Maybe You Weren’t Ready

A few years ago I thought I was ready to move on from doing bread to do work that I love, kind of. A friend of mine owned a bread route and was looking to scale back his work load. We had it all worked out where he would drop the bread off and all I would do is drive to the stores in my car and put the bread up.

This was kind of moving on because I could wake up at more normal hours (6 a.m.) and wouldn’t have to deal with the delivering of the bread. It would cut my hours from 10 a day to 4 hours a day with only a small reduction in salary, it would have been a great arraignment. I was excited and thought I could use all that excess time to work on making my dreams a reality.

There’s a long story as to what happened but the short version is my friend ended up being forced out of the company and my opportunity went down the drain. For a long time after that I would use this as an excuse to not take action on my dreams and I would tell my story to anyone who would listen. Here is the truth of why it took so long to finally take actions on my dreams: I wasn’t ready!

 

Realizing the truth

Looking back at things now there was no way I could have transitioned, here’s why:

I was living beyond my means. If you’ve read my first book then you know all about how poor I managed our finances. I won’t go into detail here but I can give you one example: I was paying $1,200 a month for ONE of my car’s (and no it’s wasn’t a Porsche).
I was in serious debt. Back then I probably owed money to you because I certainly owed everyone else. In the end I declared bankruptcy just to survive, it was a rough time (I have to say sorry to my wife, sorry sweetie!)
I had no clear plan. I tell anyone who will listen that you can chase your dreams, but if you’re going to do it you need a solid, step by step plan. I had no plan to transition, I just wanted to get out of working so hard, looking at it now, I was just being lazy.
I wasn’t committed. I knew I wanted to leave bread but it was mostly from stress, I didn’t have a vision for my dreams and future. Now I want to spread a message and start a movement. Then I just wanted to work less and have more time to watch TV.

Getting serious and seeing things happen

As you know from my posts, last summer was when I decided enough was enough, it was time to get serious about living the abundant life the Lord wants me to live. In order for this to happen I had to get serious and address all these issues that had stopped me in the past. I had to start living in my means, get out of doubt, figure out exactly what I needed to do and get serious about doing all of this.

When I put this plan into action, it was funny to see how the Lord had already been working to get things ready: I had found Dave Ramsey a year prior and was on the debt-free journey, which also forced us to live on a budget (living in our means). Listening to Dave Ramsey lead me to Dan Miller whose book was ultimately what inspired me to create a transition plan and get committed to fulfilling my dreams.

The whole time the Lord had been working “behind the scenes” getting me ready to move on, the reason He didn’t make it happen sooner was because there was a lot I needed to learn and work on, I just wasn’t ready.

Are you ready? Or are there things you need to learn and work on?

If you’ve decided enough is enough and are chasing your dreams, be sure you’re ready. Have you been hitting a lot of walls lately? Does is seem like nothing’s working out? Sit back and take an honest look at where you’re at, maybe you aren’t ready yet, maybe there’s still a few things you need to learn and work on. The Lord works, even when we don’t notice, maybe you’re hitting walls because He’s trying to get you ready for all the responsibility that will come your way.

What’s your vision? Do you want to lead?

Leading people is a big responsibility that needs to be taken serious, and the Lord won’t give you that responsibility if you’re not ready. With everything that’s going on right now in the world, we have too many people being lead the wrong direction, we need leaders who will lead others to and for Christ.

A challenge

This weekend I want you to sit down and look at your life. Are you where you want to and need to be? Do you want to make changes? Are you chasing your dreams? Are you ready? Is the Lord trying to get you ready? Will you listen to His calling?

Are you ready?  What do you need to do to get ready for the abundant life the Lord wants for you?