HOW DOES STEPPING OUT ON FAITH RELATE TO MY BUSINESS?
By Aurelia Mitchell Durant
We have all heard or either used the term stepping out on faith but what does that term really mean to a woman in business. That answer will vary depending upon your entry point to business. There are some women who can say that their entrance into the business world was their destiny that; they were born to do this. There are others that say that their entrance was so that they can have a roof over their head or food on the table. And still others say that they just fell into business.
What I can say is that my personal entrance was a means of survival. When I started my firm it was after several months of rejection from the process of trying to get a job in a large law firm. Sure, there were a myriad of things I could have said during my job search that could, would or should have landed me the job but at the root my intention was not in my job search. Hidden from my view, it was my insecurities that made me less effective in the job search. I felt I was better off creating my own destiny by becoming a woman in business. That way I did not have to run the risk of my insecurities being exposed.
It was that thinking, flawed or otherwise that made hanging out my own shingle, out of necessity. I needed to survive, so I need to get creative. Now that brings me backed to the “step out on faith”; the phrase is interpreted to mean that you take a risk or you do something daring. What is interesting is that stepping out on faith actually means that you are removing all other options but the path you have chosen. By that definition, many of us never really fully and sho-nuffly step out on faith. Many of us have a plan B, a back-up plan, a fall back or that dreaded “ace in the hole”. So therefore, we make a step but it is not on faith it is actually on our lack of faith.
You have heard the term “desperate times call for desperate measures”. There is some desperation in removing all other options and taking a step towards your destiny. As a woman in business we cannot deceive ourselves into misinterpreting and misaligning our insecurities with business. It is rough for sure but we have to have the determination to persevere and stay the course above all else. When times get tough in business we have to have our faith to strengthen us and carry us forward. No matter how hard the fall, faith is the softest place to land. If we never really step out on faith how can we expect it be there to cushion our fall.
Image Credit: http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/haveamagnificentday/
