The Hearts Hello

If I wasn't afraid, I would...

• Keona T. Ellerbe • Season 3 • Episode 11

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Ready is a moving target, and waiting has a way of dressing up as wisdom. We dive straight into the tension between purpose and procrastination, calling out the subtle ways fear hides—perfectionism, over-research, shifting timelines—and replacing them with simple, brave steps that create momentum. You’ll hear why asking for another sign can become a spiritual stall tactic, and how obedience plus action is often the shortest path to clarity.

We get practical about the starts that scare us: launching the business, writing the book, hitting record on a podcast or YouTube channel, applying for the role, or sharing the story you’ve been sitting on. Through honest testimony—from navigating layoffs and letting career crowd out calling, to planting a seed that led a cousin to launch within two weeks—we show how imperfect action builds faith, sharpens discernment, and turns failure into training data. Not everything will work, and that’s the point: each attempt strengthens your execution muscle, reveals what to stop doing, and prepares you for rooms and relationships you can’t access from the sidelines.

This conversation is both a nudge and a blueprint. We offer a clear reframe—God doesn’t need your perfection, He needs your participation—paired with a short action list: make the call, write the post, launch the thing, apply, speak up. Start ugly. Be seen in process. Let a few people misunderstand you while you move. If you’ve rehearsed long enough, consider this your permission slip to step on stage. Subscribe, share this with someone who’s been waiting for a sign, and leave a review to tell us the first brave step you took today.

SPEAKER_00:

So I'm gonna go ahead and jump right in. What are you waiting on? No, honestly, what are you waiting on? Not what are you dreaming of, not what you're preparing for. What are you waiting on? That thing that has you paused when you were called to move. Because sometimes you're not really waiting, you're hiding. Hiding behind planning, behind healing, behind I'm still working on me. But deep down, you already know what you're supposed to do. So the question that I'm going to ask you again, and I need you to have an honest conversation with you. You may even need to pause this episode really quickly and ask yourself the question: What am I waiting on? Are you waiting for permission? Are you waiting for clarity? Are you waiting for the fear to go away? See, when you have been waiting for so long, you begin to believe the lie that you have been telling yourself about why you are waiting. And the reason why I know that is because I've had this same conversation with myself where I felt like I didn't have all of the pieces together, where I felt like I was not qualified to talk about it, where I felt like I just needed that one last piece. But can I give you just a tad bit of information that everything that you need, you already have? The only thing that is waiting on you right now is for you to show up and for you to give yourself permission to move forward. Because the longer it takes for you to have this dialogue and this conversation with yourself, because that's the only person you're talking to. You haven't run it past anybody, you're not looking for the answers. You may very well be uh searching for confirmation. That could be your thing, right? Or you could be just saying that I'm just going to sit and I'm going to pray about it and I'm going to wait for God to give me the answer. And I can almost guarantee you that God is quiet. I'm laughing because God is quiet because He's already given you the answer that you're seeking. You keep going back to Him and asking Him for clarification. You keep going back and you're asking Him for confirmation. You keep going back and say, just give me one more piece of it. And God's like, I'm not giving you anything else because you haven't even moved with the information that I've already provided you. See, the thing about movement is that you have to move. See, see how easy that was? I know that it sounds easier than you actually doing the motion, but honestly, it's about you taking that first step. It's about you making a decision that you are no longer going to be stuck in the same place again next year. And I know that you may have even heard me talk about this before, but I need to drill this into your brain. That if you don't stop waiting, you will always be waiting. And I'm sitting here and I'm thinking about even where we are, this political climate that we're in and the environment that we're currently in with the shutdown. You have been telling yourself that you are going to start that business. If this is you, go ahead and raise your hand. It's okay, nobody can see you except for you. Go ahead and raise your hand and admit to yourself that you have been procrastinating about starting that business. Go ahead and raise your hand if I'm if I'm talking to you that you have been procrastinating on writing that book. Go ahead and raise your hand if you know deep down that you are supposed to start a podcast, that you are supposed to start a YouTube video, that you are supposed to share your journey and your testimony with people that are waiting on you, go ahead and raise your hand. And if you are honest enough with yourself, there are some things that you have been waiting on. But what you want wants you more. And when you begin to show up and make the necessary steps in order to go after the very thing that you want, that finish line begins to get closer. Or should I say, that next milestone that you are seeking gets a tad bit closer? Because this journey that we call life is indeed a journey, and you're going to get to certain steps, but that does not mean that you're finished. That means there's another level for you to achieve. Okay, this is the reason why I needed to learn to jump. This is the reason why I needed to learn to hide and to back up and all of those different things. This is the same thing that happens in life. Your discernment gets heightened, you your wisdom gets heightened. The way that you pray is even different. But back to my question: What are you waiting on? Why is it that you are afraid to move forward? What is it that's stopping you? Because I know some of the questions that you've been telling yourself, and you may have said this to yourself today. I'm almost ready. But the timeline keeps shifting, right? Or I'm over-researching and over-consuming other people's content instead of producing what I know that I'm supposed to do. Or do you get an idea and get excited about it and then you talk yourself out of it in 24 hours? Do any of those hit? And I need you to understand that if that is indeed you, that you're not lazy. Guess what it is? It's fear. And that fear is disguised as so many different things. It can be disguised as perfectionism, but that's just made up and put a fancy hat on, and it's really procrastination with a prettier name. It could be that you're having some fear of judgment. What if people don't get it? Your fear of failure. What if I launch it and nobody shows up? Your fear of success. That's a thing. What if it does work? Now I have to maintain it. Or maybe it's a tad bit deeper. That you've never seen anyone close to you that is walking in purpose or is doing this thing. So it looks unfamiliar. Or that you've always been the support role, but never the spotlight. So this feels a bit selfish. Or you think you have to be perfect to be used. But here's the truth: God doesn't need your perfection, He needs your participation. So you don't have to be fully ready to move, you just have to start walking. I like to think about even just a couple of weeks ago, and for some of you all, you listened to the bonus episode that I put out about the red velvet revelation and was just kind of sharing with my cousin, like, hey, it's time to start that business. All I did was plant the seed. God spoke to her, God showed her exactly what it is that she is supposed to be doing. And in less than what two weeks, she has already gotten her YouTube channel together, she has already uh started posting and getting testimonials, she has already had her first episode for her podcast. It wasn't perfect. All she needed to hear was a word from God to say move, and she was obedient in what it is that she was supposed to do. She sprung into action, it's just like the word faith without works is dead. Y'all keep praying, praying, praying, praying, praying, praying, praying, praying, praying, praying that something is going to change. It won't change unless you do, period. What you want to come into your life is right there, but are you willing to get outside of your comfort zone and do the thing, whatever it is, and let me go ahead and dispel this myth. Everything ain't gonna work. There are going to be some things that you try that just don't work, but they were put there to get you comfortable with being uncomfortable, they were put there so that you can begin to learn the lesson so that the very thing that you are set to walk into, you now have the um testimony for, you now have the information, you now have more of what didn't work, so you know not to do that again. It could very well be that the thing that you are afraid to do is going to put you in rooms of people who are going to be able to propel you to where it is that you're really really ready to go. But you're afraid to look silly, you're afraid to get in front of people that don't have a heaven nor a hell to put you in. You are afraid to get in front of people to talk about the thing that you know that you're supposed to do, but can I tell you something? None of those folks that you are afraid to get in front of are going to pay your bills. See, I know right now that there are people who are in this government shutdown trying to figure out what their next move is going to be. I was in that position a year ago, over a year ago, when the very thing that I knew that I was supposed to be doing, I put on the back burner. Why? Because I figured that as long as I was doing a little bit of what God has me to do, that I was being obedient, that having the job and the career and making the money was all that I needed to do, and that I could put purpose on the back burner. Can I tell y'all what happened? So I was part of workforce reduction, and so what did that mean for me out of a job for more than a year? But let me tell you how good God is. God set me up so that I lacked for nothing. Where I had the money set aside. And so, although I had the money set aside, I'm still out here and I'm applying for jobs and I'm trying to figure out why I'm not getting anything, and I know that I'm qualified, more than qualified for positions that I'd applied for and didn't get. But it was God showing me that purpose does not get a back seat. Your career is great, but don't let that be the thing that you are holding on to, and then I become an option, or that the assignment on your life becomes an option. And so what did I do? I began to put in the work, I began to put pieces together for the business, and although I felt like things weren't coming together, not realizing that they were. Yes, there were more moments that I cried than I had happy moments, but I was still putting in the work because I knew that the more I put in, I knew the consistency, I knew the intentionality, I knew that there was going to be a breakthrough. And I kept chipping away at it, still trying to look for employment, but also working in purpose at the same time. It's an and. I know firsthand when the friends that you have don't even support the very thing that you're doing. I know firsthand. And there were things that just did not work, but they were all a setup to get me to where I am today, and how I begin to pour into other people, and they asked, Well, how is it that you know all of this? Because there were lessons that I learned along the way. See, I've been in this coaching space for 10 years. There were things that just did not work, but they were lessons. Yes, there are books that I have wrote. No one taught me how to. No one taught me how to start this podcast, but I did. No one taught me how to put out my first book, but I did. No one taught me how to host events, but I did. And so I need you to get to a space, but I was not afraid to fall forward. So I don't say that it was a failure. There were lessons, there were missteps that you had. You had to fall forward in order to get to this space. So I'm going to ask you again right now. What are you waiting on? And maybe you need to say this out loud. I've been waiting on blank. Whatever you just said, that's where you begin. Begin to tell yourself the very opposite of the very thing that you are saying that that's what you've been waiting on. Because that right there is the lie. See, this forces you to do the work, and it's not just a nod along. See, that is your superpower, that is your reflection with a nudge. I want to see you win. You want to see yourself win. Those around you, I promise you that there are some of you all who are sitting on your gifts trying to figure out what to do. And there are people who are watching you because guess what? They're sitting on theirs too. But you are the example, you are going to be the person that lets them know that if she can do it, I can do it too. But what if you just sit and don't move? What if you decide that when purpose calls that you're not going to answer? Who is it? Who is it impacting besides you? And those are the things that we have to begin to ask ourselves because it's not just about you. There are so many people waiting on you to answer the call. There are so many people waiting on you to show up for your purpose. There are so many people waiting for you to say, you know what, I gotta give this all I got. Because you are the one. You're the one that's going to move things forward. You're the one that's going to say, you know what? Today is the last day that I am going to count myself out. Today is the last day that I'm going to allow fear to hold me hostage. Today is the last day that I am going to continue to mask the excuses that I have. Because you're ready if you want it. You are ready. So let me go ahead and sign your permission slip today. Let me go ahead and give you that it's okay to start ugly. It's okay to be seen in the process. That it's okay to take the step even when you're shak when your knees are shaking. Because the step, you can do that scared. You can even do it when it's messy. And you can also do it when it's misunderstood. So you, yeah, you, the person that's listening to this episode, you've waited long enough. And the longer you wait, the heavier the vision feels. And here's what I know to be true. God doesn't need you to be perfect, He just needs you to move. So, what are you waiting on? This week, take the steps, make the call, write the post, launch the thing, apply for the role, speak up, let's go. You have rehearsed long enough. Now, right now, it's show time. Let's go. Let's go. And I want to hear all about it. I want you to send me messages, I want you to send me DMs, I want you to send me emails. I am your biggest cheerleader because I want to see you win.