Carrie Baker – The Growth Collective

Hey dreamer,

How are you doing? Are you moving toward that beautiful dream? Do you feel ready for the next phase?

You have taken steps toward your dream and given yourself permission to chase those things in your heart.

Next there comes a point at which you need to cross an invisible threshold. You go from the safe position in the beginning, where you’re mostly researching, writing out next steps, your goals, reading books, making lists, talking about your beautiful dream with your community and so on. You haven’t really risked anything… yet.

You will reach the moment when it’s time to go all in, and you’ll know when it arrives. You may already be at that place, where you need to take a risk and move your dream forward, or it will forever be stuck here in it’s infancy phase.

Taking a leap of faith will look different for everyone; it can look like investing some money, giving your dream a good amount of time, buying essential supplies, or even just putting yourself out there. Once you take this leap, you know there is no going back and the only way is forward.

We all reach this point, and it’s going to be ok. Let me take a hold your hand, we will jump together.

You won’t know know unless you leap.

“But what if I fall?” Oh but my darling, what if you fly?

Erin Hanson

You can’t possibly know how this will turn out. But if you don’t try, nothing will change, you won’t move forward and you’ll never know! You have already made progress toward your dream, in every tiny step of faith you’ve already taken. They have been preparing you for the big leap, you’ve been training for this moment without even realising it!

You probably feel like you have to be completely ready, but it wouldn’t be a leap of faith if you were. It would be more of a well planned move forward (which sounds rather boring to me).

Let’s think about the worst case scenario, because your mind will want to go there anyway; and that is the possibility you’ll fail.

The fear of failure is one of the main reasons people don’t chase their dream. By giving yourself permission to fail, and to even expect to occasionally, you can take some of the fear out of it. (I wrote about this in a recent blog post, you can read that here.)

But what if you fly? There is a great chance that this leap into the unknown, will be a success and launch you into all the exciting next steps toward your dream. While no one else can do this for you, they can be there with you. Lean into those who are there for the journey, your people, your community. Let them pep-talk you toward the big jump, let them hold your hand as you fly through the expanse to whatever is on the other side.

If faith is important to you, you will know that when you step out in faith, God will meet you halfway, ready to catch you, whatever happens. When you move into the things that he has given you, for a purpose, (those dreams, gifts and talents) you know that you are in his will for your life. That doesn’t mean it is easy though, that’s why it is in faith. It does mean that you choose to trust him, and it will all be ok.

You step out of the Comfort Zone.

‘Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.’

– Neale Donald Walsch

I love this quote. We are such creatures of comfort. I know I am! We are happy when we are in our routines and we know what to expect every day, no surprises. Sometimes we feel a little bored, but then we remember how the unknown makes us feel, so we settle back into our predictably comfortable life again.

There is so much waiting for you beyond the limiting realms of your comfort zone, and taking a leap of faith is all about freeing yourself from that.

Doing it the first time can feel almost impossible. But the wonderful thing about stepping past the bounds of your comforting safe space, is that once you do it, you begin to build your strength like you do a muscle. The more you do it, the easier it will be, and the bigger that muscle will grow.

You may not want to hear this, but taking a leap of faith will need to happen again and again. The great news is, that as you take each leap, you overcome your fear and you step into the next season, then the next and so on.

When you look back you will see all the ways you have grown and progressed and you’ll be able to see how far you have come. This grows your confidence to take even bigger leaps when the time comes.

Why not begin to keep track of these leaps of faith and the outcomes, so that when they exceed your expectation, you can look back and see all your successes.

You shake off the fear holding you back

‘Everything you want, is on the other side of fear.’

– Jack Canfield

When you can take fear out of the equation, you soon see that there is nothing holding you back. In fact the only person stopping you from going full speed into all the things you want to do, is YOU.

Knowing this doesn’t make the fear suddenly vanish, but now you know who it is you need to deal with. Will you feel anxious, nervous and afraid a lot of the time? Yes! Absolutely! But if you can anticipate feeling this way whenever you approach the big jump, you can acknowledge the fear, step through it and do it anyway. It’s the process we all go through, and anything that grows us will feel uncomfortable to begin with.

There is a freedom in overcoming your fear. When you look back at things you once found difficult, you see that you can do them now without any problem at all. Every fear you face is a challenge you have the ability to overcome. Once you learn how to do this, nothing will be able to stop you.

You become more bendy.

Did you know that as you age, you lose your flexibility over the years? You also become more stuck in your ways and stubborn, the older you get.

When you get good at taking the leap of faith out of your comfort zone, you become more bendy and able to move with the challenges that come your way. Just like stretching your muscles on a regular basis, can help to keep your body moving freely, so too can doing things that scare and challenge you. Keep on trying new things and it will keep you moving like Keanu Reeves dodging bullets in the matrix…

It will all be ok in the end.

“Everything will be ok in the end. If it’s not ok, then it’s not the end.”

– John Lennon, The Beatles

When you take a leap of faith into the life that you are created for, it is exactly where you are meant to be. Even when it doesn’t work out at the time, the way you thought it would.

You will face times when all the doors are closing, or you are getting a bunch of ‘no’s’ everywhere you go. If the dream in your heart feels like the thing that you must do, the thing you are created for, then keep going, don’t be discouraged.

I’ve heard so many stories of people whose plans kept failing, or the doors of opportunity wouldn’t open to them. But because there were so sure they were on the right path, they chose not to give up. Their determination paid off every time.

You will face disappointment, a dead end or failure. But if this precious dream you carry is what you know you’re meant to pursue, then you must keep going. These setbacks can be opportunities to grow, gain wisdom or even a waiting period for the right door to open to you.

If you have a faith, trust the author of your life. Know that he has a good plan for you, and know deep in your heart that it will all be ok. He holds you in his hand, he has a plan for your life and he wants you to succeed.

As John Lennon says, ‘If it’s not ok, then it’s not the end.’

This is just the beginning of your journey into so many great things. I can’t wait to hear all hurdles you overcome and those courageous leaps of faith you will make! You are brave and you are amazing, go run after those beautiful dreams…

Thank you for stopping by! If you found this helpful and encouraging, please like this post and share it with your people.

Come back next week for another blog post to encourage and inspire you into all that you are meant for.

Sending you love Dreamer,

Carrie xxx