When I joined the Mattie James Consistency Challenge this week, I really had no idea what I was setting myself up for. The challenge requires that you post one blog post per day with at least two hundred and fifty words, from July 6th-31st, excluding Saturday and Sunday, to win a $1000 cash prize.

Now some may say, that’s not so bad, write a few words and call it a day. However, the vision for my blog is to not only be visually appealing but to tell a story. I want for those who know me to hear my voice in my words and those who don’t to feel my authenticity. Because I’m a stickler about this, it usually takes me days to put together one post. Yet, here I am, composing twenty posts in twenty five days. Complete madness. My brain literally hurts at the end of the day. Not because I don’t have ideas but because I have too many and the the execution of these ideas are both time consuming and overwhelming.

Here is my truth though. I didn’t prepare for this week by starting early so I that I had a head start. Had I done planned better, I could have had that advantage but even without the proper preparation, I made it through this week. There were late nights and early mornings, I had my six year old son Chiefton, taking photos and my husband Jermaine brainstorming with me on our morning walks.

Something that I constantly said I can’t do, I actually did do and I’m proud of myself. I did not cut corners and this is the type of content that I would have put out even if I were going about it my usual way. There comes a time when you have to stand in the gap to boost, strengthen and motivate yourself. Kick that apostrophe and raggedy letter tee to the curb and walk away with only “can’s.” Was the metaphor too much? No, it was good right? Anyway, take challenges, move differently, step outside the box. Allow yourself to be uncomfortable, in order to move to the next level of whatever you’re trying to accomplish. Just remember, preparation is key, so you won’t end up struggling like I did. Now that I’ve got my rhythm, I’m ready for take off. (See what I did there? A little flight attendant humor.) If I can, you can. Let’s do it!