Doesn’t it seem sometimes like to more we try to hold on to, the less we an actually hold? Things start slipping through the cracks and falling until it all just seems out of control. Then it’s so tempting to give up.
I’ve been there a lot of this past year.
Scott is getting his PhD, driving to class in Ft. Worth two nights a week. I’m planning and implementing our monthly GNO events, and blogging daily while still having the privilege of doing all my usual mama duties like tutoring visits 6 times a week, sports practice, ball games and the like. And to be completely honest, I’ve had an underlying current of frustration that I haven’t been able to get more done with regard to growth strategy and next steps with HeartStories.
I feel like I should be able to get more done.
I have all these incredible dreams for where we could go and how we could do even more to serve busy, overwhelmed women and yet, month after month, I feel like I’m barely scraping by, getting all the necessities done . . . but nothing more. So I reached out to my friend Alison, who seems to successfully do the work of 10 people without breaking a sweat. While I was rambling on and on about all my big dreams and my little amount of time.
Do you know what she told me?
“Crystal, you need to hire a consistent admin to help you with the details.” But I can’t. . . I don’t have the time to train, the money, the. . . “Crystal, I’m telling you, when I look back at the most successful, pivotal moment in my business, it was the day I hired my first admin. Don’t wait another second. Put the ad up today.” Of course we talked a bit longer and she told me stories of the road ahead, but I bet you know what I did when we hung up.
I posted a job opening, and hired this lovely gal.
Meet Jordan. She is fun, outgoing and kind, but she’s also insanely organized. She has experience using all the tools used to make things run in the background around here. She’s confidently comfortable spending time with Google to learn the things she doesn’t know yet. In short, she’s a Godsend straight into my life, and our community. I can’t wait for you to get to know her!
We spent this past week onboarding her to all the processes behind the scenes at HeartStories. I’m totally not there yet, but I’m working on letting go. So I laughed, extra hard, when our GNO sister Karen, posted this video in our Facebook group.
It’s obvious that this boy is never going to be able to hold all those balls without a different plan.
He’s going to have to give up control for a little while, to make space to put together a new plan. Maybe he needs to let them all go while he goes to get a bucket. Maybe he just needs to pull out that chair and get comfortable with only being able to pick up one or two balls at a time, if he’s going to gather them all. What’s clear is that what he’s doing isn’t working. He’s going to have to let go.
He must free his hands temporarily, so he can do what’s needed next.
If this was a video of your life, what are the balls you need to set down for a minute in order to put together a new plan?
If you keep trying to hold them all, they’ll keep spilling out the sides.
Maybe your new plan looks like asking for help. Maybe it looks like passing off more chores to your kids. Maybe it looks like taking time to rest your arms and your mind before you can even begin to see clearly to make a different plan.
Or like me, maybe you need to ask a friend to help light the path ahead for you.
Because sometimes, letting go is the first step to freeing your hands for what’s next.
to more love,
Crystal
