Returning to Purpose

A whisper from God led me to dust off a book I'd written a decade ago—"Bless Yourself Chronicles: 10 Steps to Breathe Life into your Redesign." Little did I know when penning those words that they would become the very blueprint I'd need to navigate the tumultuous decade ahead.

Tears streamed down my face as I flipped through pages written by a woman who had no idea she was about to face bankruptcy, divorce, and job loss. Yet somehow, she had already crafted the guidance her future self would desperately need. What struck me wasn't the perfection of the writing (the book went out with minimal editing after an editor failed to deliver), but the evidence that even before life's storms hit, my purpose was already alive and speaking.

This powerful revelation challenged everything I thought about purpose and timing. So many of us feel behind or forgotten when life takes unexpected turns. We shelve dreams, abandon projects, and convince ourselves we've missed our moment. But what if that's not true? What if your purpose doesn't expire but rather matures as you do? What if that journal, business concept, or creative project you set aside years ago wasn't abandoned but was simply waiting for you to grow into it?

Your past work might contain exactly the wisdom, insight, and direction you need for this current season. Even more importantly, it might hold the very message someone else desperately needs to hear. Don't sit on what God has called you to share—someone is waiting for your story, your experience, your breath of "yes" to help them navigate their journey.

This week, I challenge you to elevate your purpose by returning to what you thought was finished. That creation wasn't just for then—it might be the key to your next chapter of growth. Send me a DM @thehartshello if this resonates with you. I want to celebrate what you're rediscovering because we're on this journey together.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right.
So we are in a new month andthis month's theme is Elevate
your Purpose.
But here's the big thing aboutelevation it's not always loud,
it's not always bright lightsand applause.
Sometimes, elevation isrecognition, it's remembering,
it's returning, and that'sexactly what happened to me last

(00:23):
week, y'all, let me tell you.
So.
I was sitting with God askingfor directions and I heard a
whisper.
Not a new idea, not a brand newvision, but a reminder to go
back and look at the book that Iwrote 10 years ago.
See, the book that I wrote 10years ago is titled Bless

(00:45):
Yourself Chronicles 10 Steps toBreathe Life into your Redesign.
Now, I'm going to pause rightthere, and for those newbies who
are just joining this journeythat we're on, you'll be like,
well, why'd you pause?
But for the old timers, thosewho have been with me for almost

(01:06):
two years, you know exactly whythat hit me like a ton of
bricks.
Because the last 10 years havebeen a complete roller coaster
in my life.
And who would have thought thatbeing obedient to an assignment

(01:26):
to write a book 10 years agowould be the actual blueprint
that I needed in order to getthrough the next 10 years?
See, in the next 10 years afterI wrote that book, there had
been bankruptcy, there had beendivorce, there had been all of

(01:47):
this shame and guilt, even justbeing around the whole divorce
piece of it.
It was the hardness on mychildren for what was
transpiring with their dad and I.
And then the layoff.
And so to go through those 10years and to have written a

(02:13):
blueprint on how to redesign mylife oh, my God, you are funny.
How did I get here?
And at first it was you wereobedient to a call, and the call

(02:35):
was for you to write a book.
But now I'm in a space wherethat call allowed me the ability
to learn.
It allowed me the ability to gothrough life, through a journey
, with a different lens thatgoing through it you don't

(02:56):
necessarily see.
And that's the good thing aboutlessons, right?
It's because you don't get achance to actually review the
test that you've passed untilyou've actually passed the test.
I'll say that again, just likewhen we were in school, they may
give you your test back afteryou have already taken it.

(03:17):
The same thing happens withlife.
When you have gone through thetest, you have the opportunity
to see how well you've done orthe areas in which you need to
improve, journey of who I wasthen to who I am now, even just
with my whole stance andmovement on being.

(03:37):
It's like you had to redesignin order to become this version
of you, and now I have adifferent lens, now I have a

(04:00):
different perspective, even onthe book.
So, wink, wink, somethingdifferent Good is getting ready
to come from that.
But anyway, when I opened it,you all, it hit me.
Tears streamed.
Of course, not because thatbook was perfectly written, and

(04:20):
that's a whole nother story,because the person that I
actually sent that book off toto get it edited sent me back
the book with no edits, but Ihad already paid for it at that
point.
So what was I going to do?
Was I just going to sit on thisbook that I knew that I was
supposed to release?

(04:41):
No, I did the edits, the bestthat I could, and then I pushed
it out.
So, yeah, this book was notperfectly written, but it
allowed me to be able to see me.
When I opened it, see, I sawthe me that was already speaking
life before I even knew what Ihad to live through.

(05:04):
See, that book was evidence, itwas proof that, even when I
didn't know exactly who I wasbecoming, I was already walking
in purpose.
So I want to encourage you whenGod gives you a nudge to do
something, you may notunderstand it fully.

(05:25):
He is not going to give you thefull blueprint of what it is
that he wants you to do, but hedoes want you to take the first
step.
And so sometimes we get to aplace where we're like, okay,
well, I've taken all of thesesteps and I have yet to see the
fruit.
But if you would just hold onfor a minute, see, this is 10

(05:48):
years coming.
So when people get up andthey're talking about you know,
oh, I have been a coach in thisspace.
Or oh, I, I'm qualified to dothis.
Not only am I a coach in thisspace, and, yes, I am also
qualified to talk about itbecause it was my life.
So I don't just get up here andtalk about things that I have

(06:10):
not already lived through.
I don't just get up here andtalk to you all about the things
that I am not currently doingin my life.
See, the business that I had 10years ago was called Redesign
of you, and the tagline that Iwould always say is as I am
redesigning you, I am alsoredesigning me too.

(06:30):
Same thing applies in thisbusiness, same thing applies in
anything that I do.
I never get to a point where Ithink I know it all, because if
you get to a place where youfeel like you have grown too
much, you're in trouble.
You should always be in a placeof learning.
Okay, so I went off on atangent, real quick, right, but

(06:54):
let me get back on track.
So see, sometimes we think thatpurpose has to be forward
motion, we think that it's thenext big thing, the next big
launch, but sometimes theelevation comes in the return.
So, in picking up something thatwe may have put down, not
because it wasn't good, butbecause we didn't yet know the

(07:17):
weight of our own voice, see, Ididn't shelve that book.
I didn't realize itssignificance until now.
So could I have kept pushingand pushing and pushing it out,
absolutely.
But what if it was meant for meto write that book, to push it

(07:41):
out, then to share it, to do myspeaking engagements, to do my
events and all of those thingsthen, and then to take a pause?
Because what I didn't realizewas that I was going to have to
use that book as my blueprint toget through the next 10 years,
and so, reading it now, italmost feels like a love letter

(08:02):
from my past self to my currentseason, like I wrote it then for
who I am now.
See, that's purpose, purposedoesn't expire.
It waits, it matures, itbecomes fuller as we become
fuller.
So I need you to understandthat.
If you have ever felt behind inlife, hear me clearly.

(08:26):
I want to speak to you rightnow because you are not behind,
you are not forgotten, you arenot out of alignment just
because life took a detour.
What if the thing that youthink you missed is still yours?
What if the door is still open?
What if your past work was aseed and this is the season it

(08:51):
blooms?
See, god reminded me that Ididn't miss anything.
I didn't miss a thing, y'all.
I just needed to remember.
And sometimes that's all that ittakes.
See, most of the time peopleget to a place and this is why

(09:12):
you have a testimony, and it'sbecause you're supposed to share
what you have already beenthrough.
What if your breath is the yesthat someone else needs?
The yes for them to walk intheir purpose, the yes for them

(09:35):
to realize that they can getthrough, the yes for them to get
to their next, but you are soafraid of being who you are.
And for you to tell your storyof what you have already gotten
through.
Because guess what, baby,somebody is right where you have
been.
And what if you are the personto help them get through?

(09:58):
Just like when you werestruggling and fighting and
trying to find the version ofyou?
What if you had someone thatheld out their hand and said,
let me help you?
What if someone was holdingonto the breath the very word
that it was that you needed, butwas afraid to speak up, and so
it prolonged how long it wasgoing to take you to get through

(10:19):
what it was that you were goingthrough?
Do not let that be.
You Do not sit on what it isthat God has told you to do,
because someone is waiting onyou.
So I need you to do a heartcheck this week.

(10:39):
Is there something that youcreated, wrote, dreamed about or
even buried that still holdstruth for where you're going?
Because I need you to go findit.
The journal, the notebook, thevoice memo, the idea that made
your soul light up before lifegot loud.

(11:03):
This, this right here, asyou're listening to my voice is
your sound to revisit it Because, like me, you might discover
that what you once released isthe very thing meant to elevate
your next chapter.
Do you hear me?
And do you hear me clearly?

(11:24):
Purpose isn't just in what youdo, it's in what we remember.
It's in what we choose toreturn to.
So this week, I challenge youto elevate your purpose by going
back to what you thought wasdone.
What you might find is that itwas never over.

(11:47):
It was just waiting for you togrow into it.
So, if this resonated with you,send me a DM, tag me at the
hearts hello, and let me knowwhat you're rediscovering.
I want to celebrate with youbecause we're on this journey

(12:13):
together and I need you to sharethis podcast.
Now's the time.
Send it to a friend who needsto be reminded that their
purpose is still alive.
Until next time.