This post is a part of our 2016 Team Buzz Builder Guest Blogger Series. Today we are pleased to introduce you to Brandi Walerius, the owner of Black & White Consulting.

The older I get the more I realize there’s one significant thing that gets in the way of making an ordinary life extraordinary. That one thing, when present, can be our biggest critic and fuel that nagging voice inside our minds that creates the dreaded self-doubt. That one thing if you haven’t figured it out, is fear, the paralyzing type.

I used to think I wasn’t creative, but just recently, I realized I’ve been conveniently lying to myself. It’s not that I’m not the creative type, it’s that fear lurks inside of me and sabotages my inspired ideas before I can breathe life into them.

A beauty of getting older though, is the realization that life is short. Instead of being afraid of what others think, I should be more afraid of not fulfilling my full potential by letting fear rule. I need to stop staying ordinary and in my comfort zone because I won’t leave to allow magic to live and for the possibility of extraordinary to exist. Yes, I’m starting to realize I don’t need anyone’s permission to live a creative life, just my own.

I’m so guilty of constantly saying “I would but (fill in the blank).” Fill in the blank with I don’t know how, I don’t know if it will work, what if it fails? It’s easy to feel like underdogs in this big bad world. It’s easier to stay put, to let doubt rule our lives and be used as the basis of decision making. To be the murderer of our dreams.

If you can relate, let’s make a pact, shall we? Let’s remember that it’s not what calls you that will determine your destiny and legacy, it’s what you answer to, and that sometimes we have to face fear and work in spite of it to answer that call.

Elizabeth Gilbert’s book Big Magic points out:

· When you become curious about something pursue it.
· You must stay in the creative conversation with yourself to give yourself time to explore it.
· Don’t scare away your inspiration.
· Give yourself permission to feel personal entitlement. That you deserve to explore a creative living.

She also points out that “creative living is a path for the brave.” I don’t know about you, but I am ready to be brave. I’m ready to listen to one of my inspired ideas and give it life. I’m ready to explore and put an idea and myself out there in an attempt to live a fuller life. I know fear will take up real estate in my mind, but I won’t let it take over. I now have those Big Magic inspirations posted on my desk. I know now to live an extraordinary life I need to make the leap from fear to faith.

Who’s leaping with me?

Brandi Walerius, MBA, is the owner of Black & White Consulting, a Human Resources and Content Writing agency and is the woman behind the keyboard at withBrandi.com where she shares life, motherhood, business, and all other things worthy of her obsession. When Brandi’s not translating her ideas and thoughts into printed words, she’s living happily ever after, drowning in testosterone, with her husband and two sons in northwest Ohio. For additional love and ramblings, follow Brandi on Twitter and Instagram.

Image Credit: 123rf/kudryashka