Ok, Divas, so it happened for me yesterday. I’ve been self-employed for many years in the social service industry. I love children and that love has translated in working as a Teacher, Social Worker, Cheerleading Coach, and even volunteering as a Mentor. Although, I love children, I was not “in love” with what I was doing. Yeah, I got to see kids on a daily basis and help them work through some minor and major issues, but there was always something missing. I never woke up with that zeal. I never woke up thankful for another day to do the type of work I was doing. Was it the children’s fault? Of course not, it was mine because I wasn’t fulfilling my purpose. I couldn’t be totally excited about what I was doing until I was doing what I was created to do!

So I have been saying for the last year and a half, “I’m quitting my job in six months.” I would say it, but I was kind of playing around with it. I didn’t see a real way to make that happen and wasn’t grinding enough to figure it out. I was working my business, but didn’t know how to turn my sporadic income from the business into consistent income. But during this process I kept saying, “I’m quitting my job in six months.”

Last month, November 5th, I went to my normal staff meeting and to pick up my check. I’ve been contracting with this agency for 5 years and we’ve gone through some changes, but they’ve always been my “old faithful.” Other contracts have come and gone, but this one…this one was “dependable.” As we begin the meeting, I noticed an agenda item for discussion about billing. Basically, the company was being forced to change the way they billed and instead of getting paid for work in advance and later audited, any information they submitted would be reviewed and approved before payment could be made to them. This meant it could take up to 90 days before the company was paid, translating into, “We don’t know if we can pay y’all in next month, it just depends on how much money we have in our account.”

Now did I get mad? No! I went to work. I laughed because I heard the Holy Spirit remind me, “You said you were quitting your job in six months.” I began planning for the launch of The Discount Diva Thriftique. I worked, although it didn’t feel like work because I actually was enjoying what I was doing. I now began to wake up with zeal, couldn’t sleep a lot of nights, waking up at 3 and 4 AM, had to keep a journal in my bed because of all the thoughts going on in my head. This wasn’t out of angst, but from excitement about this new chapter in my life. The chapter that begins and ends with Lynesha following her dreams. As a result, 17 days later on November 22, 2014, The Discount Diva Thriftique had a hugely successful launch.

This now brings me to yesterday. I started my day by getting a phone call from a mentee’ talking about being under spiritual attack and being afraid to step out in faith in her business and her life. I encouraged her for 30 minutes quoting, “I once was young and now I’m old and have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor HIS seed begging bread,” Psalms 37:25 and stating, “I don’t know about you, but I’ve never lived under a bridge or gone without food. Might not have been the food I wanted to eat, or the place I wanted to live, but HE provided for me.” I even quoted, “He who waits for perfect conditions will never get anything done,” Ecclesiastes 11:4, telling her, “You can’t wait for everything to be perfect before moving out on your own, or starting your business. There is no perfect time.” She was encouraged when I got off the phone and so was I.

The evening before, my husband got on me about buying stuff for myself while stocking up on inventory for the store and talked about the need to stick to a budget with my business. I was like, “I need some black flats. These are only a dollar. I’m only spending two dollars.” He stated, “That’s not the point. You won’t get it until your back is against the wall and you don’t have that little side money to depend on,” well boy was he right! Not even 24 hours after he said that and I got the distressed call from my mentee, my faith test came.

I got an email saying effective today, no more billing for a particular insurance. This may not sound like much, but out of my whole caseload of about 22 kids, that is 18 of them. So basically, I was out of a job. There was no reason to remain active with 4 kids, use money on gas driving around to see them and going to required supervision and trainings for a few hundred dollars a month. I might as well put that energy into The Discount Diva Brand. I am not a licensed Therapist so I don’t have the option of going to find another contract/job and the standards have gotten so tight, you basically have to be licensed to be successful in this industry, anyways. And why haven’t I gotten licensed… Because this is not my passion! Why put money, time, and effort into getting licensed in a profession I don’t want to work in???

So I called up my husband and said, “Guess what…I’m full time in The Discount Diva,” to which he replied, “Great! What took you so long. So are you looking for your building today? What’s the plan?” Now I don’t want you to think I have a safety net because I am married. My husband is also an entrepreneur and those of your who follow me know he just got out of prison 8 months ago, which leaves little options or desires for getting a 9-5. We are on our own, TOTALLY and COMPLETELY trusting YAH to order our steps, provide, and increase us!

What is the moral of the story? Sometimes, you get to a point in your career where there is nothing left. For me, I wanted to do my own thing fulltime, but was clinging to this contract/job that prevented me from doing so, so YAHWEH stripped it from me, so I can do what I truly love.

What does this mean for you? Things are changing everyday. Don’t be alarmed, discouraged, afraid, or stressed out if you go to your job one day and your hours are dramatically reduced, you are consistently furloughed, or talks of layoffs are looming. It just may mean the door is opening for you to walk in your passion and this door might be opened by closing every other door around you and sealing them shut! It just may be time for you to Fire Your Boss!!

Lynesha McElveen is the Author of, “Discount Diva’s 30 Tips to Having the Best for Less” and is an avid blogger, deal enthusiast, and The Discount Diva ®. She is also the CEO of Liberty Educational Group a company that helps give people the freedom to “Get a L.E.G. Up on Life” through Life Coaching, Economic Empowerment & Entrepreneurship Education, and Greatness Training. You can book her by contacting her Publicist, Rodney McElveen at: RodneyMcElveen01@gmail.com. You can purchase her book at: http://LyneshaMcElveen.com or on Amazon and Kindle.

Follow her on Facebook at: LyneshaTheDiscountDiva and “Like” her Fan Page: The Discount Diva. Also, Youtube, LinkedIn and Twitter at: Lynesha McElveen and Instagram @TheDiscountDiva

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