This is a guest post by Amy Wright, mom and owner of Amy Wright, The Hiring Source For Busy Entrepreneurs LLC.
Editor’s note: Amy wrote this heartfelt article for us and shared her story of how she got over her own self-limiting beliefs of not feeling ready and just going for it. I think you will love reading this.
Have you ever felt like you wanted to make a change, take a leap or do something different?
If you’re breathing, the answer is probably yes. In some cases it’s a huge thing like getting married, having children, starting a business, making a career change or going back to school.
You probably just feel it in your soul.
But then, reality sets in about time or money or effort.
Oftentimes, a family member or friend talks you down.
“Are you sure you’re ready?”
“What if it doesn’t work?”
“What’s wrong with the way things are now?”
“Can’t you just be happy with what you have?”
Everything that I have and love now in business and in life, is because I had that gut feeling, that soul calling and I started before I was “ready”.
Let me explain.
I moved to North Carolina about 5 years ago. Away from my family, friends and everything that I’d known for 15 years. I quit the highest paying job I’d ever had, sold my stuff, my house, picked up my life, my dog and my two kids and left to parts unknown, 1,000 miles from home.
Ballsy? Um… yes! But it was a “soul calling” like I’d never had before.
My family and friends thought I was crazy because…I did it for a dude (my husband now) and I did it before I felt I was 100% ready.
Fortunately, things were great a couple of years later when we decided to have a baby. I wasn’t ready. In fact, I was freaked-the-Hell-out!
I wasn’t fully prepared to integrate a new child into my already busy life and corporate career! But we got pregnant and I soon adjusted to the idea of being a mom again. In fact, I embraced it.
Months went by and I started looking at daycare.
Mind you, I had never had a need for daycare since I lived around so much family before.
This was uncharted territory for me. I cried like a crazy person at the mere thought of dropping my infant off at daycare at 7am, not to return again until 6pm. My stomach just turned and I felt a huge sense of fear, anxiety and pressure at the idea.
I started looking at “work from home” opportunities.
What a joke!
Like anyone could make $50k stuffing envelopes, doing medical transcription or placing Google ads. I was appalled and disgusted. I researched for weeks on end. Nothing looked promising, but my gut pushed me to keep going.
I finally found something that seemed legit. It was Virtual Assistance! Right up my alley, or so I thought. I knew nothing of online business, technology, websites… nothing.
I knew email, calendars, customer service and how to use a phone.
I felt that I needed more training, a professional website, business cards and more than I had at that moment… but on a small budget, I spent several hours one night and I threw up a one page website (that, in retrospect, completely sucked!) and started to market myself.
I used the skills that I had and landed my first client doing something that I hated.
But I was home when my daughter was born and I got to tell my employer bye-bye!
I’ve more recently transitioned my business into a specific niche of hiring VA’s versus being a VA myself. Another calling.
The hardest thing to do, was to let my last VA client go to jump for my new niche.
I was NOT ready to let the steady income of retainer work go in trade for one-time-services, but the moment I did it, my hiring business started booming and I’m now in higher demand than I was as a VA myself and making more money too.
The point of my story is this…
If I’d have waited until the stars aligned perfectly in any of the above cases, I may have missed my boat! I definitely would not have the successful business that I love today and the family that I adore. What if I would have listened to my naysayers or that little voice inside that said “you can’t”.
Sometimes we feel that we need more in order to start, when really, we need to start in order to get more. My favorite quote, because of my experiences, is by MLK Jr.
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Are you ready?
