So, serious question. And if the title of this post didn’t give it away – I wanna know – are you being bold enough?
Spoiler. I am not.
I’ve always thought of myself as being a go-getter, hardworking, determined, passionate, blah, blah, blah. And, truth be told, I probably am in some aspects of my life. I turned a hobby into a career, I run my own business, I’ve taken my health by the “horns” and got ish done.
But when I sit back and look at what I’m doing to push myself out of my comfort zone – there isn’t much I can speak to. Don’t get me wrong. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished but I wouldn’t say that since I’ve accomplished it, I’ve done much more to make bigger moves.
Let me give you an example…
About a year ago, I started playing around with photography and even did a few photo shoots for friends and family. And I loved it. I was good at it. I set goals to turn it into something more, a new business opportunity. And then a year passed by and I have done NADA. Brandon keeps telling me to go after it. Friends keep telling me how talented I am. But for whatever reason, I haven’t taken myself seriously or made any progress into making it something real.
The reason? I’m scared.
What if no one wants to hire me? What if I don’t really know what I’m doing? What if I invest money in equipment and classes and then it all just flops?
Part of me doesn’t want to take the risk – or put in the extra hard work – if in the end it just sorta fails. And that, my friends, is the opposite of being bold.
And it doesn’t just apply to this one opportunity. I’ve come to the realization that I’m not doing much of anything to push past my comfort zone and what’s already working. I’m not going over and beyond. I’m not going the extra mile. I’m not dreaming as hard as I used to.
But that is changing – it has changed. I’m making the decision as I type these words that it’s officially time to become BOLD. Bold with business decisions. Bold in my relationship. Bold in my personal life. It’s time to be more passionate, make scary moves, make risks, be louder, be aggressive…be bold.
And I need your help.
Accountability is key (at least for me) when it comes to staying on top of my goals. Sharing my fitness and health journey with you guys probably made up for 80% of my motivation when I first started. And, now, I look forward to sharing updates with you guys because when you get excited, I get excited all over again. Accountability works.
When it comes to my plans for making stronger statements in my life, I’m going to turn to you guys. Check in with me, send me a DM, shoot me an email, share your big moves. Let’s stay connected and help eachother!
Step 1: write it down.
These are the first few things I want to tackle in embodying a bolder outlook.
- Be more proactive and aggressive when securing new opportunities for LaurenElyce.com (i.e. better negotiating, more outreach and a more formal + professional pitch strategy)
- Make a plan for turning my photography business into an actual business. What could this look like? What is my niche? How will I get customers? How will I grow my skillset? Etc.
- Plan a super sexy date night with B. This might be a little too personal for you guys but this is one thing I’m looking forward to the most! I love spicing things up – and I’m putting this one down so I don’t forget that it’s my turn 🙂 I love pushing myself when it comes to my relationship but haven’t been doing a good job lately of explorign what that means for both of us. Challenge accepted.
- By the end of 2019, have a strategic plan set for one additional business venture outside of my blog, Adorn and (TBD) photography business. I have been talking about this for a long time – how else can I bring in money/what do I want to do in addition to the blog? Well now is the time to make a plan and make it a reality.
Are you guys making any changes to become BOLD? Are you already there and have a few tips? Help a girl out and comment below!
So much yes to this. I’ve been feeling smaller, more timid and weary. What is that?!?! That’s not who I am. It’s not who I’ve been and it will not be my future. I’m capable, talented and ready to live BIG again. I want to be a speaker, encourager and coach. I want to use my voice and faith to help others live big too. Here’s to the first step! Thank you 😊
Love this post, Lauren! I feel you on so many parts of this. A lot of times we can spend so much time stressing and being anxious about the moves that we want to make, and not actually spending that energy making those moves. You are absolutely a very successful lady, and I’m very excited to see where this new chapter takes you! I personally am trying to be more bold with my health and exercising, just like you. I have all the tools in the world, I just don’t use them. I’m scared too, so when you said that, I felt it! I’m also in Atlanta, have been thinking about starting a blog for ages now, and haven’t done that either. Everyone around me is so encouraging, but yet again, that fear creeps in! Good luck to the both of us!
Yeyyy for the photography business! I’m with you! Time to push myself way past my comfort zone! I’ve gotten way to comfortable with my business!