JUMP! It Takes that “Leap of Faith!”

Alaskan singer-songwriter, author & speaker Janie Lidey at The Castle Recording Studios near Nashville

What is needed to take a “Leap of Faith?” You wait for the right time, you wait for the right place, you wait for everything to be ready. That’s a lot of waiting. Maybe you shouldn’t wait. Take a deep breath, gather up all of the inner strength you can, and just go for it.

“Jump!” says TV host Steve Harvey in a recent video, where he talks about the path to success. It requires a jump, usually without an obvious parachute. This really got me thinking back to the Leaps of Faith I have taken in the past, and asking myself, What leap should I be taking right now, but have not? Am I holding back? If you have not seen this video yet, I have included it on the end of this article.

My Leaps of Faith

Shortly after graduating from college, I really wanted to get into the computer industry. It was really difficult. Most jobs were at computer hardware companies, the software industry was in its early stages and the internet was non-existent. Finally I found an “in” but the company was having budget constraints at the time. I took a deep breath and offered: “I will work for free for 3 months and then let’s see where it takes us.” I was low on funds, but took that Leap of Faith anyway. Six months later I was a Vice President at the company. It was a great opportunity that changed my life and my career path!

My next Leap of Faith was to move from Los Angeles to Seattle to further my computer career. Seattle is where the Software Gold Rush was booming. I packed everything I owned in my hatchback and drove up to Seattle one December in the middle of a snowstorm. I had limited funds and no job lined up. No apartment either for that matter. A huge Leap of Faith that was quickly rewarded. I became Vice President of Sales & Marketing at a software company two weeks later. Seattle was a life-changer for me. I met both of my wives there. Wait, that doesn’t sound quite right, does it!

Later I took another Leap of Faith to quit my job and co-founded a company that worked with Gary Larson and The Far Side. What a ride that was! I discussed that wild and whacky adventure in an earlier post on Medium: https://medium.com/@sxfranklin/the-amaze-inc-far-side-story-97904440f171.

I went on to found several other companies in the Seattle area and helped many more. For me, the 1990s were just one Leap of Faith after another. And it was very rewarding.

Find Your North Star

The last few years I’ve been helping others take that Leap of Faith. One of my inspirations is an Alaskan artist that I’ve been working with, Janie Lidey. For over 20 years, Janie was a high school music teacher in Anchorage. But then came that time for her to follow her passion, to take a Leap of Faith, and do the unthinkable: Quit her safe teaching job and concentrate full-time on her own music!

Today Janie is an inspirational singer-songwriter, author and speaker. She has written a book and some amazing songs, including one appropriately titled, Leap of Faith! Her latest CD is “North Star” and encourages all of us, to find our North Star — our identity and direction, to develop our strengths, follow our leadings, and to fearlessly take that Leap of Faith. Janie gets invited to participate in many conferences because of her inspiring story and thematic messages. As I write this, she is performing at a conference in San Diego.

Steve Harvey says JUMP!

This JUMP video by Steve Harvey is going viral out there and I’m glad it is. Learning to Jump is such a key part of success. I encourage you all to watch it. I must add that I’ve always liked Steve Harvey as comic TV personality but it went much deeper when I watched his eulogy for Bernie Mac , a national treasure. Steve would not be where he is today without taking several “jumps.” And what he showed us lately is that when he makes a mistake, he handles it with class and uses it as a lesson for us all. Way to keep Jumping , Steve Harvey. Bravo!!

Here is Steve Harvey’s JUMP blog on Medium: https://medium.com/@SteveHarvey/you-ve-got-to-jump-to-be-successful-538cb7ecf6c1