Success Without Support

Success without support… not possible. You must have support from people who care about you. Determination, education, drive, and talent will only get you so far. If you have people in your life right now that are naysayers and only giving you negative feedback, you might consider cutting those people out of your life. If you can't cut them out of your life, you should stop sharing your dreams with them and go to outside sources for support.  

God did not make us to do life alone. He made us to have relationships with each other, to sharpen one another. "As Iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend” Proverbs 27:17. I have had situations where people did not support me in my many ventures in life. Some of those ventures were not successful or even birthed, due to me listening and leaning on those naysayers. I am not saying they didn't care about me, they just didn't have the capacity to guide and encourage me to the path I needed to be on for success. The ventures I have succeeded at are ones where I always went to the right people, the people that had my back, believed in me, and had knowledge about my goals. Sometimes, that meant going to a professional expert in the area I needed support. I will tell you, without bringing those people in, I would not have been successful in my life thus far. Not one person can do it all and do it well. "It takes a village…"

Here are 3 steps to being successful:

Step 1: Establish a team of people who have your best interest at heart.  

In training and schooling we are instructed to build a team of people that can help propel us to the next level. We are never truly "there" and we need experts and confidants to help us gain clarity and focus by encouraging and keeping us accountable to get us to those next level in our success. When I was studying for my coaching certificate, I had so many other things going on, like a full time job, husband, son, and church. There were times I got frustrated, tired and frankly doubted my ability. I remember many people, whom I brought in for support, would always lift me up and bring me back to task. However, these people didn't just fall in my lap, I had to reach out to them, fill them in on my goals, and make sure they were truly there to help no matter what the situation looked like. That kind of team kept me going, along with my convictions that this was my true calling and purpose from God. 

Step 2: Believe in yourself when no one else seems to.

First of all, even when no one seems to care that you are overwhelmed with 30 different things to do and you can't find the time to get it all done, plus be the best mom, wife, sister, friend, volunteer, etc. know that you are never alone. God is with you and he cares about your struggle. If you have done step 1 above, it still may seem at times that you are alone in this fight to success. It's easy to feel this way, but God promises us that He will never leave us. He is there cheering you on and keeping you going. He sees the potential in you, because He gave it to you when He created you. Remember what Romans 8:37 says; yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. And Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." 

Step 3: Know your worth.

There will be bumps in the road along this journey to success, but never EVER tell yourself you are not worthy or capable of finishing out your calling. Often times we let the enemy get into our mind and make us doubt everything we are doing. This is a mind thing, and if you let yourself drift into thoughts of self-doubt and self-pity, it doesn't matter how many people you have on your team supporting you, you will stumble and maybe fall for good. A good example is Peter in Matthew 14:21. Peter gets out of the boat in faith and obedience to Jesus and actually walks on water. However, after only a few steps, he takes his eyes off of Jesus, and begins looking at the high waves (and his circumstances) around him, and fear and doubt rush in to overwhelm him. He then starts to sink and drown, and he calls out for Jesus to save him. Please know you are worthy of success and you will meet your life goals! So, I urge you to stay out of your head.

Do you have the right people in place to support you and your dreams? You are NOT alone in this journey! Let me walk along side you to turn your dreams into a reality. Comment below and let me know what you are trying to accomplish without the support you need.

Please share with your friends and family. 

With love and blessings,

Nikki Wright, Life Coach

www.nikkilwright.com

Keeping It All Together

Do you ever feel like things in your life are spinning out of control and you can't seem to get a handle on it? Maybe you are preoccupied with one area of your life, like your career or a relationship, and you leave the other areas dangling. 

I have been struggling to find the time to write my blog this week. Every time I think of a topic and try to sit down to start writing, something or usually someone(my toddler), interrupts me and I can't get it going. When I get a free minute to start writing, again I always get interrupted or my thoughts move on to something else. However, I believe now that God wanted to lay something else on my heart to talk about. 

I am having a difficult time with my son, Caleb, who is seven years old. He is my strong headed, rule breaking, crazy rebel son. Him and I tend to butt heads, and I have a suspicion it's because we are so similar. But, today God showed me a powerful lesson. We were at church and when I went to get Caleb from children's church he was in a bad mood. He would not do what I told him, he wouldn't listen to what his Papa was talking to him about, and just having a bad attitude. We got in the car and I asked him what was going on. He said nothing and was very quiet. There was obviously something going on with him. He gets in these bad moods quite often and it makes me and his dad so upset and frustrated with him. When we got home I put his brother, who is almost two, down for a nap. I made him some pancakes, his favorite, and sat down with him, just the two of us, and talked. I noticed he changed is attitude right away and was glad it was just us two together. I asked him if he was upset with us. He said he wasn't upset, but didn't know why he wasn't in a good mood at church. We got that much needed time to talk and connect, which made us both feel better. 

I say all that to say this, God is the one who knows us on a deep personal level and cares about us so much that he keeps us, and all our issues, together by His grace. His grace for me gave me grace for my son. God's love is always constant and unconditional, even when we are messing up and can't keep our lives all together. He will show us just at the right time what we need to do. It's our job to know Him enough to hear and obey Him. If your situation seems hopeless and frustrating, keep pursuing God, He will show you His grace so you can then show yourself grace. 

When I sat down with my son, one on one, I wasn't letting anything distract me and I was able to give him my full attention, which is what it took for us to connect and for him to trust me enough to tell me his true feelings. Isn't that what God wants from His children as well? He wants us to sit down with Him, give Him our full attention and have a conversation with Him, a relationship with Him. When we do that, we connect and build trust so that we can walk in the direction we need to go in order to live the life we were meant to live. Let's not let our busy life get in the way of the important things. Without that one on one time with my son, we would still be dangling in the wind, just barely "keeping it all together". 

3 Ways To "Keeping It All Together":

1. Tell God you are giving Him control of your life and casting all your cares to Him. 

This is the most important one. When you trust God enough to give him all your worries and cares in life, that is when He can really prompt you or "check" your spirit. That tells you something isn't balanced in your life and you better get it together, by My grace I give you. "Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved." Psalms 55:22

2. Write a clear action plan to get the results you desire.

Never try to change something in your life without writing a plan to follow step by step. You probably will notice when you look back on the things you said you would change, but didn't have a plan in place, you never accomplished those goals. So be S.M.A.R.T-Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-specific with your goals. 

3. Get an accountability partner to share the areas you are struggling with in your life. 

The reason I love relationships with people I can count on to help me, is because I won't accomplish my goals alone. No one can, that's why God encouraged relationships. Tell your accountability partner, whether that is your spouse, friend, family member, or coach, you want to improve on connecting with your son/daughter, do better at time management and balance, learn to forgive your parents, etc. Be specific in the area you most need grace and stay encouraged and accountable through your partner. Show them your action plan so you can stay on track and get results!

Do you have the same struggles I have, and so many others, to stay balanced and have grace when things are left dangling? Please share your struggles and comments below and lets do this together!

With love and blessings,

Nikki Wright, Certified Life Coach

www.nikkilwright.com

Overcoming Insecurities

All of us have insecurities in our life, whether it be fear to move forward in our dreams, feelings of unworthiness, or low self-esteem, the list goes on and on.

My five-year-old son taught me a great lesson the other day. He has been going to swim lessons to learn how to swim without a life jacket. He went five times and still couldn’t swim without someone supporting him. During the sixth swim lesson, he had a different instructor. She challenged him to swim by himself, by encouraging him and making him feel capable of doing it all on his own. That push helped him to swim on his own and conquer his fear! He became so excited and now thought he could do anything.

I believe that is what we need from each other. We need to unite and cheer each other on instead of harshly judging each other and ourselves. We are all capable of overcoming those insecurities that are holding us back. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” God has given us everything we need to succeed and overcome our challenges. We just have to tap into His instructions, the Bible. He tells us in Deut. 31:6, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

So, you might be saying, "yeah, that sounds good, but it’s not that easy." I would have to definitely agree with you! It’s not easy, but the things that we have to work hard for are the ones that give us the most reward. I just want to clarify. You are not going to overcome every mountain overnight. It is a process and a lifelong journey. My coach, who taught me so much during my life coaching certification course, inspired me. Every time I talked to him I was so hard on myself and thought I should know everything right off the bat. He had to keep reminding me, "Nikki this is a process; you aren’t going to know everything and be perfect." I remember, every time he told me that it made me feel better. However, on the next call with him, I would get in the same rut and get down on myself for not knowing all the answers. I realized after the 16-week course was over, that understanding the fact that this was a journey was so important. I learned way more throughout the process than I would have if I tried to grasp everything at once.

That being said, reflection is key in this process of overcoming your insecurities. It reveals the work of God in your life and speaks to other people.

Email me and let me know how your insecurities are being overcome.

Please share this with your friends and family that would benefit from this blog post.

Next blog will be all about reflection! Don’t miss it! Love you guys!

With Love,

Nikki Wright, Certified Life Coach

Hope is in YOU!

Hope is in YOU!

Don’t you love that God’s mercies are new each morning? Even if there is pain at night, in the morning there will be joy! (Psalm 30:5). It is a new day and you can live it in a new way! We should look at every day as an opportunity to make a difference in this world and hopefully change someone’s life forever. Even if this blog post only reaches ONE person, it will be worth it ALL! Jesus was all about the ONE. His death wasn’t for the masses; He did it for YOU! (Luke 15:4) Even if you would have been the only one, He would have still suffered and died on the cross. That’s how much He loved you.

The purpose of our life is to serve others, just like Jesus modeled. Today, we can start doing just that. Therefore, I want to challenge you to touch one person’s heart today. This may look different for each of us. I love to hug and give big complements and affirmations to people around me, but that is my personality. You don’t have to go around giving everyone a hug. It could be as simple as a smile or friendly gesture. Just do what feels natural and loving. I promise it will touch them. It could even change their day and possibly the rest of their life. Your action could plant a seed that could blossom into something amazing. Now, go and be someone's hope!

What are you going to do today to change someone else’s life?

Please email me and share your experience.

With love,

Nikki Wright, Life Coach