Image by ZeRo`SKiLL via Flickr

The other day, Melissa and I were getting ready for a road trip.

I knew that we were going to be talking and dreaming out loud as we were driving… so I wanted to bring one of my big journals with me.

The funny thing was… I wound up grabbing one of my old journals… kind of by mistake.  But we were in a hurry so I didn’t notice.  I just grabbed it and jammed it in my bag.

I didn’t realize what I’d done until I pulled the journal back out of my bag while we were on the interstate. (Melissa was driving at the time… just in case you were worried!)

I’ve got to tell you that it was a bit like pulling out a dusty old family photo album because I started to go back over some of the entries… which were from 8 to 10 years ago!

Some made me laugh. Some made me shake my head and wonder why I’d ever worried.  Some made me pause.

But then I found a series of entries that made my heart race!

They were from October of 2003.

Each entry had to do with my decision to leave the “safety” of my job to fully launch our business.

As you can imagine, it was amazing to look over my thought process and my prayers… some 8 + years later.

From this vantage point… it was fun to read through my posts on the things that excited me and the things that scared me to my very core.

I remembered my job within the pharmaceutical industry.  I remembered how… in the beginning… it had been a great fit for me… and taught me a lot.  I’d even excelled at it.

But I also began to recall how in those last few years… I started to feel called in a new direction… and specifically… I’d felt drawn to a new adventure of entrepreneurship.

But I wrestled with this decision… right there on the pages of that old journal.

See… this idea was something new.  Nobody in my family had ever been an entrepreneur.  Nobody had done that.  Plus, I had to admit that there were days when I REALLY liked the idea of company benefits and a company car.  I liked the “relative” safety of a big company and a consistent paycheck.  Yeah… it all felt “safe.”

But as I looked over those posts… I was also reminded that that “safety” was slowly killing me.

Not because it was a bad job.

It was killing me because I felt called in this new direction… and every day that I didn’t take a step towards that new path… a little part of me seemed to be dry up.

Now, you may have never wrestled with something like this… but I’m betting you have.

Yours  may not have been leaving a job to start a small company… but I bet it involved change.  I bet you’re wrestling match involved leaving something that felt wrong… but “safe” for something better… but riskier.

Or… maybe… you’re up against a decision like that RIGHT NOW.

Maybe you’re deciding to take a leap of faith… but that means you also will have to let go of something in the process.

That’s right where I was in October of 2003…

Wanting to “leap” and “cling” all at the same time.

But then some things happened.

Some of the things that we’d done to prepare… lined up with some amazing opportunities.

In a matter of days… we planned a bit more… we prayed a whole lot more… and then…

we jumped!

(NOTICE: I did say “we” because Melissa (my wife) and I were in it together and she was behind me… which was huge and additional confirmation!)

And guess what… it was bumpy to start.

• My first big meeting with clients for my new business in a downtown Chicago hotel… resulted in a fire.  (Seriously… a huge fire that engulfed the hallway we were in!  The notes in my journal on that were both hilarious and scary!!)
• Our insurance journey was rough because Melissa was a cancer survivor… and everyone wasn’t overjoyed to take us on.
• We were in the middle of a remodel of our basement, so my initial office was two old doors on saw horses!

But guess what… we’re still here.  After nine years… we’re still in business!

That’s right!  Over these past 9 years… we’ve had some fun and we’ve made some money.

We’ve been able to connect with some of the coolest people on the planet (like YOU!) and help a few along the way!

It’s been an adventure that I wouldn’t trade for the world!

But here’s the kicker… and it came just a few pages later in my journal.

Just a few weeks after taking our big leap into our new life… I came across an article.  In fact, I wrote about it on 10.22.o3.  In fact… I’ll tell you exactly what I wrote…

I left my “secure” job with _________ about 1 and a half weeks ago and on 10.22.03, they announced that they missed their quartly earnings projections.  So they just announced the lay off of 4,400 people.  God bless those people.  They’ve got to be scared.  Wow. I feel really blessed today!

So there it is.  The thing that looked like “safety” wasn’t.

Why?

Because I was called to something else.  Some thing that seemed risky… but right.

And by the grace of God and some cool flippin’ adventures… we’re still here today.

I’ll tell you it hasn’t always felt “safe,” but it sure has been worth it!

So… what do you need to let go of today?

What do you need to leap towards?

Is it… that you need to leap at a new opportunity at work… either by jumping in with both feet and bringing you’re flippin’ awesome best game to the work?  Maybe you won’t get noticed or get the credit… but it just feels like the thing you’re called to do?

Is it… reaching out to someone that you know you need to connect with… even though that might not feel safe?

Is it… jumping into a new big dream… and yelling “CANNON BALL!!!!” as you do it?

What is it for you?

Most importantly… when you think about sitting down in 10 years to look at the journal notes from this current season in your life… what are you going to want to read?

Do you want to read… “I stayed safe.”

Or… do you want to read… “I TOOK THE LEAP!!!!”

You make the call.

Keep dreaming BIG,

Mitch

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