“You are who you surround yourself with.”

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Anybody else’s mama ever told them that?

Mine did ALL the time. I’ve never felt it more true in my life than now as a business owner.

Motherhood and business are a tricky pair and LOTS of support is required. Truly, ANY sort of work-life balance is a beast to master – no matter what stage of life you’re in.

In business, you MUST surround yourself with people who are working towards something similar to you – or you are going to have a really hard time finding motivation and inspiration to continue on.

On the flip side, you also have to stop allowing those closest to you to speak negativity into your hustle. You know, those people you are “supposed” to surround yourself with (family, lifelong friends, co-workers, etc.).

Sure, they mean well. However, their backhanded compliments and attempts at “bringing you down from the clouds” are just another road block on your way to the top. Those comments can have power over your success journey if you let them sink in too deep.

I don’t care if it’s your husband, your mom, or your precious granny; you have GOT to stand up for yourself and your dreams.

I can tell you the exact moment when this came true for me in my life.

I was sitting out in a lawn chair watching my little blonde headed boy run around the backyard without a care in the world.

The woman across from me, my life-mentor, my best friend…

She thought we were just chit-chatting but, she had no idea that her well-meaning words cut like a knife.

“That’s just the way it is, Makayla.” I remember the sting SO well as she spoke those words, even after all this time.

“Men work. They have jobs that pay the bills and it’s totally normal. Don’t beat yourself up over it,” she continued – further twisting the knife.

I was sharing my dream of retiring my husband from his job with my business. I was telling her of the events from that week – how things weren’t going as well as I’d hoped.

I wasn’t’ really looking for anything in particular – just someone to listen to what was happening in my world.

As I continued to sit there, this opinion I’ve held pretty much at gospel standard for so long, was playing into every single limiting belief I had.

Every lie that said it couldn’t be done, that I was dreaming TOO big, or that I was chasing some kind of pipe dream was being re-iterated through her words on the porch that day.

“What do I do with this?” I thought. “What does this mean?”

Either I’m wrong or she is, I decided. But I’m going to find out.

That was the beginning. That’s where chasing my dreams with reckless abandon started.

At that exact moment I decided that I was no longer going to let my dreams fall on the knife of someone else’s opinion. I made a promise to surround myself with a more uplifting voice and let the others fade out.

Friend, don’t let yourself miss another opportunity to level-up because you’re scared of what someone might think – or worse, what they SAY.

Their future isn’t riding on this moment, YOURS IS.

If you are struggling to let go of some of the relationships or mindsets that have been ingrained into your soul, reaching out for help is the quickest fix available to you.

Your success starts with the little choices you make to improve your mindset and your perspective. Letting someone from the outside have a look at what you’re allowing to influence your hustle will easily be the best decision you’ve ever made.

There are SO many places you can go to receive support, to connect with like-minded people, and to fully immerse yourself in a place of empowerment – instead of constantly fighting your way out of the trenches of other people’s opinions.

So, make the choice to stop letting those people have a say in what you can and cannot have.

YOU are in charge of creating that dream life and I know you’re equipped to do it well.