what you don’t want to do

One of the many benefits of being in a small group with Kendra (from The Lazy Genius Collective) is that sometimes, she cooks and asks us to test it out. Once she made cheesecake. And it was (and I’m not exaggerating or being dramatic) the best cheesecake I’ve ever had. And that includes The Cheesecake Factory and Cheesecakes by Alex.

image from Kendra, The Lazy Genius Collective

All of us loved this cheesecake so much, that we started to tell Kendra how much she could make by selling them. She mentioned something about storing them all and so we told her she could invest in a big freezer and get cool packaging and come up with a cool name like Kendra’s Cheesecakes. We didn’t notice how quiet she was because between bites, we were busy nodding and agreeing about what a good idea this was and we nearly had her on Oprah’s Favorite Things episode.

There was only one problem: Kendra didn’t want to sell cheesecake. And when she said it out loud, it sort of stopped the conversation and we got back to simply enjoying the cheesecake.

Knowing what you want to do is important. But knowing what you don’t want to do can be even more so. My writing mentor, Bonita Lillie, wrote in her email for writers this week about how only you carry the vision for your writing (or your business, your parenting, your career, your ministry). No one else does. Wisdom from others can be a wonderful thing, but just know when you seek counsel from him and them and her and Oprah, it can also breed chaos and confusion. It was only when the other voices quieted that she was able to discern where her writing heart beat.

“And in the stillness, when all other voices were silent, I heard His voice speaking to me. And He was leading and guiding and clarifying and redefining. The vision became clear. And with that clarity, I was empowered to make decisions. Instead of yielding to or even entertaining every request put before me, I was able to say, “I do this. I only do this. I don’t do that.”  Freedom!?? Dearest writer, you are the sole carrier of the writing vision God has given you. No one else has it. You are the visionary. Trust the vision.”  -Bonita

So just because you make a great cheesecake doesn’t mean you are supposed to sell them, even if everyone tries to tell you that you should. Even if you could make a lot of money for them. Even if it makes a lot of sense. Even if people say you’re crazy for not. Only you carry the vision. The better you communicate that, the more content and effective you will be.

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