Sometimes the Wall Is Pointing You Somewhere Else

I’ve known for a long time that business isn’t a straight line.

There are wrong turns. Detours. Ideas that don’t work. Things you were absolutely sure were going to go one way… and then they don’t.

Usually, though, it takes a while before you can look back and say, “Ohhh. Now I see why that happened.”

Lately, something has felt different.

I’m still hitting walls. Believe me. 😂 Things still don’t work the way I expect them to. Technology still decides it has other plans. I still get excited about an idea only to discover that the platform, process, or tool I chose isn’t going to do what I need it to do.

But I’m not staying at those walls as long.

Something doesn’t work the way I expected, and instead of seeing it only as a problem, I’m getting better at asking:

What is this showing me?

Sometimes the answer is that there’s another way.

Sometimes the idea itself is good, but the way I was trying to make it happen wasn’t.

Sometimes one frustrating problem leads me to discover something I wouldn’t have found otherwise.

And sometimes I have to let go of what I thought the plan was so I can see the opportunity sitting right next to it.

I’m Learning to Recognize the Detours Sooner

I used to think progress meant having a plan and following it.

Now I think progress sometimes looks like being willing to change the plan.

That doesn’t mean jumping from idea to idea every time something gets difficult. Some things are worth figuring out. Some walls really are meant to be climbed.

But other walls are directions.

They make you stop long enough to look around.

And lately, I’ve been recognizing those moments much sooner.

Maybe that comes from experience. Maybe it comes from being more willing to experiment. But more than anything, I believe God is laying this path out in front of me one piece at a time.

I can’t see the entire road yet.

And maybe I’m not supposed to.

Just Enough for the Next Step

That has become one of the biggest lessons for me in this season.

I don’t need to know exactly what SandeeG will look like a year from now.

I don’t need every product figured out.

I don’t need to know which ideas will work and which ones will send me right back to the drawing board.

I just need to pay attention to what’s in front of me now.

Try the idea.

Learn something.

Notice what works.

Notice what doesn’t.

And then take the next step.

There’s something freeing about building that way. I’m still dreaming big — probably always will. But I’m learning that big dreams are built through a whole lot of very ordinary next steps.

And sometimes through a few walls.

So if you’re working toward something and you’ve just run smack into one of those walls, maybe the first question isn’t always:

“How do I get through this?”

Maybe sometimes it’s:

“Is this pointing me somewhere else?”

Because sometimes the wall isn’t there to stop you.

Sometimes it’s there to point you in a better direction. 🌻