Guest post by: Marieanna Wild of Stay Wild Love

As a small business owner, I can still hardly believe God blessed me with an opportunity to serve both women in business and Jesus every single day.

But sweet friends, my leap from corporate world to the creative industry was anything but easy. Let me start from the beginning.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I had come home on a brisk October day with nothing but anxiety filling my heart and tears in my eyes. It was yet another stressful day at the office. At that time, I was an event manager for a $1M charity ball. I know that life may seem glamorous and right out of a Hallmark Christmas movie, but love let me tell you—it was slowly sucking the life right out of me. I always found myself anxiously checking my emails at all hours of the night with the weight of the world on my shoulders feeling like there had to be something more to life. At the same time, we were trying to grow our family. What we thought would be an easy next phase of our life turned into many months and years of struggle and unknown.I was caught in between two worlds: the stress of work and the stress of life. And I couldn’t seem to serve either well.HIS PLANS ARE GREATER THAN OUR OWN

It took me a very long time to understand that God had other plans for my family, my life and for me.I began to find myself spending more time in prayer with Him. Waking up earlier just to get a few more minutes of quiet time to work through my struggles. I wrote more. Prayed more. And ironically enough, let go of more.Every single morning I would pray:

“God, bless me today to spread your love and joy to those around me. Help me be a doorway to your love and grace. Fill my heart with your desires and not my own. And Lord, show me who it is You need me to serve and the impact You need me to make today.”

Through this simple prayer, I began to feel my desires for wanting to start my own virtual event and brand assistant business continue to grow. I began to see all the women in the creative industry who needed someone alongside them in their business to provide balance, grace and moments of joy. I began to feel peace with why our family only grew by a black-and-white spotted pup.

And guess what?

God provided. A business was born. Incredible women entered my life. And I finally realized it was through those hard days when He was doing the most work within me.

His plan is always greater than our own.

How I took the leap from corporate to creative

To me, taking the leap isn’t about leaving my corporate job. It’s about letting go of the control, the stress, the anxiety, and fully believing that He has far greater plans for me than I could ever create for myself. It’s about the time I spend in prayer and the time I take to write out my thoughts. And it’s about the peace in knowing that where I am right now is exactly where I’m supposed to be (with that black-and-white spotted fur baby curled up in my lap as I write to you.)

But here’s the thing. I actually don’t like the phrase: how I took the leap. To me, it sounds like a quick fix or a secret sauce that only a select few ever figure out. And let me be the first to tell you. My leap from corporate world to starting my own business may look like a quick 6-months in the making to the outside world, while in reality, it was a journey of over 2 years.

Let me explain.

Back in October of 2016, I was that girl on Pinterest searching “How to take the leap from corporate world to starting my own business.” I wanted the secret that it seemed others had. I was a dreamer in a soul-sucking job that wanted so desperately to find a higher calling, a fulfilling purpose, with a desire to impact and serve others.

But it wasn’t until January of 2018 when I began to fully step into this calling. By February, I had my first dream client. By April, I left my corporate job. And by July, I officially launched my business, Stay Wild Love. To the outside world, it might seem like I have it all together. But love, this journey isn’t always easy.

Comparison versus reality

I think as humans we so often want the quick fix, right? We catch ourselves scrolling on Instagram looking at her success and wondering, what does she have that I don’t? Or we see the impact she is making over there and we ask ourselves, how do I make that same impact?

But what we don’t see, are the weeks, months and maybe even years it took her to make her dreams a reality.

Stop comparing yourself to the success you see from others. What you see is not their reality.

Over the past few months, I’ve had a lot of incredible women reach out asking how I did it. How did I leave my corporate job and become fully booked in my business within 6-months?

My answer might surprise you. I’ve done all of that because I built a business with God at the center.

I pray every single morning and night asking Him to fill my heart with His desires. To bless me to serve others with His love and grace. And to show me who He needs me to serve and how.

I didn’t do this. He did.

This business isn’t for me. It’s for Him.

To me, when we say taking the leap it sounds like an overnight success. But my leap was actually years of dreaming, many late nights of learning and small-but-mighty baby steps that got me to where I am today.

And most importantly, my leap was surrendering control of what I wanted and instead accepting what He needs from me. My leap is finding peace in His timing of starting a family. And my leap is living a life fully present and content, instead of striving for constant success.

THE 30-DAY DESIRE PRAYER CHALLENGE

I know some of you would rather I sit here and list out step-by-step how I left my corporate job and started my own business.  But trust me, stepping into your calling isn’t a step-by-step process to follow. It’s a journey you must walk every single day. There is no end destination. Even after you start that business or chase after those dreams, you have a purpose to fill every single day. You just need to ask God what He needs you to do.

So today, I want to challenge you. What is it that you can take the leap from? I’m not talking about leaving that 9-5 job. I’m talking about what can you surrender to? Let go of?

Taking the leap is a daily journey that is actually so incredibly beautiful if we step into it alongside God.

For the next 30-days I want to challenge you to pray every single morning this simple prayer with the utmost intention of walking alongside God, asking Him for your next steps and with the heart to serve others:

“God, bless me today to spread your love and joy to those around me. Help me be a doorway to your love and grace. Fill my heart with your desires and not my own. And Lord, show me who it is You need me to serve and the impact You need me to make today.”

I promise, if you start and end every single day with God at the center of all that you do, He will begin to reveal the path already created for you. We just need to take more time asking for what He needs us to do instead of wondering why we don’t have what others do.

If you are joining the 30-day prayer challenge, I would love to hear from you! Shoot me an email and let me know how I too can pray for you during this season of your life. Together, we are able to climb mountains. Don’t think you need to do this alone.