November 27, 2025 • 42 mins
In this episode, I’m continuing my very real “walk of shame” through the idols I’ve wrestled with as an entrepreneur—this time, the idol of my own strength.
After our move to Alaska, I slipped into full-on hustle mode: 12-hour days, learning every strategy, trying every platform, grinding harder and harder straight toward burnout—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I was praying, but I wasn’t listening. I was asking God for help, but relying almost entirely on my own strength and ability to “make it work.”
I share what that looked like—and what it’s looked like to rebuild my days from a place of dependence instead of striving.
If you’re tired, running on fumes, and secretly wondering how much longer you can keep this pace, I hope this episode reminds you that you were never meant to carry it alone.
Episode Highlights
- How the “no one is coming to save you” message quietly becomes an idol
- What my grind season actually looked like after moving to Alaska
- Hitting the wall and realizing I couldn’t push my way out of it
- Taking six weeks to rest, pray, walk, and listen instead of hustle
- Creating new daily rhythms that are sustainable, surrendered, and actually life-giving
Scriptures Referenced
- 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 – “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
- Matthew 11:28–30 – “ Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. ”
- Matthew 6:11 – Give us today our daily bread.
- Romans 7:15 – I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
Related Episodes
- Ep 20- Idols in Entrepreneurship and Putting God First
- Ep 21- When Your Business Becomes An Idol
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Amy Dardis (00:13):
I'm your host, Amy Dardis, and in today's episode,
we're continuing my walk ofshame as we dive into this
series on idols inentrepreneurship and what that
has really personally lookedlike for me, how these idols
have shown up in my life, how Ihave wrestled with them.
(00:36):
And I think it's something thatI continue to wrestle with
because it is always a battle toput God first in our life and
not allow these other influencesor things to have the most
prominent place in our lifeabove God.
(00:58):
And we never get that right allthe time.
There's a battle that we facedaily that we have to remember
who's in control.
Where do we put our hope?
So, just as a quick refresher,we talked about idols, and an
idol is an object or an abstractconcept that we give higher
(01:22):
priority than God.
It's something that we rely onfor blessing or help or guidance
instead of God.
It's anything that consumes ourheart, our thoughts, or our
devotion more than God.
And it can be any good thing,bad thing that we elevate to a
(01:42):
position of being the main thingin our life.
And it's just whatever we aregiving more influence, more
power, more control in our life,besides God, because He really
should be number one.
And as we live our life,there's just daily distractions
and temptations and ways ofliving our life or running our
(02:08):
business that are just very muchof this world, very much in
this world, very much just likethe day-to-day tactical
operations, the schedule, thepeople, the hiring, the meetings
and customers and the fires wehave to put out.
And it's very easy to allowourselves to be so consumed by
(02:33):
that and to forget what this isall about or who this is all
for.
And so today's episode, we'refocusing on the idol of our own
strength, of doing things in ourown ability, trusting our
ability to make things happen,our strength, instead of relying
(02:58):
on the power of God or allowingthe Holy Spirit to be at work
on our behalf, in the hearts ofpeople, and our own hearts, in
situations in our business.
And I think this is one of thehardest ones that I struggle
with on a daily basis because itis so completely opposite of
(03:24):
what the world teaches aboutbusiness and entrepreneurship.
So the world's definition ofentrepreneurship is, you know,
you have to get out there andyou have to be the first one up,
the last one out, the personwho works the hardest, the
longest, the most consistently.
(03:44):
You have to do what otherpeople are not willing to do.
You have to grow and developand make things happen.
You have to be willing to dothe uncomfortable.
You have to be willing to stepoutside of your comfort zone.
You have to be willing to pushyourself and challenge yourself
(04:05):
and stretch yourself and make ithappen.
Because if you don't, nobodyelse is going to make it happen
for you.
No one is going to save you.
No one is coming to save yourbusiness.
It is all on you.
Sound familiar?
I mean that I just hear myselfsaying that.
I'm like feeling the anxiety oflike, oh my gosh, like, uh,
(04:28):
because that is that is everyinfluencer, that is every
business expert, that is everybook that is out there, that is
the message.
And that is so hard to fightagainst.
And there is this element of weof responsibility.
We do have to work hard.
(04:50):
We do need to show up.
We do need to put in the effortand stretch ourselves.
We can't be lazy.
We do have to steward well ourtime and our energy and our
gifting and our relationshipsand everything that God gives
us.
So then the battle becomes: where is this line? (05:08):
undefined
Where is this line betweenworking hard and doing what I
need to do, but still trustingin God, still relying on God,
still recognizing and acceptingthe limits of my own strength
(05:32):
and my own abilities.
And unfortunately, more oftenthan not, it's not so much as me
accepting my limits as mecoming face to face with my
limits because I push myself tothe breaking point.
And I do this on and off, Ithink my whole life, of just
(05:56):
learning like what, how much canI handle?
And how what are the levels ofexhaustion and stress and
anxiety that I can push myselfto to get the results that I
need before I break?
And this last this last season,this last year, I I had we had
(06:22):
this big, huge transition, thisbig, huge cross-country move
that we did in two weeks that wehad not planned for at all.
God had been moving andworking, and my husband and I
both just felt a very clearcalling from God to uproot our
family and our life and move toAlaska and launch this new
(06:46):
business, even though it did notmake sense to our plans or our
timeline.
And so once we got here, Ispent, I took three weeks.
I took three weeks off and justlike processed through the
enormity of our move and triedto catch up on sleep.
(07:09):
And we tried to figure out somebasic needs, you know, Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, and we hadto find ourselves a home and a
vehicle and get our kidsenrolled in school.
So we were focusing on morelife stuff, and I didn't do
anything with the business.
And then after those threeweeks were up, I was like, all
(07:33):
right, it is game time.
It is time to get to work andmake this happen.
And that launched us into aseason of grinding.
And not only were we grindingin our business, we were also
grinding in this house that wehad bought that was like covered
(07:56):
in caty and had soaked throughflooring and sub-floors, and we
were ripping things out only tofind more issues.
And just this, I mean, it wasjust the project that never
ended.
And then in the midst of that,my husband actually tore his
right bicep fully and had tohave surgery, had to have it
(08:21):
reattached, and did not have aright arm at all, really, for
like three months before hecould finally start to build
that muscle back up after it hadfully reattached.
So this was an insane season ofour life during which we were
(08:42):
trying to get this new businessup and launched off the ground
while still running our otherbusiness.
So we've had web design andmarketing firm for 15 years.
And so we have those clientsand that work that we're trying
to handle while trying to starta new life, while trying to
(09:02):
launch a new business.
And this was new for us in thesense that our previous business
was very relationship-driven,based in the local area.
So we had relationships, we hadconnections, we had community
involvement, and a lot of ourmarketing strategy was very
(09:23):
face-to-face, verygeographically based.
And by moving to Alaska, thatswitched us into a very remote
and fully digital marketingstrategy.
So something that we had notreally tried before.
(09:44):
We this was a new way ofmarketing our business.
And so there was a hugelearning curve.
And we were spending just hoursand hours every day.
I was creating content forsocial, for not just one
platform, but for like all theplatforms.
(10:04):
I what we were writing landingpages, we were writing ad copy,
we were creating videos and weekin, week out, tweaking,
reiterating, trying somethingelse, trying something new,
consuming content, learning newplatforms, studying new
(10:25):
strategies, just consumingeverything we could, learning
everything we could, trying tounderstand well, how does
Instagram strategy today work?
How does LinkedIn strategytoday work?
How does Twitter strategy todaywork?
How does Facebook strategytoday work?
How does Google ad strategytoday work?
(10:45):
How to write a high convertinglanding page for a product, how
to sell digital products online,how to, you know, build
relationships and collaborationsand build a social following
and build an email list and allof these things to try and find
(11:06):
the strategy that was gonna workthe best for what we were
offering for our uniquebusiness, for our brand.
And through it all, we werejust we were giving it
everything we had.
We were so worried about howthis was all gonna work out or
(11:28):
if it was going to work out,whether we were going to be able
to, you know, recoup ourinvestment back from everything
we were pouring into thisbusiness and into running ads.
And just day in and day out,just grinding it out.
And I remember in March, I wastired.
(11:52):
Like we had started this inJanuary, and in March I knew I'm
like, I cannot sustain this.
This is not this is notpossible.
Like something's gotta give.
And so I recognized what washappening.
I I knew that this was this wasnot a long-term plan, but I'm
(12:14):
like, well, it's it's the launchof a new business.
Like this is just how it goes.
And so just keep going.
Like, just keep going.
Because all the advice outthere, every time I got on
YouTube, every time I got aFacebook, all these algorithms
are, you know, focused aroundmarketing strategies and
business strategies.
(12:35):
And so everything I'm seeing istalking about how hard I need
to work and how I can't give upand how I need to set timers for
my day and grind, grind, grind,grind.
So I did.
I just I kept grinding, myhusband kept grinding.
And then meanwhile, we'redealing with all of this house
(12:55):
stuff and the torn bicep andtrying to heal physically, not
sleeping well at night, and wekeep grinding.
And so I get to June.
And by June, I am reallyfeeling the burnout.
I am really feeling thestruggle.
And I have notes and I havejournal entries, and I even have
(13:17):
a video of myself saying, like,I am so mentally and
emotionally exhausted.
I don't know what to do.
I feel like I'm floundering.
I'm feeling I'm like I amtrying to work harder, but I am
not working smarter.
(13:38):
Everything that I am doing, allof this energy and effort that
I am pouring into, it is justwiping me out faster.
And I just I cannot keep going.
So something has to give.
Something has to work.
And in my head, I was thinkingthat if I just keep going long
(14:00):
enough, if I just keep grindingand keep working on this because
no one's gonna come and saveme, I have to figure this out,
then something's gonna give, andthis something is gonna be a
strategy.
And this strategy is going towork.
I'm going to start creating apredictable lead gen system,
(14:23):
start building in new recurringrevenue and clients, and then I
can take a breath.
Then I can sort everything out,which is very normal thinking.
It's very logical thinking.
It's very much just what we aretaught to believe.
(14:43):
And so I at this point I waslistening to Russell Brunson's
marketing secrets and onlinesecrets, or what what all the
books are that his secrets are.
We were doing online webinars.
We were participating we wereattending online webinars and
online conferences and three-dayselling online challenge.
(15:06):
And this is how you, you know,run a master class, and this is
how you create a webinar, andthis is how you teach content
and drive ads to it and build anemail list.
And I'm like, okay, if if thisdoesn't work, I I really am just
beyond myself.
And so kind of gave it thislast Hail Mary effort.
(15:31):
Like, because at this point, II tried so many different
things.
I was so tired, I was so burntout.
I could not handle having aconversation with my children.
They would come home and tellme about their day or tell me
about school, and my brain wouldbarely register what they were
(15:54):
saying.
I was not dragging myself awayfrom the computer.
Like I would get up in themorning, get on the computer,
basically be there all day andbarely eat and then come back
and not not have a life.
I mean, it was just, it was nothealthy in any way, shape, or
(16:18):
form.
And I remember feeling thispressure because I my kids were
gonna get out of school at theend of May.
And I knew I wanted to havesome kind of system, some kind
of structure set up so that Icould enjoy the summer with
them, so that I could find thisbalance of a couple hours a day
(16:40):
of working and then being ableto be outside and go for walks
and explore this beautiful stateof Alaska and have fun, which I
had not had like any fun at allsince the since we had moved
here.
And I was feeling this pressureof I need to get this figured
(17:03):
out by the end of May.
Well, the end of May came, andthen I was like, okay, I'm not
there yet.
I I can't stop here.
And so the whole month of June,I I did this, I grinded it out,
and every single day I wasworking all day, and my kids
were home from school, and justlooking at me like, this is not
(17:23):
what you told us was gonnahappen.
Like you, you promised us abetter life.
You told us you wanted to spendmore time with us, and here you
are not doing anythingdifferent.
And I was like, I know, I justI'm so sorry.
And I'm like apologizing tothem and trying to explain it to
(17:45):
them and trying to justify itto them, and nothing is changing
and nothing is happening.
So I get to July and I am justbeyond burnt out, beyond tired,
beyond just like I just I cannotkeep doing this.
I cannot continue because I'mnothing is working, and all I'm
(18:11):
doing is just killing myself inthe process.
And so we had some family comeand visit at the time.
And so I told my husband, I waslike, I'm just gonna take like
the weekend to just, I'm gonnatake a couple days to just kind
of reassess.
And the the weekend came andwent, and I didn't have any more
(18:32):
clarity or any energy or anyambition.
And I was like, Well, I'm justyour fa our family is still here
for a little while longer.
Let let me just give it untilthey leave.
And so another week goes by andI still have nothing.
And this ends up stretching outfor six weeks because after I
(18:53):
finally stopped, I realized justhow burnt out I was.
I I had no direction, I had novision, I had no ambition, I had
no motivation.
I had never really felt likethis before.
I would wake up in the morningand just feel numb and lost.
(19:18):
Like I had nothing going for meat all.
Like I really questionedeverything.
I questioned just the wholeplan.
I questioned God, I questionedthe business and everything that
I had learned up until thispoint.
(19:38):
And I was like, God, I thoughtyou brought me here.
I thought you wanted me tobuild this business.
I thought that you were gonnabless this, I thought you were
gonna open doors, and you'renot.
And through this six-weekperiod, to this six-week period,
(19:59):
I chose to not work.
All I did was rest, read myBible, go for walks, listen to I
listened to The Purpose DrivenLife by Rick Warren.
(20:22):
I sat through and just one dayat a time, I did one day of the
40 days, about 10 minutes a day,read my Bible, I wrote, I
journaled, and I just let I justwaited and I rested.
And that felt very wrongbecause in my head I was
(20:45):
thinking, this is not how youbuild the business, no one is
going to find you, no one isgoing to come knocking on your
door, like that nothing is gonnahappen in your business if you
don't do something.
So you doing nothing isn'thelping.
And so here's this this voicein my head.
And it wasn't that I was tryingto just give up, I was really
(21:09):
just so stuck and so burnt outthat I realized that I needed a
strong reset.
I was trying to reset in a waythat was sustainable and in a
way that didn't look like theprevious six months because I'm
(21:34):
like, that is that is not what Iwanted my life to look like at
all.
If anything, all of thosehabits were all of my worst
habits.
All of those habits were a lotof the habits that I had been
kind of ingrained and stuck intobefore we had moved, a lot of
the things that were buildinganxiety and building
(21:58):
disconnection and things Iwanted to change, but didn't
know how to like break free of.
I didn't know how to stop doingthe things I didn't want to do
and start doing the things thatI wanted to do.
And Paul talks about this in inthe New Testament.
He talks about how it's like I,you know, the spirit, like I
(22:19):
want to do what the spirit tellsme to do, but at the same time
I I struggle, like I struggle todo what I want to do or
wrestling with this, and that'svery much what it was.
But here this whole time, allthese months, I mean, I was I
was praying every day, I wascrying out to God desperately,
(22:46):
but I was relying on my ownstrength the entire time.
I was praying and asking, but Iwasn't listening, I wasn't
stopping, and I was juststeamrolling ahead, even though
I knew back in March, I'm like,I can't keep doing this, I can't
(23:09):
keep doing this, but I'm gonnakeep doing it.
And then in June, I can't keepdoing this, I can't keep doing
this, but I'm gonna keep doingit.
And then finally, like, Ireally cannot keep doing this,
and I stopped.
And what I learned through thisprocess was like, here I was
(23:29):
putting all my hope one in whatthe business, what I wanted the
business to do for me, which Italked about in the last episode
about talking about how likeour business becomes our idol
because we put our hope in ourbusiness.
But I also was putting all ofthis pressure and all of this
hope in me and in what I coulddo and in my work ethic and in
(23:54):
my strength and in my energy.
And it wasn't about relying onGod because I didn't want to
rely on God.
I wanted to figure this outmyself.
I wanted to do it, I wanted toprove it, I wanted to make it
happen so that when it happened,I could be like, yeah, I did
(24:15):
it.
I I could boast in my owneffort when it succeeded.
And that's not the heart thatGod wanted me to have.
That is not the everything thatI was doing, they were not the
mindset, they were not thehabits, they were not the
rhythms, they were not theroutines, they were not the
lifestyle that God wanted forme.
(24:36):
And what he ends up doingsometimes is he's like, all
right, if that's if you want tojust do this in your own
strength, I'm gonna let you.
Like I'm I'm gonna let you doit in your own strength.
And I'm gonna do it in my ownstrength until I can't anymore
because I am that stubborn and Iwish that I wasn't, but I am,
(24:57):
and many of us entrepreneursare.
Until I hit this wall, until Ihit rock bottom, until I hit
this breaking point, and Ifinally surrender.
I finally give it to God, Ifinally give it up, and I lay it
down at the cross and I say,God, I cannot carry this
(25:18):
anymore.
I need you to carry it for me.
And then I get to that point,and that's where God wants us
all along, and it is socompletely opposite to what the
world teaches, and it's hard.
It's hard to walk that path.
(25:40):
It is hard to live a life whereyou are reliant on God, when
you are dependent on God foreverything in your life, for
your daily hope, for your dailybread, for your daily provision.
It's it's that kind of need,it's that kind of relationship
that God wants from us becausethat is when he shows up and he
(26:04):
shows you what he can do.
He shows you what kind of doorshe can open, he shows you how
he can part the Red Sea.
And like he leads theIsraelites out of Egypt and they
come to a place where they arestuck, they cannot go any
further.
And God says, wait and see.
(26:27):
And he splits the sea.
But if we don't ever putourselves in a situation where
we need God to move on ourbehalf, when we need his
strength to get us through, wewon't put ourselves there
intentionally.
It's against our nature to dothat.
And in 2 Corinthians 12, hesays, My grace is sufficient for
(26:53):
you.
My power is made perfect inweakness.
So then Paul says, Therefore Iwill boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so thatChrist's power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ's sake,I delight in weakness, in
insults, in hardship, inpersecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I amstrong.
(27:14):
And this idea of embracingweakness, this idea of saying,
like, I am, I don't have what ittakes to do this.
I don't have the willpower, Idon't have the motivation, I
don't have the grind, I don'thave the endurance to do this on
my own.
And God does not want us to dothat.
(27:35):
He wants us to take his yokeupon me.
And he says in Matthew, hesays, Come to me, all you who
are weary and burdened, and Iwill give you rest.
And I just think about howweary and burdened I felt, how
heavy and how hopeless and howstuck and how lost.
(27:59):
And all I wanted was rest.
All I wanted was relief.
All I wanted was abreakthrough.
But I was thinking that I hadto do it.
So I wasn't going to God forrest.
I was thinking I'm gonna pushand push and push until I can
rest because I've achieved thisthing, because I've broken
(28:21):
through this thing, because Ihave made a way, and then I will
rest.
But that's not at all what Godtells us to do.
He says, take my yoke upon uponyou and learn from me.
For I am gentle and humble inheart, and you will find rest
for your souls.
(28:43):
For my yoke is easy and myburden is light.
And here I think about this asan entrepreneur.
I'm like, what is that like tohave an easy yoke?
What is that like to have aburden that's light?
And it's not that God makeseverything easy for us, it's
(29:03):
that we get up and we get ourstrength from him because we
realize that we can't do it onour own.
And so after these six weeks goby, I God starts to clear, he
starts to clear the fog, hestarts to clear the confusion.
(29:26):
And it it wasn't because I didanything for six weeks.
I literally did nothing exceptfor seek him and rest.
That's all I did.
And just little by little, dayby day, I started to like feel
the Holy Spirit's presenceagain.
I started to like feelconnected to God again when up
(29:47):
until that point I hadn't forsix months.
I had felt very disconnectedfrom God, very separated from
him, even though I felt like Iwas crying out, even though I
felt like I was desperatelygoing to him for.
Answers, I didn't feel like Iwas getting anything.
I wasn't feeling his presencein my life.
(30:08):
I knew it was there, but I justI wasn't feeling that intimacy
the way that I know I know thatI do.
And so here after these likesix weeks, this this intimacy
starts to come back.
And this uh this relationship,this uh this friendship, this uh
(30:30):
this being, this God who likebecame so real and so present
and so just uh there in my life.
And I started to feel him likejust uh start to speak to my
heart again.
And I started to like feel thethe power and the presence of
(30:53):
the Holy Spirit again.
And he he reaffirmed thisvision, this this thing that he
had called me to, this business,this plan.
And I I wasn't going down thewrong path.
I w I was I was building it,building what he wanted me to,
(31:17):
but I wasn't building it the waythat he wanted me to.
Because I was relying on my ownstrength, I was seeking the
world, the the business experts,the the strategies, I was
seeking the world's advice and Iwas thinking seeking the
world's approval instead ofseeking his because I had
(31:43):
forgotten this fact that he isthe one who is in control of it
all.
He is the one who isorchestrating this story, he is
the one who is moving thesepieces where they need to go,
and he's shaping me in theprocess, and he's been doing it
all along.
(32:03):
And so him calling me to dothis and him calling me to this
new place, it's like he wants meto build it in the way that
honors him, not in the way thatthe world tells me to do it.
And so I was like, okay,whatever I do, however, I build
this, he has to be first.
(32:24):
He has to be the voice that Iwant more than anything.
He I have to do this in a waythat is sustainable for the long
term.
So these 12-hour days, thesegrinding, these flip-flopping,
this trying this and trying thatand learning that and learning
(32:45):
this, that's not that's notgentleness, that's not peace,
that's not wisdom, it's justdesperation and and seeking the
answers in all the wrong places.
And so it made me take a stepback and think, okay, when I run
(33:08):
this business, when I buildthis business, what what are the
habits?
What are the routines?
What are the rhythms and thesystems and the structures that
I need to have in place rightnow?
What is healthy look like?
What is surrendered look like?
(33:29):
What is present and engaged andpeaceful and joyful and
self-control?
What are the fruits of thespirit look like in my life as I
build this business?
Well, it looks like rest, itlooks like not 12-hour days, it
(33:49):
looks like being purposeful andauthentic, and it looks like
being present and engaged withmy kids right now.
And so just very tactically,practically, I put in some new
rhythms of like, okay, when Iget up in the morning, I don't
(34:13):
check my email, I don't check myphone.
The first thing I do is just Istart in prayer.
I I have a cup of coffee and itis quiet and it is me and God.
And then I take my kid to thebus stop and I'm chatting with
him about his day and justhaving this time with him, this
(34:35):
quality time where it's just meand him.
And then I come back home, andthen it's 30 minutes of more
prayer and and Bible reading andlike studying the Bible.
And then my next kid gets up,and then she and I have like our
10, 15 minutes in the morningwhere we sit and we talk and
(34:56):
talk about, you know, her day orhow she slept or whatever else
is on her mind.
And then she gets ready for herday, and I take her to the bus
stop.
And so this whole morning is mebeing present with with God and
with my kids, and that comesfirst.
And then I try and get myworkout in in the morning before
(35:21):
I start the day because I knowif I don't, it won't happen.
So I try and get that out ofthe way.
And then while the kids are atschool, that is my time to work,
record podcasts, createcontent, do calls.
And I try and be veryintentional about that time.
(35:42):
And I and I take time to makesure I eat breakfast and I eat
lunch, and I have, you know,these hours during the day.
And then when the kids start tocome home, it's like, okay,
well, I might have to pick themup, or they might have a game I
have to go to, or things that wehave to do, and then I have
(36:04):
dinner to make, and then we havedinner together as a family,
and then we have a devotional atthe table, and then in the
evenings, it's you know, I getto hang out with my husband and
and and rest and wind down forthe day before getting up and
doing it again.
And that's a that's a pace,that's a thing where I'm like,
(36:27):
okay, even though there'suncertainty, and even though I
don't have everything figuredout, this is sustainable, this
is healthy, this is this is fun,this is peaceful, this is
joyful, like this is this is thelife that I want to be living.
(36:48):
These are the rhythms and theroutines that I want in my life,
that when I imagine my life andI picture, like, if I if
everything was perfect, whatwould I picture?
A lot of these components arein it.
And so I was like, oh, okay, Iam going into this each and
(37:10):
every day, knowing that everyday my strength has to come from
God.
My strength has to come fromthe Lord.
Because I honestly, I don'thave what it takes to do this.
I I don't have, I mean, it is alike give us our daily bread.
Like, like, God, I need you andhelp me to take this one day at
(37:36):
a time.
What can I do today?
What can I do today to beproductive?
What can I do today to be withyou?
Like, I remember one timeduring a week, I my plan was to
like record some podcasts, andinstead I ended up spending two
hours in prayer with God.
But it was like, that was sogood, you know, that was so
(37:59):
good.
It was so life-giving.
And I'm like, that's that's thekind of like prioritization
that God wants from us becauseit's rem, it's me being reminded
that God is the one who opensdoors.
God is the one who gives ideasand creativity.
(38:21):
He's the one who makes thingshappen.
Like he already knows how thestory unfolds.
And so it's like I'm goingdirectly to the author.
I'm going directly to thecreator and saying, What would
you like me to do next?
Give me the strength and thegrace and the faith to do it.
(38:42):
And then I'm gonna come backtomorrow and we're gonna have
this same conversation.
We're gonna, we're gonna dothis every day.
But that that that faith, thatreliance, like that honors God.
That that's that's the kind ofpositioning that He like He
(39:04):
wants us to position ourselvesthere so that we can see Him
move.
So that when things start tohappen, when things start to
fall in place, He gets thecredit.
It is it is Him I can say, Goddid that.
It wasn't me, it wasn't my ownstrength or my great idea or my
(39:28):
hard work.
That was God.
Like that was him and his greatthat grace, that was him and
his faithfulness, that was himand his provision.
And every story that I tellshould be always pointing back
to God, it should be alwayspointing people to God and and
just how amazing he is.
(39:48):
And it just that's what thisbusiness is, or when he calls us
into business as a leader, asan entrepreneur, it's like you
our job is is to point people tohim, our job is to honor him,
our job is to build up thekingdom of heaven, to have an
(40:10):
eternal perspective.
And so it's like, what doesthat look like here on earth?
And it is building a business,it is creating content, it is
having a marketing strategy, butit's it's all surrendered to
him.
It is all, I mean, I'm if I itis all being led by him when I'm
(40:38):
doing it well.
And again, it's a daily battle,it's a daily wrestling.
There are days when I wake upand I'm like, yes, God, you are
good.
Let's go.
You're amazing, I love you.
And then there are days when Iwake up and I'm like, how is
(40:59):
this ever gonna work?
I have no idea.
But again, day to day, hismercies are new every morning.
So if if this spoke to you,like if this resonated with you,
I would just encourage you,like share on because if it if
(41:20):
it touched your heart, if itspoke to where you're at right
now, there might be other peoplewho need to hear it too.
And so, like, if it if it'sbeen a blessing to you, that
that's awesome.
Again, that totally a Godthing.
But if you want to leave arating for the show and like
(41:41):
help help other people find itand be encouraged, that would be
awesome.
And if not, that's okay too.
Like, you know, this is me justtrusting that God's gonna open
doors and and hopefully just usethis to encourage people at the
right time and in the rightplace.
So, as always, you can learnmore at
(42:04):
ClearAuthenticBrands.com.
That's all for this episode.
See you next time.
I'm your host, Amy Dardis, and in today's episode,
we're continuing my walk ofshame as we dive into this
series on idols inentrepreneurship and what that
has really personally lookedlike for me, how these idols
have shown up in my life, how Ihave wrestled with them.
(00:36):
And I think it's something thatI continue to wrestle with
because it is always a battle toput God first in our life and
not allow these other influencesor things to have the most
prominent place in our lifeabove God.
(00:58):
And we never get that right allthe time.
There's a battle that we facedaily that we have to remember
who's in control.
Where do we put our hope?
So, just as a quick refresher,we talked about idols, and an
idol is an object or an abstractconcept that we give higher
(01:22):
priority than God.
It's something that we rely onfor blessing or help or guidance
instead of God.
It's anything that consumes ourheart, our thoughts, or our
devotion more than God.
And it can be any good thing,bad thing that we elevate to a
(01:42):
position of being the main thingin our life.
And it's just whatever we aregiving more influence, more
power, more control in our life,besides God, because He really
should be number one.
And as we live our life,there's just daily distractions
and temptations and ways ofliving our life or running our
(02:08):
business that are just very muchof this world, very much in
this world, very much just likethe day-to-day tactical
operations, the schedule, thepeople, the hiring, the meetings
and customers and the fires wehave to put out.
And it's very easy to allowourselves to be so consumed by
(02:33):
that and to forget what this isall about or who this is all
for.
And so today's episode, we'refocusing on the idol of our own
strength, of doing things in ourown ability, trusting our
ability to make things happen,our strength, instead of relying
(02:58):
on the power of God or allowingthe Holy Spirit to be at work
on our behalf, in the hearts ofpeople, and our own hearts, in
situations in our business.
And I think this is one of thehardest ones that I struggle
with on a daily basis because itis so completely opposite of
(03:24):
what the world teaches aboutbusiness and entrepreneurship.
So the world's definition ofentrepreneurship is, you know,
you have to get out there andyou have to be the first one up,
the last one out, the personwho works the hardest, the
longest, the most consistently.
(03:44):
You have to do what otherpeople are not willing to do.
You have to grow and developand make things happen.
You have to be willing to dothe uncomfortable.
You have to be willing to stepoutside of your comfort zone.
You have to be willing to pushyourself and challenge yourself
(04:05):
and stretch yourself and make ithappen.
Because if you don't, nobodyelse is going to make it happen
for you.
No one is going to save you.
No one is coming to save yourbusiness.
It is all on you.
Sound familiar?
I mean that I just hear myselfsaying that.
I'm like feeling the anxiety oflike, oh my gosh, like, uh,
(04:28):
because that is that is everyinfluencer, that is every
business expert, that is everybook that is out there, that is
the message.
And that is so hard to fightagainst.
And there is this element of weof responsibility.
We do have to work hard.
(04:50):
We do need to show up.
We do need to put in the effortand stretch ourselves.
We can't be lazy.
We do have to steward well ourtime and our energy and our
gifting and our relationshipsand everything that God gives
us.
So then the battle becomes: where is this line? (05:08):
undefined
Where is this line betweenworking hard and doing what I
need to do, but still trustingin God, still relying on God,
still recognizing and acceptingthe limits of my own strength
(05:32):
and my own abilities.
And unfortunately, more oftenthan not, it's not so much as me
accepting my limits as mecoming face to face with my
limits because I push myself tothe breaking point.
And I do this on and off, Ithink my whole life, of just
(05:56):
learning like what, how much canI handle?
And how what are the levels ofexhaustion and stress and
anxiety that I can push myselfto to get the results that I
need before I break?
And this last this last season,this last year, I I had we had
(06:22):
this big, huge transition, thisbig, huge cross-country move
that we did in two weeks that wehad not planned for at all.
God had been moving andworking, and my husband and I
both just felt a very clearcalling from God to uproot our
family and our life and move toAlaska and launch this new
(06:46):
business, even though it did notmake sense to our plans or our
timeline.
And so once we got here, Ispent, I took three weeks.
I took three weeks off and justlike processed through the
enormity of our move and triedto catch up on sleep.
(07:09):
And we tried to figure out somebasic needs, you know, Maslow's
hierarchy of needs, and we hadto find ourselves a home and a
vehicle and get our kidsenrolled in school.
So we were focusing on morelife stuff, and I didn't do
anything with the business.
And then after those threeweeks were up, I was like, all
(07:33):
right, it is game time.
It is time to get to work andmake this happen.
And that launched us into aseason of grinding.
And not only were we grindingin our business, we were also
grinding in this house that wehad bought that was like covered
(07:56):
in caty and had soaked throughflooring and sub-floors, and we
were ripping things out only tofind more issues.
And just this, I mean, it wasjust the project that never
ended.
And then in the midst of that,my husband actually tore his
right bicep fully and had tohave surgery, had to have it
(08:21):
reattached, and did not have aright arm at all, really, for
like three months before hecould finally start to build
that muscle back up after it hadfully reattached.
So this was an insane season ofour life during which we were
(08:42):
trying to get this new businessup and launched off the ground
while still running our otherbusiness.
So we've had web design andmarketing firm for 15 years.
And so we have those clientsand that work that we're trying
to handle while trying to starta new life, while trying to
(09:02):
launch a new business.
And this was new for us in thesense that our previous business
was very relationship-driven,based in the local area.
So we had relationships, we hadconnections, we had community
involvement, and a lot of ourmarketing strategy was very
(09:23):
face-to-face, verygeographically based.
And by moving to Alaska, thatswitched us into a very remote
and fully digital marketingstrategy.
So something that we had notreally tried before.
(09:44):
We this was a new way ofmarketing our business.
And so there was a hugelearning curve.
And we were spending just hoursand hours every day.
I was creating content forsocial, for not just one
platform, but for like all theplatforms.
(10:04):
I what we were writing landingpages, we were writing ad copy,
we were creating videos and weekin, week out, tweaking,
reiterating, trying somethingelse, trying something new,
consuming content, learning newplatforms, studying new
(10:25):
strategies, just consumingeverything we could, learning
everything we could, trying tounderstand well, how does
Instagram strategy today work?
How does LinkedIn strategytoday work?
How does Twitter strategy todaywork?
How does Facebook strategytoday work?
How does Google ad strategytoday work?
(10:45):
How to write a high convertinglanding page for a product, how
to sell digital products online,how to, you know, build
relationships and collaborationsand build a social following
and build an email list and allof these things to try and find
(11:06):
the strategy that was gonna workthe best for what we were
offering for our uniquebusiness, for our brand.
And through it all, we werejust we were giving it
everything we had.
We were so worried about howthis was all gonna work out or
(11:28):
if it was going to work out,whether we were going to be able
to, you know, recoup ourinvestment back from everything
we were pouring into thisbusiness and into running ads.
And just day in and day out,just grinding it out.
And I remember in March, I wastired.
(11:52):
Like we had started this inJanuary, and in March I knew I'm
like, I cannot sustain this.
This is not this is notpossible.
Like something's gotta give.
And so I recognized what washappening.
I I knew that this was this wasnot a long-term plan, but I'm
(12:14):
like, well, it's it's the launchof a new business.
Like this is just how it goes.
And so just keep going.
Like, just keep going.
Because all the advice outthere, every time I got on
YouTube, every time I got aFacebook, all these algorithms
are, you know, focused aroundmarketing strategies and
business strategies.
(12:35):
And so everything I'm seeing istalking about how hard I need
to work and how I can't give upand how I need to set timers for
my day and grind, grind, grind,grind.
So I did.
I just I kept grinding, myhusband kept grinding.
And then meanwhile, we'redealing with all of this house
(12:55):
stuff and the torn bicep andtrying to heal physically, not
sleeping well at night, and wekeep grinding.
And so I get to June.
And by June, I am reallyfeeling the burnout.
I am really feeling thestruggle.
And I have notes and I havejournal entries, and I even have
(13:17):
a video of myself saying, like,I am so mentally and
emotionally exhausted.
I don't know what to do.
I feel like I'm floundering.
I'm feeling I'm like I amtrying to work harder, but I am
not working smarter.
(13:38):
Everything that I am doing, allof this energy and effort that
I am pouring into, it is justwiping me out faster.
And I just I cannot keep going.
So something has to give.
Something has to work.
And in my head, I was thinkingthat if I just keep going long
(14:00):
enough, if I just keep grindingand keep working on this because
no one's gonna come and saveme, I have to figure this out,
then something's gonna give, andthis something is gonna be a
strategy.
And this strategy is going towork.
I'm going to start creating apredictable lead gen system,
(14:23):
start building in new recurringrevenue and clients, and then I
can take a breath.
Then I can sort everything out,which is very normal thinking.
It's very logical thinking.
It's very much just what we aretaught to believe.
(14:43):
And so I at this point I waslistening to Russell Brunson's
marketing secrets and onlinesecrets, or what what all the
books are that his secrets are.
We were doing online webinars.
We were participating we wereattending online webinars and
online conferences and three-dayselling online challenge.
(15:06):
And this is how you, you know,run a master class, and this is
how you create a webinar, andthis is how you teach content
and drive ads to it and build anemail list.
And I'm like, okay, if if thisdoesn't work, I I really am just
beyond myself.
And so kind of gave it thislast Hail Mary effort.
(15:31):
Like, because at this point, II tried so many different
things.
I was so tired, I was so burntout.
I could not handle having aconversation with my children.
They would come home and tellme about their day or tell me
about school, and my brain wouldbarely register what they were
(15:54):
saying.
I was not dragging myself awayfrom the computer.
Like I would get up in themorning, get on the computer,
basically be there all day andbarely eat and then come back
and not not have a life.
I mean, it was just, it was nothealthy in any way, shape, or
(16:18):
form.
And I remember feeling thispressure because I my kids were
gonna get out of school at theend of May.
And I knew I wanted to havesome kind of system, some kind
of structure set up so that Icould enjoy the summer with
them, so that I could find thisbalance of a couple hours a day
(16:40):
of working and then being ableto be outside and go for walks
and explore this beautiful stateof Alaska and have fun, which I
had not had like any fun at allsince the since we had moved
here.
And I was feeling this pressureof I need to get this figured
(17:03):
out by the end of May.
Well, the end of May came, andthen I was like, okay, I'm not
there yet.
I I can't stop here.
And so the whole month of June,I I did this, I grinded it out,
and every single day I wasworking all day, and my kids
were home from school, and justlooking at me like, this is not
(17:23):
what you told us was gonnahappen.
Like you, you promised us abetter life.
You told us you wanted to spendmore time with us, and here you
are not doing anythingdifferent.
And I was like, I know, I justI'm so sorry.
And I'm like apologizing tothem and trying to explain it to
(17:45):
them and trying to justify itto them, and nothing is changing
and nothing is happening.
So I get to July and I am justbeyond burnt out, beyond tired,
beyond just like I just I cannotkeep doing this.
I cannot continue because I'mnothing is working, and all I'm
(18:11):
doing is just killing myself inthe process.
And so we had some family comeand visit at the time.
And so I told my husband, I waslike, I'm just gonna take like
the weekend to just, I'm gonnatake a couple days to just kind
of reassess.
And the the weekend came andwent, and I didn't have any more
(18:32):
clarity or any energy or anyambition.
And I was like, Well, I'm justyour fa our family is still here
for a little while longer.
Let let me just give it untilthey leave.
And so another week goes by andI still have nothing.
And this ends up stretching outfor six weeks because after I
(18:53):
finally stopped, I realized justhow burnt out I was.
I I had no direction, I had novision, I had no ambition, I had
no motivation.
I had never really felt likethis before.
I would wake up in the morningand just feel numb and lost.
(19:18):
Like I had nothing going for meat all.
Like I really questionedeverything.
I questioned just the wholeplan.
I questioned God, I questionedthe business and everything that
I had learned up until thispoint.
(19:38):
And I was like, God, I thoughtyou brought me here.
I thought you wanted me tobuild this business.
I thought that you were gonnabless this, I thought you were
gonna open doors, and you'renot.
And through this six-weekperiod, to this six-week period,
(19:59):
I chose to not work.
All I did was rest, read myBible, go for walks, listen to I
listened to The Purpose DrivenLife by Rick Warren.
(20:22):
I sat through and just one dayat a time, I did one day of the
40 days, about 10 minutes a day,read my Bible, I wrote, I
journaled, and I just let I justwaited and I rested.
And that felt very wrongbecause in my head I was
(20:45):
thinking, this is not how youbuild the business, no one is
going to find you, no one isgoing to come knocking on your
door, like that nothing is gonnahappen in your business if you
don't do something.
So you doing nothing isn'thelping.
And so here's this this voicein my head.
And it wasn't that I was tryingto just give up, I was really
(21:09):
just so stuck and so burnt outthat I realized that I needed a
strong reset.
I was trying to reset in a waythat was sustainable and in a
way that didn't look like theprevious six months because I'm
(21:34):
like, that is that is not what Iwanted my life to look like at
all.
If anything, all of thosehabits were all of my worst
habits.
All of those habits were a lotof the habits that I had been
kind of ingrained and stuck intobefore we had moved, a lot of
the things that were buildinganxiety and building
(21:58):
disconnection and things Iwanted to change, but didn't
know how to like break free of.
I didn't know how to stop doingthe things I didn't want to do
and start doing the things thatI wanted to do.
And Paul talks about this in inthe New Testament.
He talks about how it's like I,you know, the spirit, like I
(22:19):
want to do what the spirit tellsme to do, but at the same time
I I struggle, like I struggle todo what I want to do or
wrestling with this, and that'svery much what it was.
But here this whole time, allthese months, I mean, I was I
was praying every day, I wascrying out to God desperately,
(22:46):
but I was relying on my ownstrength the entire time.
I was praying and asking, but Iwasn't listening, I wasn't
stopping, and I was juststeamrolling ahead, even though
I knew back in March, I'm like,I can't keep doing this, I can't
(23:09):
keep doing this, but I'm gonnakeep doing it.
And then in June, I can't keepdoing this, I can't keep doing
this, but I'm gonna keep doingit.
And then finally, like, Ireally cannot keep doing this,
and I stopped.
And what I learned through thisprocess was like, here I was
(23:29):
putting all my hope one in whatthe business, what I wanted the
business to do for me, which Italked about in the last episode
about talking about how likeour business becomes our idol
because we put our hope in ourbusiness.
But I also was putting all ofthis pressure and all of this
hope in me and in what I coulddo and in my work ethic and in
(23:54):
my strength and in my energy.
And it wasn't about relying onGod because I didn't want to
rely on God.
I wanted to figure this outmyself.
I wanted to do it, I wanted toprove it, I wanted to make it
happen so that when it happened,I could be like, yeah, I did
(24:15):
it.
I I could boast in my owneffort when it succeeded.
And that's not the heart thatGod wanted me to have.
That is not the everything thatI was doing, they were not the
mindset, they were not thehabits, they were not the
rhythms, they were not theroutines, they were not the
lifestyle that God wanted forme.
(24:36):
And what he ends up doingsometimes is he's like, all
right, if that's if you want tojust do this in your own
strength, I'm gonna let you.
Like I'm I'm gonna let you doit in your own strength.
And I'm gonna do it in my ownstrength until I can't anymore
because I am that stubborn and Iwish that I wasn't, but I am,
(24:57):
and many of us entrepreneursare.
Until I hit this wall, until Ihit rock bottom, until I hit
this breaking point, and Ifinally surrender.
I finally give it to God, Ifinally give it up, and I lay it
down at the cross and I say,God, I cannot carry this
(25:18):
anymore.
I need you to carry it for me.
And then I get to that point,and that's where God wants us
all along, and it is socompletely opposite to what the
world teaches, and it's hard.
It's hard to walk that path.
(25:40):
It is hard to live a life whereyou are reliant on God, when
you are dependent on God foreverything in your life, for
your daily hope, for your dailybread, for your daily provision.
It's it's that kind of need,it's that kind of relationship
that God wants from us becausethat is when he shows up and he
(26:04):
shows you what he can do.
He shows you what kind of doorshe can open, he shows you how
he can part the Red Sea.
And like he leads theIsraelites out of Egypt and they
come to a place where they arestuck, they cannot go any
further.
And God says, wait and see.
(26:27):
And he splits the sea.
But if we don't ever putourselves in a situation where
we need God to move on ourbehalf, when we need his
strength to get us through, wewon't put ourselves there
intentionally.
It's against our nature to dothat.
And in 2 Corinthians 12, hesays, My grace is sufficient for
(26:53):
you.
My power is made perfect inweakness.
So then Paul says, Therefore Iwill boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so thatChrist's power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ's sake,I delight in weakness, in
insults, in hardship, inpersecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I amstrong.
(27:14):
And this idea of embracingweakness, this idea of saying,
like, I am, I don't have what ittakes to do this.
I don't have the willpower, Idon't have the motivation, I
don't have the grind, I don'thave the endurance to do this on
my own.
And God does not want us to dothat.
(27:35):
He wants us to take his yokeupon me.
And he says in Matthew, hesays, Come to me, all you who
are weary and burdened, and Iwill give you rest.
And I just think about howweary and burdened I felt, how
heavy and how hopeless and howstuck and how lost.
(27:59):
And all I wanted was rest.
All I wanted was relief.
All I wanted was abreakthrough.
But I was thinking that I hadto do it.
So I wasn't going to God forrest.
I was thinking I'm gonna pushand push and push until I can
rest because I've achieved thisthing, because I've broken
(28:21):
through this thing, because Ihave made a way, and then I will
rest.
But that's not at all what Godtells us to do.
He says, take my yoke upon uponyou and learn from me.
For I am gentle and humble inheart, and you will find rest
for your souls.
(28:43):
For my yoke is easy and myburden is light.
And here I think about this asan entrepreneur.
I'm like, what is that like tohave an easy yoke?
What is that like to have aburden that's light?
And it's not that God makeseverything easy for us, it's
(29:03):
that we get up and we get ourstrength from him because we
realize that we can't do it onour own.
And so after these six weeks goby, I God starts to clear, he
starts to clear the fog, hestarts to clear the confusion.
(29:26):
And it it wasn't because I didanything for six weeks.
I literally did nothing exceptfor seek him and rest.
That's all I did.
And just little by little, dayby day, I started to like feel
the Holy Spirit's presenceagain.
I started to like feelconnected to God again when up
(29:47):
until that point I hadn't forsix months.
I had felt very disconnectedfrom God, very separated from
him, even though I felt like Iwas crying out, even though I
felt like I was desperatelygoing to him for.
Answers, I didn't feel like Iwas getting anything.
I wasn't feeling his presencein my life.
(30:08):
I knew it was there, but I justI wasn't feeling that intimacy
the way that I know I know thatI do.
And so here after these likesix weeks, this this intimacy
starts to come back.
And this uh this relationship,this uh this friendship, this uh
(30:30):
this being, this God who likebecame so real and so present
and so just uh there in my life.
And I started to feel him likejust uh start to speak to my
heart again.
And I started to like feel thethe power and the presence of
(30:53):
the Holy Spirit again.
And he he reaffirmed thisvision, this this thing that he
had called me to, this business,this plan.
And I I wasn't going down thewrong path.
I w I was I was building it,building what he wanted me to,
(31:17):
but I wasn't building it the waythat he wanted me to.
Because I was relying on my ownstrength, I was seeking the
world, the the business experts,the the strategies, I was
seeking the world's advice and Iwas thinking seeking the
world's approval instead ofseeking his because I had
(31:43):
forgotten this fact that he isthe one who is in control of it
all.
He is the one who isorchestrating this story, he is
the one who is moving thesepieces where they need to go,
and he's shaping me in theprocess, and he's been doing it
all along.
(32:03):
And so him calling me to dothis and him calling me to this
new place, it's like he wants meto build it in the way that
honors him, not in the way thatthe world tells me to do it.
And so I was like, okay,whatever I do, however, I build
this, he has to be first.
(32:24):
He has to be the voice that Iwant more than anything.
He I have to do this in a waythat is sustainable for the long
term.
So these 12-hour days, thesegrinding, these flip-flopping,
this trying this and trying thatand learning that and learning
(32:45):
this, that's not that's notgentleness, that's not peace,
that's not wisdom, it's justdesperation and and seeking the
answers in all the wrong places.
And so it made me take a stepback and think, okay, when I run
(33:08):
this business, when I buildthis business, what what are the
habits?
What are the routines?
What are the rhythms and thesystems and the structures that
I need to have in place rightnow?
What is healthy look like?
What is surrendered look like?
(33:29):
What is present and engaged andpeaceful and joyful and
self-control?
What are the fruits of thespirit look like in my life as I
build this business?
Well, it looks like rest, itlooks like not 12-hour days, it
(33:49):
looks like being purposeful andauthentic, and it looks like
being present and engaged withmy kids right now.
And so just very tactically,practically, I put in some new
rhythms of like, okay, when Iget up in the morning, I don't
(34:13):
check my email, I don't check myphone.
The first thing I do is just Istart in prayer.
I I have a cup of coffee and itis quiet and it is me and God.
And then I take my kid to thebus stop and I'm chatting with
him about his day and justhaving this time with him, this
(34:35):
quality time where it's just meand him.
And then I come back home, andthen it's 30 minutes of more
prayer and and Bible reading andlike studying the Bible.
And then my next kid gets up,and then she and I have like our
10, 15 minutes in the morningwhere we sit and we talk and
(34:56):
talk about, you know, her day orhow she slept or whatever else
is on her mind.
And then she gets ready for herday, and I take her to the bus
stop.
And so this whole morning is mebeing present with with God and
with my kids, and that comesfirst.
And then I try and get myworkout in in the morning before
(35:21):
I start the day because I knowif I don't, it won't happen.
So I try and get that out ofthe way.
And then while the kids are atschool, that is my time to work,
record podcasts, createcontent, do calls.
And I try and be veryintentional about that time.
(35:42):
And I and I take time to makesure I eat breakfast and I eat
lunch, and I have, you know,these hours during the day.
And then when the kids start tocome home, it's like, okay,
well, I might have to pick themup, or they might have a game I
have to go to, or things that wehave to do, and then I have
(36:04):
dinner to make, and then we havedinner together as a family,
and then we have a devotional atthe table, and then in the
evenings, it's you know, I getto hang out with my husband and
and and rest and wind down forthe day before getting up and
doing it again.
And that's a that's a pace,that's a thing where I'm like,
(36:27):
okay, even though there'suncertainty, and even though I
don't have everything figuredout, this is sustainable, this
is healthy, this is this is fun,this is peaceful, this is
joyful, like this is this is thelife that I want to be living.
(36:48):
These are the rhythms and theroutines that I want in my life,
that when I imagine my life andI picture, like, if I if
everything was perfect, whatwould I picture?
A lot of these components arein it.
And so I was like, oh, okay, Iam going into this each and
(37:10):
every day, knowing that everyday my strength has to come from
God.
My strength has to come fromthe Lord.
Because I honestly, I don'thave what it takes to do this.
I I don't have, I mean, it is alike give us our daily bread.
Like, like, God, I need you andhelp me to take this one day at
(37:36):
a time.
What can I do today?
What can I do today to beproductive?
What can I do today to be withyou?
Like, I remember one timeduring a week, I my plan was to
like record some podcasts, andinstead I ended up spending two
hours in prayer with God.
But it was like, that was sogood, you know, that was so
(37:59):
good.
It was so life-giving.
And I'm like, that's that's thekind of like prioritization
that God wants from us becauseit's rem, it's me being reminded
that God is the one who opensdoors.
God is the one who gives ideasand creativity.
(38:21):
He's the one who makes thingshappen.
Like he already knows how thestory unfolds.
And so it's like I'm goingdirectly to the author.
I'm going directly to thecreator and saying, What would
you like me to do next?
Give me the strength and thegrace and the faith to do it.
(38:42):
And then I'm gonna come backtomorrow and we're gonna have
this same conversation.
We're gonna, we're gonna dothis every day.
But that that that faith, thatreliance, like that honors God.
That that's that's the kind ofpositioning that He like He
(39:04):
wants us to position ourselvesthere so that we can see Him
move.
So that when things start tohappen, when things start to
fall in place, He gets thecredit.
It is it is Him I can say, Goddid that.
It wasn't me, it wasn't my ownstrength or my great idea or my
(39:28):
hard work.
That was God.
Like that was him and his greatthat grace, that was him and
his faithfulness, that was himand his provision.
And every story that I tellshould be always pointing back
to God, it should be alwayspointing people to God and and
just how amazing he is.
(39:48):
And it just that's what thisbusiness is, or when he calls us
into business as a leader, asan entrepreneur, it's like you
our job is is to point people tohim, our job is to honor him,
our job is to build up thekingdom of heaven, to have an
(40:10):
eternal perspective.
And so it's like, what doesthat look like here on earth?
And it is building a business,it is creating content, it is
having a marketing strategy, butit's it's all surrendered to
him.
It is all, I mean, I'm if I itis all being led by him when I'm
(40:38):
doing it well.
And again, it's a daily battle,it's a daily wrestling.
There are days when I wake upand I'm like, yes, God, you are
good.
Let's go.
You're amazing, I love you.
And then there are days when Iwake up and I'm like, how is
(40:59):
this ever gonna work?
I have no idea.
But again, day to day, hismercies are new every morning.
So if if this spoke to you,like if this resonated with you,
I would just encourage you,like share on because if it if
(41:20):
it touched your heart, if itspoke to where you're at right
now, there might be other peoplewho need to hear it too.
And so, like, if it if it'sbeen a blessing to you, that
that's awesome.
Again, that totally a Godthing.
But if you want to leave arating for the show and like
(41:41):
help help other people find itand be encouraged, that would be
awesome.
And if not, that's okay too.
Like, you know, this is me justtrusting that God's gonna open
doors and and hopefully just usethis to encourage people at the
right time and in the rightplace.
So, as always, you can learnmore at
(42:04):
ClearAuthenticBrands.com.
That's all for this episode.
See you next time.
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