Erica: Hey, girl. By now, you know I have Her Collective, my online community for ambitious women who are done doing it alone. Her Collective is for the women who are smart, capable, and driven, but they find themselves stuck on the sticky floors like self doubt, burnout, and waiting for permission that quite honestly never comes. Inside HER, you get more than motivation. You get real support, real strategies, and real momentum.

Erica: We work on things like clarifying what you want now and what's coming next, building confidence without burning yourself out, navigating hard conversations, career moves, and leadership moments with clarity, and surrounding yourself with women who actually get it. This isn't about hustling harder. It's about moving intentionally with the right tools and the right people in your corner. If you're ready to stop spinning, start choosing yourself, and build a career in life that actually feels aligned, I'd love to welcome you inside HER Collective. You can learn more and join us at www.joinhercollective.com.

Erica: Because honestly, girl, you were never meant to do this alone. If I am being honest with you today, I have been feeling stuck in the middle. And this kinda stems from the New Year and everybody kind of choosing their word of the year. This is a super popular thing where everybody picks a word that they want to embody how they are feeling in the new year. And I'm all on board with that.

Erica: Last year, my word was abundance, and that just resonated with me so much. I wanted abundance of health, of relationships, of wealth, of friendships. It just it felt right. And this year, when I tried to think of what I wanted my word of the year to be, I couldn't think of anything. I could not think of a single word that I wanted because I just kept feeling like I was just doing the work, like I was just in the middle and just stuck.

Erica: So here I am stuck in the middle with you. But many of you know I've launched my own business. I'm on the eighth or ninth month of this podcast. I've interviewed tons of amazing women, spent countless hours creating different materials to push out because I have a deep calling and desire to make a difference in the lives of women and in future generations. Some days for me, it's super easy to celebrate.

Erica: I'll get a positive review on Apple Music or Spotify from someone that I don't even know raving about my podcast, or someone will send me a DM about a post that really resonated with them and encourage them to put themselves out there and ask for the raise. Those are the easy days. I have something tangible to hold on to, that what I'm doing is working, that it matters. And then there's those other days. So let's talk about those other days. Those other days are way more frequent than the celebration days. Those are the days when I feel like there seems to be no headway, and I feel like one of those little hamsters on the hamster wheel just legs running as fast as they can carry me, but literally getting absolutely nowhere.

Erica: I will spend hours of my time on social media posts that I'm super proud of, and I think like, yes. This one is gonna resonate. It's gonna be awesome. And then crickets. I will spend time learning how to improve my podcast, money.

Erica: How can I add value, you know, on how it's presented? And then I don't see the numbers jump up like I had hoped. And it makes me wonder sometimes why am I even doing this? Is it worth it? And I realized this is the journey, and this is where so many people give up because it's hard.

Erica: Because statistically more will fail than those who will succeed. Tangible wins are hard to see sometimes and the newness and excitement is worn off and quite honestly it's just easier to give up and throw in the towel than it is to push through these feelings of discomfort and disappointment. Yeah. You really could just give up. It would be so simple.

Erica: There's, you know, no more meeting expectations or failed social media posts. No more wasted time on reading books that don't improve the business or my numbers. But, you know, that just doesn't sit well with me. Because if I were to give up, I'll never know the outcome. The pain of regret, the pain of settling will be something that I would then have to live with for the rest of my life.

Erica: And I need to remember that the pain of discipline that I am going through right now where I'm stuck in the middle and I'm doing the work, it is short lived compared to what I will feel if I stop trying and give up altogether. You see, the truth be told is the majority of our lives are spent in the middle of something. And in that middle, there can often be that sense of frustration and stagnation and annoyance, honestly, that we aren't getting there any faster. Beginnings are easy. They're beautiful.

Erica: They're fun. They're excited, and they're filled with possibility. And endings are also beautiful. They provide feelings of accomplishment and nostalgia and pride. But the middle, that's where the work is done, and it doesn't always feel like fun.

Erica: It doesn't always feel exciting. It can be hard to find pride in the day to day work in the grind, but it is where the magic happens. It's where the growth happens. It's where the shift happens. But how do we get there when our tiny little hamster legs are just exhausted from running and we feel as if our tank is just out of gas?

Erica: And I'm here to tell you, first of all, you have to celebrate each and every success. And when I talk about success, I'm not talking about outcomes that you can't control, like the number of likes you're gonna get on a social media post or retweets or downloads. I'm talking about the success that you can control, such as consistency. Make your successes tangible in a way that you are in the driver's seat. So my success goals have always been to ensure that I'm pushing out two podcasts a week.

Erica: I'm posting a certain number of times a week on social media that I'm rocking out a Friday email and pushing out a newsletter. Of course, I monitor the statistics that I can't control, like followers and engagement, but it's not where I'm hanging my success hat. The second thing that you can do is trust the process. And this is hard. I know.

Erica: So I want you to look to those who have already done the work and succeeded. One of my favorite sayings is trust, but verify. Trust that it is going to work out, but verify this by looking at people who have already done it. When you are in the middle, you need to remember that there are very few overnight successes. One of my favorites to look back on when I'm in need of inspiration and validation that hard work does pay off is Sara Blakely, the founder of women's shapewear, also known as Spanx.

Erica: So Sara started Spanx as a dream in her apartment, and she did a post on LinkedIn where she showed a picture of her holding up the very first Spanx sign, which was literally the word Spanx written on a piece of cardboard in Sharpie marker, and she hung that up in her apartment. Now it sits outside a large glass skyscraper in Atlanta, Georgia. Amazing story. Right? But that didn't happen overnight.

Erica: It took over ten years. And in her own words, she said, I did not have the most experience in the industry or the most money, but I cared the most. And that just resonates with me to keep pushing through. She reminds me that if I put my mind to it, if I do the work, I can make a difference. She is living proof that helps me push through this feeling of being stuck in the middle.

Erica: Because of the truth of the matter is I'm not really stuck. I am making progress. And while it may not be something that I can see with my eyes every single day, the growth and the change, much like how I am surprised every year when I take my kid to the doctor for their annual physical, how much they have grown, the growth is there, and it is happening every single day. And the last tip that I have for you when you're feeling stuck in the middle is the look back. Even if you are in that middle, you're not where you started.

Erica: So when you are starting to feel stuck in the middle, I want you to look back and remember where you were. I want you to know that there are others out there who wish that they were where you are now. And I want you to remember this one thing. You may be stuck, but you are doing the work and you got this. So to bring you back to my word of the year, I still don't have one.

Erica: I cannot think of one that sits well with me and just encompasses what I want to do this year. So I have adopted the phrase of just keep going. It's very much like Dory's just keep swimming, but it's just this idea of putting one foot in front of the other and doing the work and showing up every single day. So just keep going. And if you wanna just keep going with me, if you like this episode, come join us in our Facebook group.

Erica: It is the Facebook Now to Next Tribe. We would love to have you in February. We are doing a mindset challenge. So come on and join us. Together, we will just keep going.