Believing can be hard. Hard as hell. It’s part of the process and no one wants to complain, but there are times when belief has you feeling stuck in place, and you question why you’re even doing what you’re doing.

I wanted to speak to that time period when you choose to trust over and over, yet feel like you’re not making any progress. 

It can last for months and drive you absolutely crazy. But it’s a blessing, I promise. You just have to allow yourself the compassion to see it that way.

This Blog is a Perfect Example

You may know that Amour Abroad is on her way to becoming a global publication. My goal is for us to own our own buildings, create magazines every month, do fashion shows, charities and more. My inspiration was a mix of Eat, Pray, Love, Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Devil Wears Prada back in 2010.

Imagine being 12 years old and seeing all of these amazing women use their power of writing to change the world. A little CEO was growing inside of me.

Now that I have the business and an MBA, I’m sure you can imagine the stress I’ve felt trying to get it all together. Greater still is the weight of my reputation in my family: succeeding at everything I do. In other words…

when it comes to Amour Abroad, I don’t sleep.

Stuck at the Beginning

My plan for the business was pretty simple: create the blog, build an audience, make sales and expand.

Straightforward, nothing crazy. Yet up until a week and a half ago, building an audience made me feel like I was climbing a smooth, vertical wall.  

I followed what I learned in business school and leaned on social media marketers, but in the end I was gaining and losing the same 3 followers each week. 

Madness.

The Key is to Embrace Feeling Stuck!

So I cried and prayed and cried some more, asking God why He wouldn’t offer me some online dignity. Just a little thousand so that I could feel like I was actually making headway. 

Here’s what He said: “You have everything you need.” 

So I started looking around. 

Have you noticed that trees in a forest are all a similar height, but have different thickness in their trunks? Thicker trees stand for decades, but the thin trees break in half and fall when storms come.

Businesses are the same. People are the same.

I realized that if you’re willing to engage with your emotions, the stagnation you feel will make your trunk thicker. You’ll be stronger, you’ll last longer, and you’ll be able to do more.

Your stuckness helps you do that through these 3 blessings it provides!

Blessing One: Protection from Crash Outs

The proper term is self-sabotage, but I love the phrase crash out because it truly encapsulates that feeling of going along in life and suddenly having an accident. When we’re passionate with clearly defined goals, we usually expect to reach them smoothly. Sure, a mishap here or an oversight there may occur, but for the most part we trust that the more we work, the more progress we’ll see.

Now what happens when that progress doesn’t come?

My old habits were to curl up in a ball and cry. The overwhelming feeling of not being enough would wash over me until I just gave up. Then a few days would go by and I would get upset about giving up, find new angry energy, and start again.

It works short term, but for the long term you want a more stable source of motivation – especially in business.

Feeling stuck gives you time to iron out kinks that could lead to failure. Since I had a solid two years in between launching and gaining traction, I was able to develop a fool-proof self care routine that made me happy no matter what! And when I had practices I could lean on in low moments, working became so much easier.

The stakes are low when you’re stagnant – use it to your advantage!

Blessing Two: Honing Your Craft

Everything that is done can be improved – this is the nature of humanity. I have zero fears about my writing style, as it’s one of the first art forms where I felt the freedom to truly express myself.

But I had to come back and edit this post months after its original publication.

You might feel like your business or your art is perfection, and it is, but only for the level you were previously at. The level that you are currently trying to escape.

Consider this: Jesus was probably ready to teach to the masses when he was in his early 20s. But it took gaining the 12 disciples and Mary, turning water to wine at the wedding and living in the wilderness before he could teach thousands. And by that time he was 30!

Feeling stuck is where the Universe refines you. Use your time to get even better at what you do. That way when many come, you can do what you do with complete confidence!

Blessing Three: You Get to Dream Bigger

You are going to succeed. Hebrews 10, verse 36 says “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised.”

Which means that if you do what you need to do (and you are reading this post because you are a person who does what they need to do), you’ll get exactly what you’ve asked for.

So since you know you’ll get to where you’re going… ask for more!

When we’re focused on achieving the first of a series of goals we can get trapped in survival mode. How can we pay the rent if the products don’t sell? How can we eat if that contract falls through?

The period of feeling stuck is a blessing because it shows you that even when things aren’t great, life is okay.

Two years after I made this blog I was homeless. I lived in my car for 3 months before getting a space in a women’s program. I felt awful and ashamed, but even in my darkest moments I saw that these three things were true:

1. I always had food (shout out to EBT)
2. I always had shelter, a blanket, a pillow, and somewhere to bathe
3. My business was always safe and operational

My only concern was that I could keep writing. So when I finally got a place to live in, my plans got bigger. No longer was I worried about being consistent on social media or doing SEO research – that all comes naturally now. Today my thoughts are much more The Devil Wears Prada coded.

Your stuckness allows you to develop perspective. You never know what will be asked of you when get your success. Master the little stuff now so that when bigger comes knocking, you can receive it!

That’s not Everything, but it is Enough

Get curious about your feelings! What are you speaking life into that might require a little refinement? If you’re not sure, pray for an answer. It will come, and through that action is where you will find your breakthrough.

Conclusion

I hope you feel blessed after reading this post. Don’t try to skip the line or buy your way out of stagnation! As it says in James 1, verse 4:

“Consider it pure joy… whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (NIV)

You’re growing in perfect timing with the Universe. I promise, you won’t miss a thing.

I love you! 🤍

Buy the Compassion Workbook on Etsy to help yourself see the bright side of all things!