Quarterly Reflections
more on: preparation, living from the inside out & patience.
New month, new newsletter! Welcome to November everyone. October was a full month for me and I’m grateful for the current season I’m in. Thank you for the feedback on our last series, I’m so glad it was helpful. For those who missed it, catch up below:
🗞️ Roundup of Lessons in Seasons
Today’s newsletter, is on my reflections from the last quarter. As always I hope this meets you where you are. 🩷
💐 Live from the inside out: at the start of the year, this was a decision I made, to live from the inside out. You might be wondering, what exactly do I mean by this? For me, living from the inside out covers different aspects that I will go into, but at the core of it, is priotising developing who you are as a person and who you are becoming, over being overly focused on external appearances. It is so easy to neglect who we are at the core, and want to focus on clamouring accolades, living on external validation and a false sense of confidence. But this quarter especially, I have learnt the importance of focusing on who I am becoming ultimately as this is laying foundations, which everything else will be built on. What has this looked like for me? To name a few areas:
Asking for help when I’ve needed it.
Asking God to search my heart.
Allowing God heal me in areas I didn’t know I needed.
Joining the Masterlife course, hosted by my church which was excellent for strengthening my faith.
Developing my craft in private.
This quarter and year at large has taught me that our foundations are the most important aspect of our lives.
What do we anchor ourselves in?
How do we treat people around us?
What is our character like?
The state of our hearts?
What are our values?
These are areas that are very easy to overlook, but ultimately, who we are as people, when nobody is watching, is really what matters.
💐 The voices of reason around us & those in our environment, matter: this quarter I’ve been very mindful of the counsel I seek, as now more than ever before, I have learnt more on how important it is so have sound counsel. Who are the people we turn to when we’re at crossroads? Which voices of reason are we tuning into? The people we choose to journey with, matters. We don’t need to journey alone and it’s okay to ask for help. It is not a sign of weakness.
💐 Preparation is necessary: there’s a time to incubate, and there is also a time for exposure. Incubating looks like, allowing things simmer, sitting on ideas, thoughts, aspirations etc, a little longer. I’ve been learning the importance of the steady climb and living an unhurried life. If we are building to last, why do we need to rush our preparatory phases? This is why living from the inside out again, has been very important for me this year. It’s in this time of preparation that we can make our mistakes without the fear of being heavily criticised. It’s the time where our characters develop, and we’re able to reflect on our blindspots. If we rush this process, it can lead to costly mistakes it the future. Preparation is not punishment, it’s a sign of God’s love for us.
💐 The fruit of our tomorrow, is found in the seeds of today, how are we sowing? In my last newsletter I spoke about this more, and the importance of cultivating and sowing the seeds we currently have in our hands. Your seed could be:
Writing when nobody is applauding you.
Enrolling for a journalism course.
Going for networking events in the middle of a transition.
🔑 The key is, how are we being faithful with the seeds of today? We have no idea which seed will sprout, but will we choose to sow even in the midst of uncertainty?
I love the verse Ecclesiastes 11:6 "Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well"
We don’t need to wait for perfect conditions to sow, we have no idea what fruit the seeds of today will bring.
💐 Humble beginnings are part of the journey: it’s important for us to play the long game. A life where we are not ashamed to be beginners and dilligent beginners. Everything we see in full bloom today, all started with a beginning.
Businesses that set the tone of industries, first began as a seed in someone’s mind.
Houses that are now complete first began with a foundation.
Our tomorrow’s will be even brighter than today, but even as we journey to that phase, can we see the value in our today?
As always I hope this newsletter met you where you are. Did any points stand out to you? Share them below!
And share with someone who may need this
I’ll see you in the next one. ♥️
The phase of preparation stood out for me. Sometimes we are result-oriented. We want to jump to the finish line so we can see the results we have imagined rather than preparing adequately for when the exposure comes. It’s the prepared version of you that would be able to tackle all that comes with the exposure. Thank you, Rhieme for this.