The Vulnerable Space Between Success and What's Next

Have you ever reached that milestone you've been praying for, only to feel strangely empty and anxious afterward? That post-breakthrough crash is real, confusing, and surprisingly common among entrepreneurs. 

I recently experienced this emotional dip following a successful summit. Despite wonderful outcomes and many answered prayers, I hit a wall when the intensity suddenly stopped. The transition from constant action to relative calm left me feeling vulnerable and directionless – exactly when I should have been celebrating! 

This pattern mirrors Elijah's story in 1 Kings 18-19. After his dramatic victory against the prophets of Baal, calling down fire from heaven in a spectacular display of God's power, Elijah immediately plunged into despair. His mountaintop miracle was followed by a valley of emotional exhaustion – a pattern many of us recognize in our business journeys.

The vulnerability we feel post-achievement comes from the abrupt shift from high-effort mode (where we feel productive and purposeful) to a stillness that can feel disorienting. When all our energy has been channeled into meeting a goal, the absence of that driving focus creates an unexpected void.

Through navigating these transitions, I've developed three practical strategies: First, prepare by identifying what genuinely replenishes you (nature, certain relationships, creative activities) and schedule those immediately following your big event. Second, remember God remains sovereign during both the hustle and the stillness. Third, maintain your spiritual disciplines, as consistent time with God provides stability through these emotional fluctuations.

How do you recover after reaching a milestone? Share your experience or try these strategies after your next launch. The crash may still come, but you'll be better equipped to navigate it with intention and grace.

Grab the Healthy Sustainable Weekly Rhythm Guide for Busy Moms ► ► https://aliesehalcomb.com/weeklyrhythms

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
hey, friends, you know that moment after a big
launch or a huge breakthrough,through a milestone that you
have been asking the lord tohelp you get to, and you should
really be like celebrating andon top of the world, but instead
you kind of feel like empty anda little bit anxious, maybe
even a little bit lost.
Yeah, doesn't make a lot ofsense, but that's where I am,

(00:28):
and I know, talking to lots ofother business owners, that
often we all feel like thisafter something big, a big
breakthrough that the Lord, thatGod, has given to us, right,
like we want to be excited aboutit because it's awesome, but
there's something about it thatis hard and we are just

(00:50):
vulnerable after thebreakthrough.
And so, like I said, I'm goingthrough this right now.
I just had a summit a couple ofweeks ago and there's a lot of
follow-up afterward and it wasawesome and had such a great
time and such wonderful thingshappened.
But then it was like a brickwall right, all of a sudden, I

(01:11):
didn't have to be working, um,all the hours and I didn't have
to be checking in on a millionpeople and there was no effort
to have be doing because therewas nothing to do?
Um, I had done it already, so Ihad to go back to normal
rhythms of life, which arefabulous.
I love them.
But I've just been putting inall of this effort, and one of

(01:33):
the things is the reason why wefeel like this wall, this
emotional vulnerability, isbecause we were doing so much
and this wonderful thinghappened, right.
And then afterward, our efforts,efforts there's no effort to be
done um, god has provided allthis wonderful stuff happened.
And now you are feel like now,what?

(01:53):
Now what?
And so, like I said, it doesn'tmake sense.
You did the thing, you followedgod's lead, you showed up in
your business with boldness andfaith and it worked, or it
didn't.
Either way, it feels the same,and now you're wondering what to
do now.
So that is what we're going totalk about.

(02:13):
We're going to talk about how,even the greatest victories and
the crashes that come afterward,and so we're going to start
with the story of Elijah,because, well, why not start in
the Bible?
Right?
And it's a great example,because in 1 Kings 18, we get to
see Elijah do a wonderfulmiracle, this great thing, right
?
If you have been in churchcircles or anything, you know

(02:35):
the story of Elijah and theprophets of Baal, where he
called fire down from heaven totake um to to, uh, from God, um,
and so he did this miraculousthing, like he wet the wood,
like, if you haven't read thestory, it's super good, it's so
cool, right?
Both parties, the prophets ofBaal and Elijah, who was by

(02:58):
himself, um, they were supposedto ask their God God's, I guess
God or Ba or Baal to just lighttheir altar on fire.
And the prophets of Baal couldnot do it.
Obviously it did not work outfor them and they were doing all
kinds of crazy stuff to gettheir god to do it right.
But he did it and I'm sorrythis is not real.

(03:20):
But then God did an amazingthing, and not only did Elijah
get get fire from heaven, he gotthem to pour water on it like a
lot of water read the storyright a bunch of water on it,
and it licked up every bit ofthat moisture birds, everything
on the altar and it was justcrazy and so like, this is a

(03:42):
high that elijah is on and he iskilling it, like the Lord is
doing this great thing, he'sstaying in there, he's there
doing the stuff that God hasasked him to do and it is
exciting and wonderful.
And then right afterward hegoes away and he has got a pity
party going on and I can relateand I'm assuming that if you've

(04:03):
been in business for fiveminutes you can too because God
does this miraculous thing andthe next thing we know, we're
like why am I even doing this?
This is the dumbest thing I'veever done.
There's nothing good, am I?
Did God even ask me to do this?
In Elijah's case, he just askedGod to kill him, right?
I have not gotten to that pointhopefully you haven't either

(04:25):
but he just he said he's in abad spot, right.
And so I feel like I have beengoing through that some.
I am on the tail end of theemotionalness of it, but I
wanted to talk to you guys aboutit because it is so real and I
didn't know that it was a thingthat lots of people go through,

(04:46):
especially business owners.
There's this high of doingthese things and then it just
crashes down after and I feellike I've never heard anyone
talk about it before.
So I want to make sure that ifyou're going through something
like this, you are not byyourself.
It is totally normal andtotally a thing that happens.
But we can set ourselves up forsuccess in the Lord before the

(05:09):
crash really happens and so likeit's there because we're in a
vulnerable state right afterward.
But it doesn't have to be, itdoesn't have to take you down.
Okay, and I've.
I've found myself um, I've doneseveral workshops and spent
several speaking engagements,like in public or like live,
like physically that's what I'mtrying to say and on um, on the

(05:30):
internet and so.
But after all of them, I feeljust like this, and so I have
worked out some systems thathave helped me figure that out.
Afterwards, sometimes I do abad job or setting myself up for
success and I'm kicking myselffor that too, but typically I
can know that it's about to comeand I can set myself up well,
and I want to give those thingsto you as well.

(05:52):
So how do we navigate thisafterward?
Now you have launched the thing,you've done all the work,
you're killing it.
Some great things have happenedin your business, and now you
feel like emotionally lost.
Maybe, you know, not justemotionally lost Maybe you feel
business-wise lost, like whatnext right Before you go in, or

(06:15):
if you aren't, if you don't getto it before?
There's a couple of things thatyou should do.
Right, I want you to beprepared.
Right, that sounds stupid, butit's true.
Be prepared, you know yourself,and if you don't know exactly
what to do, maybe a spouse orbest friend can help you decide.
Like, what is it that I needmost?

(06:35):
After a launch, after an event,after a speaking engagement,
after a big sale, whatever it isthat you have going on in your
business?
Like, where and how do you getfilled up most?
Right, I really love beingoutside.
I really love having projectsto do and being with people, but

(06:58):
particular people, not anybody.
Okay, so after this particularsummit that we had and I wish I
could say that I set this up onpurposefully, but I did not,
that's totally like sovereignand did this for me.
We had we went on a trip to seesome friends a couple of hours
away and they just bought thisbig property and so we cut down

(07:20):
trees and we like played outsideand sat around in the yard and
just like hung out outside andwith particular people that fill
me up and give me joy and likementors in my life.
And so it was me, my husband,my son and some really good
friends, and that is really goodfor me, but that may not be

(07:40):
good for you.
You may not need sunshine andpeople, and, you know, pulling
trees out of the ground Likethat might not be something that
helps you.
You know, get back to yourroots, back to your rhythms,
back to your basics, grounded inJesus, right?
So what is that for you?
Does that mean?

(08:00):
Um?
Does that mean journaling?
Um, I'm a big fan of journaling,especially through my emotions
that I can't seem to understand,and so journaling may be
something that you can do rightafter an event, and you can work
through all of your good, bademotions, um, from the event and
and all that.
Or maybe you need to spend sometime by yourself, maybe you

(08:21):
need to get a pedicure, maybeyou need to put your feet in the
sand, whatever that looks like.
You can prepare yourself beforethe event itself, to be ready
afterward.
Right, I wish I would have setthat event up, or that trip up
on purpose.
I did not, but next time I willset something up like that,
where I'm going to spend sometime with some very specific

(08:43):
people in my very immediatefamily doing something outside.
That is what makes me feelbetter, and so, like, what is it
that makes you feel better, andplan that for right after your
event is over Right, after all,the follow up is through, right
after the sale is completed andyou don't you're like not still

(09:05):
in that go, go, go, rush mode,which all events require, right,
and so figure that outbeforehand, set yourself up for
success afterward Right, youknow just before you even start,
and so you'll feel better evenbefore that, after you know what
I mean.
You know what I mean, okay.

(09:26):
So, other than that, like Ialso want you to not forget the
truth, right, that God is God.
So, like that's a huge deal.
Like I'm saying it and itdoesn't sound like an epiphany
to anybody, but here's the thingwhen we're running the way you
ran for an event or for aworkshop, or for a summit or a

(09:48):
conference or a big sale, thenyou are doing a lot of things, a
lot, and all of that effortfeels like you're in control,
and it's important because weneed to be owning what we do and
where God has called us to andsteward our time and your effort
is necessary, but God is stillthe one in control and we have

(10:14):
to believe that in the rushingand in the effort and in the
moving fast and the makingthings happen, and also in the
aftermath and in the, where allthe chips fall, and then the
slowness.
And in the rest and in theregular routines and rhythms,
because God is still God andhe's still in control and he's

(10:37):
still the one that makes all thethings happen.
You can put all the effort intosomething and it may fail.
Or you could be sitting on abeach or in your backyard or
playing with your kids on thefloor and amazing things are
happening and you didn't evenknow they were happening.
Right, because God is incontrol and we, as Christians,

(10:57):
have to believe that, no matterwhat.
The rest is hard for me, and Ifeel like it's hard for a lot of
entrepreneurs, because we havethis God-given drive right.
It is a good thing to want towork for the Lord and want to
move forward and want to buildthe thing up that God has called
you to, but God's also calledus to rest and be good stewards

(11:22):
of our emotions and our time andour energy, and so that means
sitting still when you need to.
So be reminded that God isstill God.
So that's the first two thingsright Be prepared, set yourself
up for success afterward andthen remember that God is still
who he says he is.
The last thing is do not waverin your quiet time, in your time

(11:49):
with the Lord.
Whenever I was running, running,running before the summit, I
was making sure that everythingfit in and I just wanted to be
like with the Lord and do thisand do that and a million things
and all the stuff that you haveto do.
But then when the dust settledand there was nothing to do, I
found myself just kind of beinglazy, right, like there's not a
million things to do, I'm goingto sleep in, I'm going to watch

(12:12):
too much TV at night and doingall these things that I know are
not good for me, and notspending the time with the Lord.
That I should be Right, and soI don't want you to fall into
that trap that if you you know,if you're not running a million
miles an hour, maybe you don'tneed Jesus, which is just not
true.
Like and I know that.
But it was easy for me to fallinto this thing where it says,

(12:33):
like just rest, just rest, justrest, which is important,
resting is good, but like thisis not the rest that God
intended.
This was the rest me being lazy.
And so do not waver in yourdevotion to the Lord and your
time with the Lord, and keepthat at the center, because he

(12:53):
really is the one that's goingto get you through the down
after the high right.
And so those are the threethings that I do, and I
recommend, and I hope I dobetter every time that I um do
another event, and I would likeyou to do as well, because I
think that would be super goodfor you, right?
So be prepared, set yourself upfor success.

(13:14):
You know you ask a friend, askyour husband, ask your wife, I
guess, if you're a man and justfind out what it is that will
help you the most afterward.
And set that up before you go,even start, remind yourself of
God's truth.
God is God, and don't waver inyour time with him, because it
really will be the thing thathelps you through all of this.

(13:36):
Okay, my friends, that is it,so I will talk to you next time.
Bye, guys.