Hello and welcome to The B-Side, a mastermind group for entrepreneurial women! On the first of each month, I share my business-related goals, challenges, and triumphs while inviting you to do the same! I'd love for you to join me; you can learn more about participating by clicking here.

Happy Friday! And Happy August! It's the first of the month which means it's time for new goals right?!?!

For you, yes. I encourage it in fact. But for me? This month, I've decided to do something different and something a bit strange even. Something I haven't done before but I should have done before I even started the B-Side.

The month, I'm not setting any new business goals. I've decided to do something radical and dedicate this month (at least) to seeking God and seeing what He would have me do in regards to my business dreams.

What?!?!

Girl, I know! I know this sounds crazy! I had every intention of setting new goals up until earlier this week. I was going for big goals too because I was still pretty frustrated with the rut I got myself in and how I really hadn't gotten anything done last month. Up until literally a few days ago, I was determined to not only set new goals, but to double down and really stretch myself. I was determined to get over my hump with brute force. You, know -- 50 Cent style. Get rich goals or die trying!

And then it hit me. A small, persistent, troublesome thought. "Have you consulted God? Maybe this is unnecessarily frustrating because you haven't consulted God..."

As I continue on my journey to business success, the more and more I realize that there are seemingly and infinite amount of experts with an infinite amount of strategies. If I drink from the firehose of information -- do this, tweet that, post this, launch that, buy this, read that -- I will drown. It is impossible to do everything suggested.

And that is where the frustration lies (for me at least). There is just so much noise. So much advice. So many strategies. There a literally 1000 different things I could be doing right now to move my business goals forward. 1000 different strategies and they all make sense on the surface! How does one know which path to take? How does one persist in doing what they need to do?

As I pondered the gut check I got about not consulting God, I realized that I would have the answers to these questions if I simply asked Him.

Up until this point, I actually have not asked God. No, seriously! Sure, I pray about my goals all the time. Not a morning goes by where Think & Grow Chick is not in my prayers. But that's the problem. For the last 6 months, I have prayed and prayed and prayed that God bless what I'm already doing but I haven't prayed for the wisdom on what to do in the first place.

Like the energizer bunny, I've just been picking strategies out a hat and going, going, going with it. "Oh, that sounds like a good idea, I'mma do it! Oh, and by the way God, can you help me with that? Thanks in advance!"

That, my friend, has been my strategy and that, my friend, is not the way to seek God about something.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

and he will direct your paths."

(Proverbs 3:5-6, emphasis mine)

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about the concept of resistance. I even wrote a post about how we sometimes feel resistance when we are on the right path -- we experience forces (natural or spiritual) that resist us in effort to keep us from succeeding. I talked about how it's important to get our beliefs right in order to push past this type of resistance. I still 100% believe this is true.

But over the last few days, I've been meditating on another type of resistance. God's resistance. Plain as day, the Bible says:

“God resists the proud

but gives grace to the humble.”

(James 4:6, emphasis mine)

And just like the other kind of resistance, God's resistance is also brought on by negative beliefs. The belief that I can be successful on my own. The belief that submitting my plans to God is not a big deal. Another word for that kind of belief is pride and I truly believe that God has resisted me on it. I believe it is the source of the difficulty I've been facing.

Now I know this was not the B-Side post you were expecting. This is not the B-Side post I was expecting to write!!! All this "revelation" happened on TUESDAY. Today is FRIDAY! As I said before, up until this week I was fully intending to write about all the big, bold new goals I was going to go after this month. So if this all sounds crazy, trust me, I know. I delayed even writing this because this is so out of the ordinary for me. But I also know that God is real. And when He speaks...girl...I have no choice but to listen. (*Kanye Shrug*)

So, in summary, this month, I'm doing things a little differently. A lot differently, actually. This month, after much reflection, I've decided not to set goals and dedicate the month to spending time with God, seeking His direction for what I should be spending my time on in regards to my business endeavors versus what sounds good to me to spend time on. In short, I'm letting God reveal my goals this month rather than me charging ahead with some stuff that makes sense on the surface. Let's just call this my Summer Soul Sabbatical. :-)

Housekeeping: The above "a ha!" moment is what I received, this is not a mandate for everyone else so please, carry on with the goals you set for this month and report on your progress as usual. (But do learn from my mistakes!) I will still be active in the B-Side Facebook Group and comments, providing encouragement to everyone with their business goals. I will also still be posting on the blog as usual. Actually I've decided not to post this month on the blog either. A true sabbatical indeed. Be sure to check back in September!

So that's it! Pray for me! (Seriously!) And if any part of my experience resonated with you, feel free to shoot me an email or drop me a line in the comments. Ditto if you'd like me to pray for you and your goals this month too. I love you all and I really am rooting for your success. We are in this together. :-)

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P.S. -- I recently stumbled on a this great podcast about God and entrepreneurship. These two particular episodes speak to this topic exactly and really resonated with me. Check them out!