3 Ways To #BeBold on Your Leap of Faith Journey

If you think the initial leap is the hardest part of taking a leap of faith, you are mistaken! Though it may feel like it at the time, staying on your journey is by far much more challenging - believe me, I'm going through it right now! Money woes, closed doors, frustrations, they can all take their toll and have you questioning why you leapt in the first place.

I've had my fair share of "what was I thinking" moments and they really can drain you, but a positive mindset and perseverance can help provide a quick recovery.

At the start of 2019, I decided my motto for the year was going to be #BeBold. I wanted to challenge myself to do more and step further outside of my comfort zone. The aim was to achieve more, move further along on my leap of faith journey, and stop limiting myself because of fear or self-doubt.

Being bold is a decision anyone can make, and I swear it makes things so much better. Here are 3 things I've learned to do to help me #BeBold. Hopefully you'll find these helpful for your own Leap of Faith journey.

1. Go with your gut.
Hands up if you're guilty of second guessing yourself? Yup, my hand is alllll the way up! I often come to a decision, and then spend so much time trying to decide if it is in fact the right thing to do. Trusting your gut is trusting yourself and I'm realising more and more that your first instinct is often correct.

2. Say yes more.
I was contacted by Black Girl Fest to run a workshop at their Black Girl Fest x Becoming event in April. I was tempted to say no because my books are aimed at young children and, the way the event was set up, there was no guarantee I'd get this age group in my workshop. However, ever since being a vendor at the first ever Black Girl Fest, I had always wanted to do some kind of workshop at one of their events, so I figured let me just say yes in case the opportunity never presents itself again. I was advised to be prepared for an older audience just in case and, low and behold, I had one session with kids, and one with teenagers!

I can’t lie, I was super nervous as this was the first time I'd delivered a workshop based on Love Thy Fro to teenagers. Despite the nerves, the session was well received and I think the group took something valuable away with them. We had a healthy discussion, and I realised I actually want to develop a workshop for older children and teens. Win - win!

3. Don't put things off.
I always try to make sense of my procrastination. The things I tend to put off are the things I'm nervous to do or unsure about, so I tell myself I'll do it later. However I've realised getting those things over and done with provides much better results and immediate satisfaction.

I wanted to reach out to someone I respect and admire about tour management and almost put it off because I was scared - of what, I have no clue. I'm usually quite good when it comes to reaching out to people and networking but, this time, I kept second guessing myself. I guess I wanted to make sure the timing was right, but I had to remind myself - the time will never be "right"! So I just did it. I contacted this person and was fortunate enough to receive a reply AND get a face to face informal meeting. Shout out me!

The way in which someone is bold will be unique to their situation, but I encourage you to do at least one thing this week that pushes you and helps you with your wider goals.

What have you done to #BeBold recently? Did it work? What other mottos are you living by this year? Let me know!

Don't forget to join my closed Facebook group to connect and share experiences with other "leap of faithers".