Posts Tagged "fearlessness"

From Reluctance to Renaissance

Posted by LisaYoung in Faith |

When we launched The Renaissance Mom at the beginning of the year, I had no idea what would happen.

Our mission is to help 10,000 mompreneurs and working mothers bring balance to their life and work without apologies or excuses. It was a mission God laid on my heart nearly two years ago to the day.

The journey from there to here has not at all been what I planned nor imagined.

“My ways are not your ways.” says the Lord.

Quite.

In truth, for all the forward motion and “tally-ho!” attitude I bring to my work and my life, I’ve probably been the biggest heel dragger of all when it comes to growing this business.

I never really thought of myself as a “mompreneur” or a “wahm” in the first place. I’ve written before about the negative perceptions people hold about those labels. I, too, held some prejudice about those labels. So much, that I felt compelled to create a new “brand” of working mother – The Renaissance Mom.

Renaissance is about re-birth. Despite any scriptural connotations that might bring to mind, we carefully chose our logo to bring to mind the two most recognizable symbols of rebirth – the phoenix and the cross. Simply put, this company is committed to helping working mothers make the transition from reluctance to renaissance.

Why then, have I been dragging my heels on this business? Several reasons:

1. It’s not my business. Yes, I’m the founder, and my name is the owner of record. No, it’s not a company in name only. This is God’s business, not mine. Often times, I get up in the morning inspired to take actions so far removed from my comfort zone, I have a hard time doing them. I constantly ask “why” and find myself doing it anyway. Today I met a charming guy at a local ad agency. We talked for more than an hour as he shared generously some ideas to help promote The Renaissance Mom Experience to a more local audience. I went in with no real idea of what to expect. I walked away with so many blessings, I wanted to cry. It’s hard for me to invest myself fully in something that’s not mine. I’ve been burned by other partners in the past, and trust is hard won from me. The silly thing is, if I can’t trust God as my partner, who can I trust?
2. I like being in control. I like having an agenda that I’ve laid out and can work from. God is more extemporaneous than that – at least with me. And although it bugs me a little, I’m trying to go with His flow. But it’s hard, and sometimes downright frustrating. Letting go is not something that comes easy to me. Particularly when I’m “letting go to let God” so to speak. I have many “other” things to do, and sometimes I think I have better things to do. God and I don’t always see eye to eye. Luckily, He still loves me anyway.
3. Show me the money. To be frank (perhaps a little too frank), The Renaissance Mom has been entirely funded from the beginning by my other business endeavors. I’m not complaining, just noticing that the company is not profitable, and while I’m doing my best to remain faithful to God’s calling, it would be nice to turn a profit from the work we’re doing to help working moms. Perhaps it’s a bad time to start a company like this, but the demand for what we’re doing has been so overwhelming that we can’t stop now. For an unknown start-up, we’ve had the privilege of helping hundreds of women (and a few men) since January gain more balance and clarity in their lives, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s odd for me to run a company that’s not paying for itself, and if this is the mission God has laid on my heart, then maybe it’s not supposed to be profitable. I haven’t figured that one out yet.

That’s been my journey for the past few months, and through it, I’ve made some tremendous realizations:

1. God is always in control. That may sound like a “blatantly Christian” thing to say on a blog, but it’s true. Every time we’ve had a need for this event, there’s been a supply. I’ve been shy about giving the glory for it to God, and that ends today. God deserves the glory, because there’s no logical reason that this event should be happening at all, let alone happening successfully. And it is happening successfully. Whoever heard of bootstrapping an entire 3-day conference? God is miraculous and I need to stop dragging my heels telling other people about it.
2. Business is still business. Partners, sponsors and others connected to the work we do still want to see a return – they want to know what’s in it for them. Having a great idea isn’t good enough. Communicating that idea isn’t good enough. Providing the return makes the difference.
3. I still have a lot to learn. I’ve never claimed to be anybody’s guru. That’s a role for someone other than me. What I do is connect the dots for people, point them to resources, and hopefully help someone along the way. Very much of my success has been accidental, but now I’m in a position where a significant number of people actually look to me for advice/help. God help us all.

There are other lessons, to be sure, and my own renaissance is ongoing. When you step out in faith in a very public way, there’s bound to be obstacles. I’ve tried to stay low-key for a long time, and it’s just not going to work anymore. You may have already seen the shift, heard the undertones, and wondered what’s going on.

I’ve been pulling together a new approach for clients and folks like you that want to move forward with confidence  - out of reluctance and into renaissance. It’s very uncreatively called “30 Days to Renaissance”, and it is my new tool for stopping the heel dragging.

And you can have it free.

In light of my profitability comments earlier, free may be a bad choice, but it’s an e-course, delivered daily to your in-box, so it feels weird to charge you for it. Plus, God said to make it free, so I’m not going to argue with HIM.

You can fill out the opt-in box on our home page or Click here to get more details.

If it takes you from Reluctance to Renaissance, please share it with a friend. In the meantime, I’d love to hear your revelations about moving forward in faith in your life and business.

Letting Go Takes Love

Posted by LisaYoung in Big Ideas, Faith | 13 comments

In the past 24 hours it feels as though I have awakened from a 35 year coma. I can’t begin to explain everything here, at least not yet.

But new realities have come into my field of vision, and I’m seeing the world through somewhat different eyes.

As moms, we often think that we are doing so much for everyone else, and we don’t have a voice of our own. Sometimes we feel squelched.

Today, I realized I’ve been squelching myself in ways I never recognized; ways I never comprehended.

And it changes starting now.

During this process of “awakening” if you will, I heard a quote on the radio. It moved me so, that I had to find the author and share it with you.

In the past few days, it hit me that as long as our hands are clenched, we cannot give, nor can we receive. Further, if all we do is take, eventually there’s nothing left to take. If all we do is give, eventually, there’s nothing left to give. Thus, we must give and take in order to keep balance and maintain a “karmic equilibrium” so to speak.

This passage from Dr. Margaret Rinck spoke to me. And so I offer it to those of you dealing with clenched fists – whether they’re yours or someone else’s:

To Let Go Takes Love by Dr. Margaret J. Rinck
To “let go” does not mean to stop caring. It means I can’t do it for someone else.

To “let go” is not to cut myself off. It’s the realization that I can’t control another.

To “let go” is not to enable, but to allow learning from natural consequences.

To “let go” is not to try to change or blame another. It’s to make the most of myself.

To “let go” is not to care for, but to care about.

To “let go” is not to fix, but to be supportive.

To “let go” is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.

To “let go” is not to be in the middle, arraging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own destinies.

To “let go” is not to be protective; it’s to permit another to face reality.

To “let go” is not deny, but to accept.

To “let go” is not to nag, scold or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.

To “let go” is not to adjust everything to my desires, but to take each day as it comes and cherish myself in it.

To “let go” is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.

To “let go” is to fear less and to love more.

Yes, I believe in God. Is that so wrong?

Posted by LisaYoung in Faith | 14 comments

I don’t see the big picture. I don’t have a clue. But I know God does. I’m going to declare that, even if I don’t feel it right now.
- Steven Curtis Chapman

My assistant emailed me that message today. Combine that with a string of signs I saw on our family road trip yesterday and I knew the time had come to finish and share this post.

A bit naive? Perhaps. But that's faith.

I’m not one to talk religion much. I don’t hide the fact that I go to church, but I don’t actively spout off about my faith much, either. It tends to open a can of worms far bigger than anyone should try to handle on a blog. A previous post about Ben Stein’s movie got someone’s dander up because I dared to say what other people were thinking. And since Faith is one of the 5 Key Areas we’re delving into this August at The Renaissance Mom Experience, I figure I need to be transparent on the issue of Faith.

So here it is: I believe in God. I believe there has to be something bigger in this world than me, myself and I. There’s too much going on for my own brain to comprehend, and I find it difficult to assert that it all just happened by random chance.

Now, some of you will scoff, laugh or simply stop reading. That’s entirely your choice. But before you do, let me also offer this viewpoint.

I’ve never been one to force-feed my spiritual beliefs on anyone, partly because I’ve struggled myself with what those beliefs are exactly. I’ve met people who could just look at me and tell me things about my life that have NEVER been public knowledge. That’s some kind of inexplicable thing. I’ve met people who you might call ‘intuitive’ or ‘psychic’ – a term which seems to hold more derogatory connotations than anything else these days. And yes, members of my family (myself included) have demonstrated some type of intuitive ability.

In the strictly Christian sense of things, I’m still trying to figure out what all that really means. If you look at my upbringing, you’ll find I was raised “Metho-Catho-Baptist” and (gasp!) did a lot of research in my early twenties in earth-based religions.  I am Catholic now, and that’s mostly for one reason:

I feel at home in a Catholic church. I’ve sung in a lot of churches, and the first time I set foot in a Catholic church, I felt like I had finally come home”.

I can’t explain it. I don’t really try. Maybe it’s the ritual, maybe it’s the structure, maybe it’s just the pretty window glass. I don’t think it matters much – at least not right now. The fact of the matter is that I believe that God put me where I am, Catholic or not, and gave me the experiences I have endured and entertained – Catholic or not. And it doesn’t matter much if “God” is actually a universal consciousness, an alien being, pure energy, or the ultimate creator of the Universe, multiverse and everything in it.

It’s my faith. And faith determines everything you are and will do in your life. Faith is the nexus where your core values and your beliefs converge. Faith mandates a belief in something. I choose to believe in and look for the good, strive to help others, and spend each day doing my best to serve the purpose that I believe God put me on this earth to handle. Naive? Perhaps.

We humans created all these “boxes” – these “labels” that give us a sense of peace and comfort by which to categorize the people of the world. If we are truly “one body”, then the labels don’t matter: Jewish, Episcopal, Buddhist, Muslim, Metho-Catho-Baptist, etc.

I’ll probably get shot for that last statement. God forbid.

That’s my struggle right now. Because I believe deeply in my own set of beliefs and core values, and I have a hard time with the idea of labeling the beliefs of others.

I stumbled on a book, Lucid Living: A Book You Can Read in One Hour That Will Turn Your World Inside Out. Yep, that’s my Amazon link. Deal with it.

Tim’s a bit controversial in nature, but one premise form the book struck me: We are all one. Harm to one is harm to all, and love to one is love to all.

That, to me, encapsulates God’s message. Putting one sect or religious group in a box only serves to disintegrate the wholeness of who we are as the people of God – wherever or however God actually “resides”.

And the upside is that there’s little to no real downside to this perspective. There’s nothing wrong with loving everyone. You still need to keep your wits about you. Your conscience will be clean, and if we treated everyone with love – regardless of their world view – how much better this rock hurtling through space would be.

I know I sound like Pollyanna. I know there are still many people in the world that don’t subscribe to that notion. And yes, I’ve had my share of not-so-good life experiences.  I’m sure I’ll have umpty-gajillion more before my time is through.

Will I still be Catholic in 20 years? Who knows?

Will I still believe in God? You betcha.

Logically, faith makes no sense. That’s why it’s called faith.

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Am I crazy? Do you have your own faith you’d like to share? Post your comments below and let the maelstrom begin!

Mompreneur Success: Balancing Your Weakness

Posted by LisaYoung in Big Ideas | 4 comments

This morning I awoke from a vivid dream wherein I portrayed some kind of crime-fighting super hero. I nearly died because my fatal flaw – my “kryptonite” if you will, was flowers, of all things. And we were battling in a greenhouse.

Goofy, I know, but it got me to thinking about how moms are real-life superheros. And just like our make-believe counterparts, we all have a weakness – some fatal flaw that binds us up and holds us hostage in our lives.

If left unattended, it might even be the end of us.

Of course, I’m taking the idea to the extreme here, but one thing I’ve learned in my coaching over the years is that there’s always something – and it’s usually rooted in fear – that keeps us from putting on our golden arm bands, our lasso of truth, and being the superhero of our own lives.

For me, my business is my Achilles’ heel. I love what I do so much, it can become an addiction for me. I admit that I’m hard-pressed to shut down my computer and walk away from it at dinner time. I feel unproductive when I’m home and NOT working! And yes, I feel that way even when there’s plenty of housework to do that would otherwise keep me occupied.

If I’d let it, my business would be the death of me. There’s always something new, exciting and different going on there. I can connect with new people every day online and grow my business faster and faster every day. I’m an adrenaline junkie of sorts, because it becomes so much fun to watch everything unfold in my business.

It’s also the least important thing I could be focusing on.

In the grand scheme of things, my relationships with family and friends take priority. My spiritual development and my faith take precedence. Or at least they should. And when I’m living life in balance, they do. But when the adrenaline calls, sometimes it becomes incredibly painful to turn off the computer and walk away.

Every SuperMom has a weakness. Yours may be time with your children, or the need for adult conversation – or alone time with your significant other. Maybe you have a fear of success, or a mindset that says you need to sacrifice one area of your life in order to be successful in another. What’s holding you back from seeing the success you deserve in your life?

Until you can identify your weakness, it’s difficult, if not impossible, to defend against. The answer lies within you. Here are a few suggestions to help you tap your inner superhero:

1. Think about the grand scheme of things. Superman had Lois Lane. Tarzan had Jane. Every superhero has at least one someone in their life that’s more important than the service they provide to humanity. When you come to the end of your life, it’s those people that will remember you. The legacy you leave behind to you loved ones is far more important than any job you could ever do.
2. Keep the faith. You must believe in something greater than yourself. Whether it’s God, or “truth, justice and the American way”, there’s got to be a bigger mission for the roles you play. As a mom, you’re shaping lives of future generations. As a business owner, it’s got to be about more than just the income.
3. Have some fun! How many times did Superman take Lois out for a flight? You’ve got these super powers, take some time to use them to enjoy yourself. If you’re not making time to celebrate your success, you’re missing out.
4. Watch the pennies. If you’re growing a business, be mindful of the money you’re earning. Fun is important, but so is keeping a balanced budget and paying off debt.
5. Stay healthy. It’s easy to say there’s no time to exercise when your business is booming. There’s always plenty of other things to do that don’t involve exercise. It’s true when people say “if you don’t have your health, you have nothing.” Keep your mind, body and spirit in tip-top-shape by exercising them regularly.

These are just a few suggestions to help you keep your life in balance. When you focus on what’s really important in your life and work, the rest becomes somewhat easier to manage.

© 2010 Lisa Robbin Young.

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