Tiera Fletcher: Welcome back to Rocket with the Fletters, where faith lifts us, love grounds us, and rockets launch us.

Myron Fletcher: Today, we're talking about something almost everyone experiences when pursuing a very big dream.

Tiera Fletcher: The moment when your vision feels much bigger than your current resources.

Myron Fletcher: whether it's starting a business, education, or launching something meaningful, many feel that gap. So our question you today is, have you ever felt like you had a big dream, but not enough time, not enough money, or not enough support to make it happen? That's our question we pose to you today. And the key here is, most meaningful visions start quietly. sometimes as a small idea that keeps returning over and over and over again.

Tiera Fletcher: For many people, that idea, it grows into something they feel called to pursue, right? And I think that for us, know, obviously, of course, Rocking with the Fletchers, we can say that one of our passions that we just clung onto, it became something much bigger than how it started. For me, it started with pink military aircraft and it's growing into rockets that are flying into space right now. you it started with that small airport, you know right down the street of your home in Little Rock Just watching the planes take off and wanted to learn how they can fly and Same outcome right? Literally rackets and space right now going around the moon and so a passion project it can slowly turn into a larger mission whether are having a passion for ⁓ maybe sewing quilts, right? It can end up turning into a larger mission of providing quilts to those who are in need, right? In different countries or even just down the street for folks who are fortunate. It could also just be maybe you just have a knack for just speaking to people, right? Just wanting to encourage them and motivate them. And then that can become a larger mission of just reaching many around the world. So those... Passion projects as you call it something that you pour your time into your heart into it can slowly turn into a larger mission ends up flooding out your life in order to pour into others and also realizing that Your interests or talents they could actually help others right note that the different examples that I provided They actually all had to do with helping someone else Isn't that neat? How something that you start with is just an entrance something that you have a knack for or passion for? Can actually spill over into helping others ⁓ something that is much bigger than yourself It off feeling like it's only for you Maybe just in that moment as you're starting out But if you pour your time into it your resources into it it can grow into something that's much bigger than yourself and then seeing a problem in the world and wanting to contribute to a solution, right? Whether you have an idea of how to provide water to a community that is far out from the city, or whether you have an idea of how to, I don't know, optimize space planes. You know, had to go there. In order to expedite travel around the globe, those different ideas, although they can range in magnitude, they can range in flavors. Ultimately, they can actually contribute to a solution. If you see a problem and you just have that spark and idea that could possibly solve it, you could actually be contributing to the actual solution. So let's bring it back to us, Myra. did we first recognize a vision forming in our lives? I want to hear your perspective.

Myron Fletcher: Yeah. So, you know, I can take this back, you know, all the way to college where August, September, October timeframe, we had career, ⁓ career at school, was college career fair. Long story short, I had 13 job offers and a lot them were contingent that I had two to three days to decide on which job I was going to go with. And so long story short, I remember I got the 13 job offer, I nearly fell out because I was like, this is overwhelming. What am I supposed to do? This is crazy. And so I ⁓ thinking in the flesh, like, I want to go somewhere like California, or I want to go somewhere overseas because I had a few job offers that were actually overseas. But I was like, OK, God, OK, God, what is it that you want me to do? And I rarely ever share this story, but I prayed. and I clearly saw a blue bee. And then the vision got clearer and clearer and it was Bowen. And I was like, oh my goodness, you want me to go to Bowen? And I was like, that's in Huntsville, Alabama. I was like, really, guy? like, I've interned in Huntsville for the last four years. I was like, I don't know if that's where I'm supposed to be. And as clear as day, I was like, guy, where do you want me to go? That's where he showed me he wanted me to go. And long story short, here I am today. because of that single obedience to go with that vision, right? But the vision to go to born, the important tier is I went into born and I was like most of everybody else, was like, hey, I wanna, I got all these passions and all these desire to help people, to build people, to uplift the next generation, to develop, to explore, to do all these things. ⁓ I was like, how can I do that if I work for a company full time? It just doesn't make sense. And one of the things along my journey was talk about you know, your vision being bigger than your resources are being bigger than, you know, what you can actually do. I knew all of these things I wanted to do, but I was working full time. was working 50, 60 hour weeks. And I remember it hit me. said, if I can work that much for another company, how much more should I be willing to work for myself? And that single conversation changed the trajectory of my career path, my career purpose, the desires of things inside and outside of work. And then I began to recognize the things I were learning inside of the Boeing Blue badge. I could use those outside to do exactly what I wanted to do. I was just telling Tierra today, I was creating a one pager one of my clients, for one of my businesses. And in the one pager, I'm thinking to myself, I create briefs every day. And I'm like, dude, like this is like, I create one-pagers. And Bowen taught me the foundations of how to create one-pagers. And here I am using it, you know, to expand my resources and vision into other places. But long story short, to go back to the whole Bowen thing, I went to Bowen, I to Huntsville. In a year there, I met this wonderful woman named Tiara Fletcher, right? And so it's like all of the things happened because of a single vision. Now that vision was bigger than me because coming from where I came from and what I was doing, thought boring was too big for me. thought like, man, I'm not, I'm not good enough to go work at boring. Like you gotta be X, and Z and blah, blah, blah. But long story short, I get in and they throw me in the fire in the pits and I'm building a design cryogenic components that are now sending humans the backside of the moon as we speak. And so, you know, it's that, that little vision of that little bee, that little blue born bee. allowed me to align to so many things that are going on in my life today so many things that will go on. I mean, that vision led me to Huntsville. That vision allowed me to meet my wife. Meeting wife allowed me to create three handsome sons. Creating three sons allowed us to create Rocket with the Fletchers. That singular vision allowed all of these things to go on. Now, along the way, ⁓ there were even more visions that got together. Me and Tierra, when we first met, of the things that we did, we went to a park, and you may have heard this if you heard any of our podcasts, we went to a park and Tierra talked for about 12 hours about her life and who she and what she wanted. It lasted so We went to dinner and then we drove up to Mount Sano and it was about another 12 hours on Mount Sano watching the stars. through the panoramic sunroof of the C class. I had a little C class back in the day. We looked up through the stars and she was just telling me about her life. But in this conversation, we began to talk about our future. Now is our first real date. Like ⁓ first real, like we went to the park to talk and then we just got deep. I mean, real deep, real fast. Literally the first time we had ever spent time one-on-one together, just went deep. But we started. we started talking about these things, these designs that help people to build this and to do that and to do that. And I'm thinking back on it now, we didn't have the resources to do half of this. Tierra was a full-time student. She entered during the summer. Tierra didn't have the bread. And at the time, I was young and trying to be this and that. And so I was in debt. I had a lot of debt that I had picked up. And I remember that's one of the conversations. This is another conversation for another day. one of the my. honest conversations with Tiara was like, hey, got a little credit card that just let you know, but I'm working on it. got a plan. And as long as you're aware where I stand, we can make this thing happen. And she was like, what's the I told her the plans. She was like, okay, let's go. And I'm like, wait a minute now. What is going here? But literally I did, I made some poor early on in life. learning from those mistakes, X, Y, Z, but I'm going all around the world. The thing was it started with a vision, B, a blue, boring badge that I saw that led me to literally that singular vision has led everything that you see and it has ebbed and flowed out of my life because of that singular vision and my obedience to that vision. And so Tiara, I'll turn that question over to you as well, because I'm really interested to see your perspective on when did you first recognize a vision forming in our lives.

Tiera Fletcher: That's really good. That's really good. And I just want to address one little fact. mentioned that I spoke 12 hours about my life. I just want to remind you of the initial question. It was, hey, can you please tell me about your life? And I was like, well, know, like, where should I start? And you said from as far as you can remember, just from the beginning, I was like, well, my memory, it ⁓ It worked.

Myron Fletcher: And she did, y'all. I asked her to start from as far as you can remember. She went back to before kindergarten. Well, I remember when I first started walking.

Tiera Fletcher: I do it. Okay, that's over exaggerating me. That's over exaggerated, but I just wanted to address that point. Yes, I did start talking about when I was in elementary school, it was a formative period. And you also have follow-up questions throughout the story. So that's how it was extended to 12 I don't even think it was that long. It went over the course of two days. It wasn't just all one day, 12 hours. maybe six within that one day and then it's built over for the other half and the next. But I digress. to your question. When did I first recognize a vision in lives? So I just find it so interesting listening to your story and I just also, and of course I've heard it before, but just thinking about the parallel path that we have, though we met later on in it's just so interesting. Just listen to you talk about that because for me, know, I was in college. I was an undergrad. It was sophomore, my fall semester in my sophomore year. And I to the career fair and I believe it may have been October as well. And at the time, I just didn't think that I would be getting really any internship, but I knew that sophomore year was time to start really getting about getting an internship. for that following summer, whether I was successful or not. so, you know, I was going around the career fair, ⁓ were some big companies there, there was Lockheed, Northrop Grumman, and then I saw Boeing. And, you know, if you've heard my story before, Lockheed really the initial company that I was really interested in, because they came to my elementary school and exposed me to aerospace engineering. I went over to that booth and it just, you I submitted my application, transactional, that was it. I went over to the Boeing booth and I actually had a conversation. I had a full blown conversation with the employee who there at the time. And I just felt like I was being analyzed as a human versus an applicant. And that a lot to me. And that was the connection point I felt. to the company, just that initial spark moment. had an interview that same day and then I received an offer to go to the, was like a hiring matching event to go to that a couple of weeks over in Washington state. And so I went to ⁓ and it was literally like speed aiding event. But it was all for jobs. was intense. You could hear people talk each direction. You have that are talking to managers from across the nation. And they're all different opportunities, different experiences, products, programs, all these neat things. And for me, I with three managers all from different locations. And I was set on to Charleston. I was like, you know what, Charleston, it's the new site for Billion. I want to go over there. Shiny is great. And I remember receiving my offer and it said Huntsville, Alabama. And I was like, yeah, is, this Alabama. What? had actually joked with my parents and I was like, I would never want to live in Alabama or Mississippi. It's a Southern thing. know, historically for black people, it felt like Alabama and Mississippi just weren't welcoming States. Especially being from myself, but really growing up in the Atlanta area. I understood which parts of Georgia not to really travel into. And I viewed those parts to be equivalent to Alabama, Mississippi. So when I saw that offer for Alabama, I was like, I have to go to Charleston. was calling the recruiters. was like, please, please, please let me be reconsidered for Charleston. And ultimately, God had his way. I was standing there Huntsville, Alabama in Rockett City. And I didn't understand the magnitude of what Huntsville offered at the time either. I didn't understand that it was Rocket City until I landed there. And then of course, going into my first internship, this guy over here, Myron, a pastor coworker of mine, introduced me to and the rest was But just in the 12 hours of conversation that we had, we start to speak about We started to speak about our vision together. started to learn about each other, about our similarities, about our differences, but ultimately why were called in that same space at the same time in order to come together as a couple. We started to navigate that very early on and realized that, in terms of our vision, in terms of our goals, God is truly calling us to uplift the upcoming generations, to share our stories, to this aerospace career ordeal for both of us. Calling to be a union, calling us to start a family, all of those different things. Within those 12 hours, we were about all of those different elements. But that's when started to really realize that, wow, this is the vision. for our lives and we continually have those moments each and every year, if not each and every day, just see more and more the vision that God has in store for our lives. It's been an experience, it's been an experience. And would say that vision, it appears before resources catch up and you mentioned it, I was an even at that point it was only the summer. So when I went back up to college, it was back to maybe some pizza rolls and a hot pocket as my meal choice of the day. It was just trying to get by. And so we were in very different places of our lives. We weren't exactly at that point of being able to financially pour into our different dreams and desires yet, but we leaned on faith in God for each and every step that came along the way. So we dated long distance, what, two years, right? That was the time that I had to finish undergrad the way in Cambridge at Massachusetts, so long distance. And I graduated, we started to get alignment and started to check off some of those boxes, but it didn't happen overnight, right? That's the point of it. But by leaning on God and allowing those resources to be placed in our lives, it allowed us to start to fulfill the different tasks, the different goals that he had placed in our minds and in our hearts. So I would say that a vision becomes clear, the next thing many people notice is gap between the dream and the current situation.

Myron Fletcher: Yeah. that gap can feel slash is very discouraging. Some of the things that I think of is wanting to start something meaningful, but feeling that you're limited by finances. I, as a business coach now, this is a day-to-day conversation where people are like, hey, I'm going to go do X, Y, and Z, but I don't know how to fund it. And so one of the things that I... wanting to start something meaningful, but feeling that you're limited by finances. I, as a business coach now, this is a day-to-day conversation where people are like, hey, I'm going to go do X, Y, and Z, but I don't know how to fund it. And so one of the things that I... prescribe creative financing, which is something that I did ⁓ know I was coming up and out. But it's faith in believing in what you're doing and what God is calling you to do. And even though your finances are limited, there are creative ways to source and to fund particular projects if you're looking in the right places. prescribe creative financing, which is something that I did ⁓ know I was coming up and out. But it's faith in believing in what you're doing and what God is calling you to do. And even though your finances are limited, there are creative ways to source and to fund particular projects if you're looking in the right places. Another one sometimes you have ideas, but you lack the experience or connections. to actually go execute off of those ideas. That's another thing as a business consultant where I take people that have these amazing ideas and we figure out what the gaps are, where they're lacking in experience, where they're lacking in connections in the particular industries they're to pursue. ⁓ then we build those gaps in strategically so can go and pursue those ideas. Another one is feeling unsure on how to take the first step. I think for most of my entrepreneurs, this is one of the biggest hurdles is we got great ideas, great vision. Some even have business plans written, but they're unsure on how to take that first step. And so my encouragement to you for those who are watching and who are listening today is take the first step. That's how you take the first step. The question I get all the time is, how do I do it? How do I do it? You do it. Do something. Nothing will get you nowhere. something, even if it's a step in the wrong direction, at least you know where not to go, right? And so you have to do something. You have to take a step. Now it's great to have somebody in your corner who understands business, who understands relations, who understands communication, who understands the pathway grants, of these different things that are out there in resources to help you be successful. It's great to have somebody like that in your corner. But at the end of the day, make sure you're taking steps, even if they're baby steps. to get you in the direction where you need to go. us, it was, I said, when we first met, we were talking about Rocket with the Fletchers ⁓ we had no clue it was Rocket with the Fletchers, right? So we were taking steps though. We were taking baby steps day after day after day. And today, Rocket with the Fletchers has its own podcast. Rocket with the Fletchers has its own media company. Rocket with the Fletchers has its own publishing company. Rocket with the Fletchers has its own book series. I can go on for days of the different things that Rocket with the Fletchers have, but it started off in the small things. And so my encouragement is, if you feel unsure on how to take the first step, just take a step. somebody who's in the industry that you're looking to pursue, or ask somebody who's a business consultant who can help guide you on what not to do and what to do to ⁓ that GPS you need to make sure you're going along the right path, even though you don't see the full or the full view. And so, know, Tierra, just two discussion angles that I kind of want to talk about here. Why do people sometimes abandon their dreams too early?

Tiera Fletcher: That's a good one. I think it's the same way. I don't look at it as even, you know, watering a plant that you don't see growing because you're looking at it each and every day. Right. And even though you know that plants can take time in order to sprout into what they're meant to become, you you water it, you give it the sunlight, but you're looking at it every single day and you're not really seeing the progress that you want to see. And by not seeing that progress. it just starts to feel discouraging, right? you have this dream, you can see it so clearly, right? in your mind and being able to nearly touch it. But if you don't see it becoming a reality as fast as you want it to become a reality, it can be so easy to abandon it as sort of a way of protecting your emotions, right? Because you see it failing, quote, quote, I'm putting quotes around it. Because without the proper time to make it into a success, it's going to look as though it's a failure without the pursuit that commitment to push it through for an extended amount of time. And going to push that onto yourself as though, know what, it's just not meant to be, or you what, it's just not in the cards right now, or I don't have the resources to make it happen, or I can't it. All of these different pieces of doubt, fear, ⁓ Mixing in all together and just saying it's not going to happen of taking that time watching it grow watching You know checking back to actually see the progress instead of just putting so much weight on yourself It's easy to fall into failure. It's human nature but ultimately, you know what would happen ⁓ if stick to that dream if you ⁓ push to get those additional resources, those additional mentors, about different pieces of industry like Myron, you were recommending, what would happen if you were to take those steps in order to get support to watch your dream become a reality?

Myron Fletcher: Yeah, those are good. Because I think about dreams that too I think about my weight loss journey. For those who have known me for the years, during COVID, I on a scale and it hit 375 pounds. And I was like, wait a minute, what? I was like 375. there's a story in there on how everything transpired and happened. But here, I stepped on a scale today, Tia. How much did I weigh this morning?

Tiera Fletcher: 202.

Myron Fletcher: 202 pounds. So if you do the math on that, that's 173 pounds that no longer exist on my body. I've had no surgery. I don't have none of that crazy stuff on like, oh, you must have cut a bunch of skin off there. No, what you see is what you get. so long story short though, I'm bringing that up in this example of there were many struggles on me being 375 pounds, but I had a dream that I was going to live long with my sons. I was going to be able to run with them. I was going to be able to play with them. And at 375, daddy couldn't run, daddy couldn't play, daddy was tired, daddy was on sleep, had sleep apnea. Daddy had all of these issues that was causing me to not be where I wanted to be. But I had a dream and I had a vision that I was going to be healthy and be able to run with them and play with them and go to the parks with them and go play sports with them and all the things that dads wants to do with their boys. I wanted to do it, so, but I looking at that scale at 375, there was a of time where I had to be patient and I had to be persistent to help close the gap from where I was to where I wanted to be and to where I am today. And so the second part there is you have to have patience and you have to have persistence to help close the gaps. a lot of times, like I said, I talked about these small steps. didn't lose 175 pounds overnight, right? It was two to three years in the making in of consistency of doing the right thing. And now, now don't get me wrong. I lost that. That was five, six years ago. Six years ago is the transformation happened and I've been consistent in keeping it off. So it's not just one of those things of, you get off and then you get it back. No, I've had it off for six years and now I've been consistent in keeping it off. ⁓ But happened with patience, persistence and small steps. So take my weight loss journey and turn that into whatever vision or dream that you have. It's not that it's not going to happen. It's not that it's going to be easy. It's not that you're going to have struggles. It's not that you're going to relapse. It's not that you're not going to have all these things that are not supposed to happen or going to happen. The thing is, through the process, you must be patient. You must be persistent. And in that, you will be able to close any gap to get to those visions and dreams that you have. And so another one here is, what helps people keep moving forward? when the path isn't fully clear? In this question, Tiara, for me, even though the path wasn't clear, it was when I began to step on that scale and I began to see it drop 350, 320, 299, 250, 200, when I began to see it drop, that was the encouragement to keep going even though the path wasn't clear on how I was gonna get to where I wanted to be. And so, Tiara, I'll throw it to you as well. What helps people keep moving forward when the path isn't fully clear?

Tiera Fletcher: You know what, always use this in my career today. Sometimes when it comes to doing rocket science, aerospace engineering, it's so easy to get caught up in the task that you have to do within that particular day and lose sight of what and why you are doing it for. And so another method that I like to use outside of looking at the progress that you made within that day, it is looking at the overarching goal. For some reason, being able to see what is motivating you allows you to push forward despite having a successful day or not so successful day. And so whether that's a rocket, whether that is your ultimate weight loss endeavor, whether that is that new garden you want to put in the backyard, or if a completely different career shift that you want to pursue, being able to see yourself. in that new career. Putting an image in front of you to see where you want to be or what you want to develop or what you want to create, it allows you to have a motivation focus. The same way in, I would even say in ballet. You have to always find your focus point. When you're doing all those different pairways and twirls, you have to find a focus point or else you're going to fall. the same way that you're looking at your dreams and your visions, find your focus point, allow that to be your motivation and keep driving towards it. And I have to say, even when I was doing structural analysis, doing all those different calculations day in and day out, I had to look at 3D model of the rocket in order to see what I was doing it for. And that motivated me to keep pushing. I had to look at the astronaut candidate so I could see who I was doing it for, right? And that allowed me to keep pushing. And so seeing what your focus point is, is the way that you can continue to drive towards that goal.

Myron Fletcher: I like that, Tierra. What I got from what you said was keep your eyes on the finish line, even though you're not on the finish line. That's good. That's a word right there. Maybe that's a whole episode. That's good. That's good. So, you know, one thing is, know, faith becomes especially important during seasons when progress feels slow. And I want to loop back around to the weight loss journey because it's key. Before I started the journey, I was on a CPAP. had sleep apnea and I had a few other issues.

Tiera Fletcher: I like that summary.

Myron Fletcher: with the weight loss journey, I don't have any of those. I don't have a CPAP anymore. I don't have sleep apnea. don't have the fatigueness and the tiredness anymore. It's a lot of things that I used to have that I no longer have. But like she said, I kept my eyes on the finish line and I still keep my eyes on the finish line. Cause I still wanna, I just wanna run around with my sons. I wanna run around with their sons and their sons. That is my ultimate goal, my ultimate vision, right? So daddy gotta stay healthy. Daddy gotta stay fit regardless. of just staying fit for my children. I want to be healthy for their children and their children's children. So Tia, with that being said, I'll turn it over to you.

Tiera Fletcher: No, that is so good. That is so good. I want to talk about faith the waiting season, right? We've about what it looks like to keep pushing. But you what happens when ⁓ progress, it truly feels slow. I talked about looking at that plant and watching it grow every single day and just expecting to have a full tree, you know, within 24 hours. But I think that faith, it becomes especially important during seasons. when progress feels slow because sometimes the waiting season is where preparation happens, right? So if you are trying to become, let's just say a CEO of a marketing company, right? Of course, there's going to be seasons to allow you to get to that place. That season could be furthering your education so that you can actually be developing skills within that space. It can be the entry point. It can be a career pivot, right? Coming from a completely different skill set, going into something new. That's considered a waiting season where you are preparing yourself for the next. And maybe that next season, it is pursuing just a leadership and even entry level leadership position that industry. And then the next step, senior leadership. And then it goes on, right? Until you actually reach the point of becoming that CEO of the marketing company. All of those different steps, just developing skills over time. I would even say for my career right now, I seasons to become an engineer. So back in even high school, I had the vision of becoming an aerospace engineer. And so there was a season where I was just exploring just different engineering disciplines, trying to understand, why do I like aerospace? versus civil or mechanical. Like what is difference? What are all these different disciplines? It was my waiting season. So I decided to prepare within that season by learning about what I wanted to get into. Undergraduate career, it was a waiting season, even going into my career period, my professional career. And so I prepare academically by learning about all the different fundamentals. And then getting into my professional career, you cross that first finish line, but then, you you always have a next finish line because it keeps it interesting, right? You want to be able to look at your next. That's what allows you to continue to move forward in life and ultimately always have a sense of adventure. So I get in and I'm like, okay, I want to go into leadership. So there's that waiting season. I can't just graduate undergrad and go straight leadership. I had to go through different experiences to allow me to develop skills in order to prepare for being a leader in the aerospace industry. But then also learning through each of those experiences. I kid you not, I can go through each of my different roles. each of the leaders that I've had as part of those different roles, different influences that I had in those different periods that taught me different lessons to prepare me for that goal of becoming a senior leader in the aerospace industry. All of those different experiences, I hope did they miss lessons. Whether it was, you know, like maybe I was working on some sort of design and I missed a deadline, lesson learned, why did I miss it? Right? Going through. drawing back and like okay this is what I'm to do differently next time to become better and prepare as I'm going towards my goal of becoming a leader. But then also I mentioned people right so meeting people who become part of the journey that's always a fun ride as well. All of the different people that I can now call my mentor, I can call my friends. I can even go as far as just saying, hey, you're extended family. of the different people that along in that journey. It feels like it's a waiting season only because you're not at that exact finish line yet. But that preparation and clinging onto people that are helping to develop you, helping to support you, that is a great and exciting part of the journey because that actually forms out. who you are and who you're becoming, who you surround yourself with, ultimately is how you can see yourself in different stages of life. So whether you have a mentor that is doing exactly what you want to do within that finish line, or whether you have a mentor that just knows how to do life, like that, they just know how to do life, who knows how to balance that family, having the work life that's super successful, but also doing things within the community and taking care of themselves at the same time. Or whether you have a mentor that can just teach you about a particular skill set that you're really interested in. ⁓ AI is a big ordeal. Having a mentor within that that's just pouring knowledge into you because it's interesting and it's developing you in a different way. But all of those different pieces are preparing you for your finish line. All of those different people. are a part of your puzzle to prepare you for what you will become. It's an exciting part of the journey. And it makes me think about a scripture, 2 verse 3, the vision is for a future time. It describes the end and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow and coming, wait for it will surely take place. it will not be delayed. a planner. Myron, you know this. And so would say that for the majority of my life, I would make plans, including the times and the days of when I wanted them to take place. The humor of God is that he can laugh at those and show you what is actually going to happen. So, Just because you think that your dream is deferred or that your dream is delayed, that does not mean that the true timing that God has in store is saying that it's delayed as well. His time is not always going to be your time. So even though you think that that dream is delayed, it just hasn't happened at time yet. And that's the time that truly matters. Receiving something too early can ultimately be too heavy to hold. can see, you know what I even mentioned, even graduating from undergrad, I mentioned that, I can't just go into a leadership position automatically, right? Like the day after I graduate. I say that because retrospectively, looking at those different waiting seasons that I've had, those different preparation periods and meeting those mentors that I talked about, having those learned that I talked about. Ultimately getting all of that equipment I have in my toolbox today it allows me to lead but without all that that came along in that journey I couldn't see myself do it. So ultimately the dream will appear when God says it's time to do so. So how can faith strengthen that to keep going? Right? How can ⁓ How can faith do that? I'm going to bring it to you, Myra. What's your thought?

Myron Fletcher: You know, know, faith is the, I love the scripture, the substance, the things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is the hope. It is the hope that what you see, what you believe will eventually happen. And so that perseverance is keeping the faith, it's staying true to what you believe deep within you, even though you can't see it, even though you can't feel it, even though you can't touch it, you know it's going to happen. And that is how it strengthens your perseverance. The tighter you hold on to that faith, the longer you hold on to that faith, more strength you have in persevering through any obstacles that you will go through, because you will go through obstacles ⁓ any vision, and will be ups and downs, ebbs and flows. But if you stay consistent and ⁓ remind of why you started and why you're doing it, that faith, then you will always be able to strengthen yourself and preserve yourself. throughout the vision, throughout the journey. Because growth often happens before the visible results appear. And I think you just hit that, the hammer on the nail with everything you just described on being prepared in preparation for those things to take place. The growth is happening before the results appear. And so Tiara, let's switch gears here and kind of talk about some practical steps. we can, you know, when resources are limited.

Tiera Fletcher: Yeah, I think that even when resources are limited, progress is still possible. We talked about how our resources were limited when we first met. I'm starting to take the different steps along the vision that we've had together, right? we didn't have every dollar, every of time. We didn't all of those different things in order to make the vision become a reality. on that particular day, it has taken time, it continues to take time in order to reach the full potential of the vision that God has bestowed us, right? Bestowed onto us as part of our union. So Myron, can you walk us through some practical steps, right? When those resources are limited, what should we do?

Myron Fletcher: Sure. are a few practical steps you can to move forward. The first practical step is start small. We talked about this earlier in the podcast. Take the first practical step available. This ⁓ is to help separate you from the dreamers and the doers. Dreamers always talk about ⁓ what going to do, how they're going to do it. Doers go it. So the first thing here is start small and take the first practical step available. The second thing is consistency. So progress often comes through small actions repeated over time. And I think that's key that when you understand your consistency is much more greater than the finish line, you will understand that you have to take small actions and repeat it over time. And in those actions that are repeated over time, You're building all the things you need to build to get to where you're trying to go. So number two is build consistency. Number three is, and you hit this, you know, once again, the hammer on the nail, focus ⁓ Skills and knowledge can expand your opportunities beyond your imagination. And so one of the key things that I heard from a second grader in Huntsville, Alabama. as I was doing a speaking engagement. He came up to me after the speaking engagement and said, Mr. Fletcher, you must read a lot of books because you're really, really smart. My dad said, if you want to hide something from a Black man, put it in the book. And you may have heard me say that before, but every time I think about it, this is literally a second grader. guy was every bit of seven, eight, nine years old, came up to me and said I was smart because his dad told him, if you wanted to hide something from a Black man, put it in the book. Long story short. He wouldn't lie because the books got a lot of stuff out there that will help you sharpen your skills, get you knowledge. And then once you get those skills and that knowledge, then you begin to surround yourselves in rooms with people and you begin to talk about the other way. How do you know about that? What school did you go to? You better even go to school. But you have this knowledge and you have these skills. So it expands the opportunities beyond what you possibly can imagine. And so the three practical takeaways are start small. build consistency and focus on learning. And our listener challenge for today is identify one small step toward a dream you've been thinking about and do it this week. Just we're not asking you to do a 10 point plan, a five point business plan, a 30 point, a 30 day execution plan. Our encouragement, our challenge for you this week is to identify one step toward a dream you've been thinking about. and make it happen. And with that being said, Tiara, can you get us into our faith anger this episode?

Tiera Fletcher: Yes, absolutely, scripture that reminds us to trust the process is Zechariah chapter 4 verse 10. Do despise these small beginnings for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Ziborob's hand. The seven lamps represent the eyes of the Lord that search all around the world. Wow. Do not despise the small beginnings for the Lord rejoices to see the work even begin. Hello. Hello. If the Lord can rejoice in seeing the small steps just start, just take that first step, then what are you waiting for? Right? not despise small beginnings. You cannot build a pyramid within a day. So just start by moving that first step.

Myron Fletcher: You know, and that scripture to this day resonates with me. It anchors me because I'm always reminded that I shouldn't despise the small things because one penny by itself may not seem like a lot, but when there's a hundred of them, I'm now at a dollar. And when there's a thousand of them, you just begin manipulating and go up and up and up and up and up. And so the key here is don't despise small beginnings. because many meaningful journeys start with small steps. And consistency and faith can carry a vision forward far beyond what you can think or imagine. And the thing is, if this episode encouraged you, follow, subscribe, hit that like button, share with your family, your friends, your uncle, your auntie, your nanny, your nemo, your coco, your paparuzki. Share it with the family. Let everybody know what's going on in Tierra Ovidiu.

Tiera Fletcher: Yes, share with someone who is working toward a vision that feels bigger than their current situation. That person who is thinking that, you know, they don't have the time, they don't have the dollars, you know, they just don't know which way, which, you know, direction to go in. Share it with that person right now. In next episode, we're going to be talking about how high performers handle stress. So practical ways to stay grounded when life becomes overwhelming. And you know what? Big visions, they often start small, but small steps can lead to incredible outcomes. So Myron, could you please pray us out tonight?

Myron Fletcher: Absolutely. ⁓ Heavenly Father, we come to you today, God. We just want to thank you for this opportunity to come to the throne of grace boldly. Father God, we come to you encouraged, uplifted, knowing that we should never despise small beginnings. And even in the small things, you're rejoicing and you're excited to see the thing begin, Father God. Each one of the people who are listening to this, whether it's live, whether it's YouTube, whether it's LinkedIn, whether it's Apple Podcasts, whatever streaming source they're watching it, God, we pray that they are encouraged, they're uplifted. And Father God, we encourage them and challenge them today to take one small step toward a vision or towards a dream that you place within them, Father God, that they may go out and pursue and do, Father God, and that they may not despise the small beginnings for what you have. placed in front of them, front of them to go out and do and pursue God. So we thank you ⁓ the opportunity to be able to speak today on this podcast. ⁓ we pray that something was said or done that may motivate, uplift and encourage those who are listening. ⁓ we pray above all else, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. ⁓ in the name of Jesus, we pray, amen. ⁓

Tiera Fletcher: Amen.

Myron Fletcher: And I think you hit it on the nails here. Big visions often start small, but small steps can lead to incredible outcomes. Thank you rock it with the Fletches.