What Worked (and What Didn’t) in Q1

Thoughts on the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, RV adventures, and embracing a life of abundant happiness. Crafted by Kimberly Crossland, a bestselling author who has championed a freedom-filled lifestyle since before it was trending on Instagram.

Idea Spark: Are you where you need to be?

One of the phrases I’ve found streaming through my mind recently is this: Put me where you need me, God. 

Whether you believe in God, a higher power, or something else, that concept of showing up where you’re needed rings true for us as entrepreneurs. Showing up where we’re needed lets us leave the biggest impact while simultaneously ridding ourselves of feeling like we have to be in all the places all the time (a feeling many of us have felt suffocated by online these days).

While that particular phrase — Put me where you need me, God — is important to pray, think, or say out loud, we can’t truly honor it without reflecting on where we actually are in this moment. 

Those were the questions I journaled on recently, and I thought I’d share my answers with you in hopes of sparking some of your own thinking. Specifically, five lessons bubbled up as I reflected on this question in the first quarter of 2024.

A friend of mine shared this word with me recently, and it hit home. Disenchantment. 

The Oxford Dictionary defines it as " a feeling of disappointment about someone or something you previously respected or admired.” 

Lately, there have been certain parts of online marketing that have left me feeling disenchanted. 

I’ve seen others feel this same way. The problem isn’t feeling disenchantment with something. The problem is staying mired in it and allowing it to become the norm. Shrugging your shoulders and thinking, “Well, this is it for me, so I guess I’ll slog through,” isn’t a life well lived. It’s a give-up (and I’m not about giving up). 

The balance comes from trusting the disenchantment.

Recognizing how you feel (which is why I send these weekly questions your way) and trusting that there’s something greater on the other side of it allows you to recalibrate and do more of what lights you up. Trust how you’re feeling, and then do something about it.

If I'm being transparent, I recently felt disenchanted with my own business. Some parts (like writing to you) I LOVE—and still do. Others, like some social media, felt out of alignment. 

For the first part of the year, I tried to fix it on my own. I leaned into the slog. I restructured my days and months with other people’s systems to see if that would help (it didn’t). I tried powering through to rekindle the spark. Nothing worked. 

We’re not meant to go through this journey alone. 

I’ve often said that entrepreneurship is lonely. So is the RV lifestyle at times. Getting an outside perspective can be life-giving for your business, so I said yes to the help. In committing to this work with someone else helping to clear the path of the weeds that had sprung up, I already feel the disenchantment washing away and new beginnings starting to appear. 

An Invitation: I want to do the same for you if I’m suited for it. Hit reply and let me know your answer to this question. If I were to dedicate an issue to helping you through a challenge you’re facing, what would that issue be?

Have you heard of rage baiting? A friend of mine recently shared this new trend with me, and frankly, it is gross. Have we really stooped this low?

Rage baiting is when you intentionally inspire anger in your posts to drive engagement and boost your profile in the algorithms. Little things, such as spelling your vs. you’re wrong or sharing a provocative statement that you know will spark fury among your followers, are ways that people are using your attention to supposedly make a bigger impact.

Going back to the first question I asked about putting ourselves where needed makes it instantly clear that some people are way off course. If you’re intentionally inspiring negativity online for your personal gain, you’ve lost. 

Q1 wasn’t filled with any rage-baiting for me (because, NO), but it was filled with a lot of DMs and new connections. Those new connections are what social media is all about. Keep that focus, and good things will come of the time you dedicate to a feed filled with trending rage baiters.

For years, I hid my faith from my work. That changed as I continuously heard God tugging at my heart to share my beliefs with others. So, I did. 

The first time felt scary. The next few times got easier. Now, I’m unapologetic about my faith. 

No, this isn’t a faith-based place (although I’ve considered designing one specifically for entrepreneurs who want to approach business through a Christian lens). Still, that doesn’t mean I can’t share my convictions.

Since opening up and sharing more about my faith journey, I’ve had numerous people reach out to me and say thank you. It seems many of us are hiding parts of ourselves that we don’t think belong in business or fear turning people away on social media. It seems that many of us are ready to change that belief by sharing more sides of our kaleidoscope.

I shared this post last week, and it caused a bit of a stir in a good way (no rage-baiting here!):

So many people love talking about what they want to do, yet most people don’t move in with those desires until they have the path perfectly mapped out. If that’s you, I challenge you to get out of that comfort zone and move.

How different could Q2 be if you started taking action rooted in convictions, even if you’re not crystal clear on the how yet?

Camping season is coming, so I thought I’d become my own sponsor. My sister company, Cruisin’ + Campfires, is filled with analog RV trip planners, greeting cards inspired by nature, stickers, and more coming soon! If you’re planning your upcoming travel season, check out what’s in store and stay close for what’s coming soon! I can’t wait to share it with you…