life to look linear. We want everything to fit in our box and be just smooth and easy and for all of our plans to just be executed flawlessly. It doesn't work like that, how do we study ourselves for this ride? One thing to remember is that you can only control you. You can't control the circumstances, but you can always control how you respond. Manage your emotions. Well take your thoughts captive. When you need to get out, move your body, clear your mind, look in nature. I think sometimes one of the best things we can do is just get outside and look at creation. When we look up at the sky, we look up at the moon, the sun, when we have a view and we can just see God's creation. It puts life in perspective. It helps us realize really how small we are and how small our circumstances are. God is bigger than what we're going through and sometimes we need to get out, get out of our house, get out of our head and see that.
18:37
When we are on this ride, I guess we could call the ride called life.. Imagine that you're on this roller coaster that you're strapped inagainst your will. You're fainting. You're queasy, you're miserable, you're screaming in terror, I mean, that could be your experience. That could be what you choose. But you can control your state. Imagine that you've chosen if you've chosen to pursue your greatest potential if you've chosen not to settle for a less than fabulous excellent marriage. If you've chosen not to settle to be a mediocre mom and just to keep being intentional, and keep serving faithfully, if you've chosen entrepreneurship to increase your family's income to grow as a person to increase your influence and impact if you've chosen these things, you have sat down on that roller coaster and you have buckled yourself up in the seat of growth. So meet those nerves with excitement. Meet your fear with faith. Even throw your hands up at times. Just enjoy the ride. Try to have fun. Remember that fear and excitement they're really the same emotion. You just have to choose what you want to connect it to.
19:52
I've never been on a roller coaster like I mentioned that goes up, what goes up must come down. So just know that there are going to be these ups and downs. Manage you. Manage your state. There's a lot of things that we can't control. For example, we have 24 hours in the day, if I could control that I would extend that for sure, but we all have the same amount of time. We don't, we can't really manage time, we can't control that, we can manage us. So time management is really about managing us, right? If you have to sacrifice your peace for the ride. You've got to question your course. There's a difference between being nervous, uncomfortable and afraid on the journey, and between having your inner voice-that's the Holy Spirit, warn you that you're on the wrong track. So don't ignore this or you could head into danger. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and take time to listen. Know the difference. Know what's what's normal and part of the journey and know when God is actually whispering in your ear, "Hey baby, you're off. You're on the wrong track. You're on the wrong ride." Don't sacrifice your peace. It's not worth it.
21:01
Another thing we got to remember is to stay faithful as we climb towards those peaks and come down off the mountain too. So much of business is momentum. We know how important that is. So what's awesome is that when we get to that mountain high moment it's usually because there's been some bursts of massive action. There's been something that we've done right before that gave us that burst of momentum. And when things start to let down, remember just to stay faithful. Keep that momentum by continuing to move. Keep the wheels of your vehicle moving and use each struggle moment, use it as a stepping stone, a moment to gain traction as you move ahead. These moments often provide the greatest lessons and add the purpose to the journey. Don't be afraid to wrestle. Don't be afraid to struggle. Don't be afraid to question. These moments bring so much purpose, like I said and greater clarity and they add to our why- the thing that holds us into staying the course, why we're doing what we're doing. It's always more than money. I hope we all are on the same page with that by now.
22:11
Stand on the rock when your heart is overwhelmed. I read this verse this morning and I was so encouraged and blessed by it. I want to remind you, first of all, David, this man, he was anointed. He was appointed. God says "He was a man after His own heart." And in Psalm 61, He says, "Hear My Cry, oh God, attend to my prayer. From the end of the earth I will cry to you. When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been a shelter for me. A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever. I will trust in the shelter of Your wings."
22:53
Even David said that his heart, not if, when, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. We all get overwhelmed at times. I'll be the first to raise my hand over here. And I think it's okay. Cry out to God because He cares for you. He hears you when you call. Ask him to lead you to the rock that is higher than you so that you can steady your heart and your heart can stand strong. When I think about leading me to the rock that is higher than I, I picture myself like one of those pictures I'm sure you have, you've seen it before. Maybe just a woman standing on a high rock, a cliff, kind of overlooking the ocean with nothing else. It's just views and horizon everywhere. It's like "God lead me to the rock because when I'm on you when I'm standing on you on your word, I can see clearly. Life gains perspective. I can open up my arms and surrender, and worship in freedom and just breathe deep and trust."
23:59
Keep your eyes on Jesus. The journey will always gain purpose and perspective when you seek Him first. I think that's just the end of every conversation. There's not much more and then to just in these moments to look to Him. Get on your knees, surrender. I know a lot of times for me it takes me a while it takes me a minute. I got to fight myself and I was almost like I want to work for surrender. I want to work for Him. I want to work for peace. You can't. You can't. Just get on your knees, fall on your face before Him, humble yourself. Know that He listens, He cares and he'll lead you to the rock. He'll put you on that firm foundation. So as you move forward in your day, in your week, in your journey, on this ride of life on this roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship. Let me just pray for you and just encourage you today.
24:54
Lord God, I thank you that no matter what we go through, you are with us. God whether we're on a valley, whether we're on a mountaintop, no matter where we're at in between, we are not alone. And thank you that that alone makes it all okay. It makes it always worth it God. Lord, I pray that as this mom as she reflects back at the end of the day, at the end of the week, as she looks back that she would just feel a sense of gratitude that she would see all the good that you've done in her life and all the good that you've used her for. All the blessings that have come even in the midst of hard times, even in the midst of struggle, that you are still at work in all these things, just encourage her, give her that vision and that perspective, that bigger picture reminder today God. Lord, we submit our emotions to you and ask for your strength every step of the way. Lord, may we not be on an emotional roller coaster as women, but may we stabilize in you as we seek your heart that you would be greater in our lives in anything that we're going through. That we would stay faithful and obedient and as we serve others. Lord, I pray that the letdown that we have wouldn't bring us down that we will be on guard and see ourselves as mighty warriors of the Most High King, covered in the armor of God equipped for battle. Our faith would hinder any attacks of the enemy. Lord, I pray that when we have a setback, we wouldn't step back but we would press in. At the moment that we struggle and we wrestle with, we would embrace those and turn those into stepping stones, a moment that actually helps us gain traction as we move forward as we move ahead. That you would teach us all the lessons we need to learn along the way God, not just for us but as we pour into our children and flow into other people. Lord, above all, when we are overwhelmed, when we feel lost, when we feel confused, when we just feel off, may we run to you, the rock on which we stand. Lord, I thank you are strong enough to hold every bit of our hearts and we just declared today that we trust you. In Jesus name, I pray.
Hey Mama real quick, before you run off and do all the things, if you found value in today's conversation it would mean the world to me if you left a review on my podcast. I know you know how precious time is. The biggest thing that you can give me for taking the time to share on this podcast is to leave a written review. This helps me on my mission to encourage and empower others who are pursuing their greatest potential from home.
Head over to iTunes and scroll down to the bottom of The Nourishing Mompreneur Podcast to rate and leave a super quick review to let me know what spoke to your heart. AND if you're feeling a little extra today, take a screenshot of today's episode and tag me on social. I value your time so much and appreciate you connecting with me. Find me at NourishingMichelle.com/connect
