Watch me werk.
“This Temple is going to end up far better than it started out, a glorious beginning but an even more glorious finish: a place in which I will hand out wholeness and holiness.’ Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.”
- Haggai 2:9 (The Message)
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What do you do when you wake up to an email from one of your colleagues, who’s professional services you are currently using (mind you), announcing that they’re launching a product just. like. yours.
??????!!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?
I’ll tell you what I did because, if you haven’t realized yet this just happened to me.
First: I got ALLLLLL up in my feelings. I mean my WHOLE entire feelings were just burnt. How could they?! I mean I have literally hired them for my business to service the very product that it now appears they’re developing too?!
Second: I got fearful. What if they get (or worse, already have) a book deal with a major publisher? There goes my chances of getting my own book deal eventually. What if they get known on a broader scale for pioneering this concept in this market when really I was the first to do it? What if all the work I’ve done and the brand I’ve built just gets completely lost in their shadow?
So many thoughts. So many fears. So many doubts. I was a mess for about 5 minutes. Then, I basically sensed God asking me, are you done yet? 😂 Then He proceeded to comfort me with the scripture that I had JUST read that morning for my devotional time, before I had found out about this new competitor. It was in Genesis 26 when Isaac kept having to dig wells because every well he dug, the Phillistines fought him over it saying it belonged to them. But there came a point when he finally dug a well that no one fought over and that’s when he knew that God had made room for him in the land.
What I got from that is basically, what’s for me is for me and my unique thing that can’t nobody touch is coming! 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽 I thought my book and this brand was it but maybe I’ve actually been thinking too small this whole time and this was just the beginning; maybe this was just my first well!
But then it got better! I hopped into a group chat I have with some amazing women on IG and that morning one of them "randomly" sent us an excerpt from her devotional for the day; guess what the topic was? Dealing with competition as a small business owner. Why is God so dope!? The word basically encouraged the reader to realize that, as a small business owner, it’s very possible that bigger fish will swoop in to your market and take your business but that’s not a reason to close up shop. You just have to innovate.
Not only did I feel super blessed because God took the time to encourage me that morning, knowing how much I was going to need it. But the words He gave me really inspired me to keep being dope out here in these streets. The very fact that someone else wants to do what I’m doing is proof that I’m a thought leader and the work I’m doing is resonating. I’ll take it!
If you’re facing a similar situation, or have any concern about a competitor, I want you to remember this: KEEP INNOVATING. You don’t see Beyonce out here boo hooing about someone else producing another movie album or women’s anthem. Whether you rock with her or not, you can’t knock her hustle and creativity that continues to reinvent year over year. That same creative genius and beyond lives inside of you. You ain’t no one trick pony! God doesn’t only have onebig idea for you (see what I did there? lol)! You have a well of innovative ideas living within you that is there for a reason, use it!
Still hungry? Eat some more //
John 7:38-39, John 16:13-15, Proverbs 20:5