If you have ever struggled with finding out your purpose or figuring out what you are called to do, this episode is for you. Today, we are chatting with Molly Wilcox, an author and a coach who has been featured on Bible Gateway, Darling Magazine, Grit and Virtue, and Way Media. Her first book, How Much More?, released this past August, and as a certified Hope*Writers coach, Molly empowers faithful creatives to chase after their God given dreams. When she isn’t writing, reading or coaching, she’s probably showing strangers pictures of her mini golden doodle pup, and she lives with their husband in Franklin, Tennessee.
In this episode, we talk all about what it means to “find our calling” as Christians, the importance of our words – whether we’re writing them down or speaking them – and the steps that Molly took to go from having no idea what she wanted to do and just dreaming of writing to being a published author.
In this episode we discuss:
- How to partner with God in your business and dreams
- Simple steps you can take if you want to write a book
- How small steps of obedience can lead to big changes
Find it quickly:
- 3:11 – Navigating finding your “purpose” + how faith impacts that journey
- 8:46 – Advice for anyone who wants to become an author
- 16:14 – Why our words matter
- 22:24 – Habits + disciplines to thrive in business and faith
- 29:10 – Scarcity mindset and practicing Sabbath
- 33:35 – First step to becoming an author
Resources mentioned:
So without further ado, let’s dive into the chat! You can listen to the full episode with the player below or continue scrolling for a full transcript.
Jordan: Hi, Molly, welcome to the podcast. Thanks so much for coming on.
Molly: Hey Jordan, thank you so much for having me. This is so fun.
Jordan: I know this feels like a full circle moment. We were just chatting before this about how Molly and I met four or five years ago, when she was living in Summit County and we were out here in our RV. It’s been so cool to see your journey. I’m really excited to talk about it because I’ve seen so many leaps of faith that you’ve taken and just watching you come into your own of walking out your purpose and being obedient to the calling that God has on your life has been so cool, and I’m so excited that we get to chat about that today.
Molly: Yeah, it’s so special for me too, because I remember meeting you and Pete and you guys were like my first picture of like entrepreneurship. Cause you guys were doing life on the road In Breckenridge and you were talking about owning your own business and leaving your careers and all these things. So that’s really, it’s a special little moment.
Jordan: Aww, I love that. So, for everyone that doesn’t know you already, just tell everyone a little bit about yourself, who you are, what you do.
Molly: Yeah, so I’m mainly a writer, I run my own freelance writing business. I’m an author myself, and then I also do some developmental editing and ghostwriting and things like that. And then I do some coaching as well. So I’m pretty much everywhere in the world of words.
How to Find Your Purpose
Jordan: So obviously, we kind of just mentioned that when we had first met you, you were trying to figure out what you wanted to do. And you know, your husband was considering a job and a move, and you guys knew that was kind of on your horizon. And you know, so many people are in that stage, especially in our twenties, of searching for purpose. So how did you, I mean, “how did you find your purpose” is such a big, lofty question, but you know, what did that look like? What did that journey look like for you and how did your faith really come into play and impact that journey?
Molly: Yeah. I love that we get to have this conversation because I remember having so many of those conversations with you in a season where I feel like I really didn’t have the words to articulate it. Like I’m in this place where I’m feeling this sense of like wanting something more, but I don’t know what to do with that. And so, my recent book that came out in August is called How Much More? and it came out of that season, because I had graduated school, my husband and I had just gotten married, and then we moved to the High Rocky Mountains and we were living like, what seemed like a dream life. Like if you looked at my Instagram feed, people were like, “oh my gosh, this is just perfection. Like it just looks amazing.” But yet, like every day, I just felt kind of unsatisfied and I had this deeper longing in my soul. And as a Christian, I was like, wait a minute – I’m supposed to be living a life that’s marked by contentment. What’s wrong with me? You know?
And I just started asking these questions of like, why do I feel this way? And like, what am I gonna do? And it felt at the time, like I had to change my circumstances, right? Like I was like, okay, I need to like logistically make some changes because I’m not happy with like some specific things. But also, there was like this deeper soul matter of like, why am I still longing for more if I’m fulfilled in Christ?
And since then I’ve learned that that sense of longing, I don’t think it’s ever supposed to go away. And to some people listening, that might sound really scary, but I think it’s because God has so much more for us than we could ever imagine.
And so for me, that’s like showed up in so many different ways, like of course in business and in family and things like that, but also just practically like every day. When I have that sense of longing, instead of feeling like shame about it or feeling disappointment, I’m like, “oh, this is a good thing because it’s directing me to the fact that God has more for me and I haven’t experienced the fullness of it yet.”
Finding Fulfillment in Jesus
Jordan: Oh, that’s so good. You know, it makes, it reminds me, and you probably know the quote better because you’re in the world of words, but isn’t there a CS Lewis quote of like that our heart longs for something that we don’t know. And that’s in itself the proof of God. I think it’s from Mere Christianity, maybe, but, just the idea, like, we always are gonna long for something.
And I know on my own journey of chasing, like before I became a Christian, chasing accomplishments, chasing like, contentment, fulfillment, peace, whatever you wanna call it, in all these other worldly things that, not that you can’t have contentment in those areas, but that’s never gonna give you true peace and true fulfillment. We’re not meant to be fulfilled by just those things.
Molly Yeah. And so for me, I was like, oh, that’s kind of a scary thought. Like how am I gonna live in this constantly feeling this like push and pull. But then it ended up being more of like an invitation into like adventure, which is like, you know, obviously, you know well.
But it really was because it felt like my world became less limited, even though I was more aware of my own limitations, I was like, “okay, I’m a limited human, but God is unlimited and He’s unlimited in His generosity to us in so many ways.” And so I was able to just be like, “well, what would it look like to pray the big, scary prayers and to ask for more and to take risks and to live like truly in faith, like believing that God will show up for me every single time, even if it’s in unexpected ways?”
I mean, it’s a little bit of a scary way to live your life, right? But also so worth it.
Jordan: I love that so much. And I love, I mean, to see someone, like I said earlier, like to walk out, like to see from afar someone who you know, is just like, “all right, God I’m all in.” It’s kinda like jumping in the deep end.
He’s so gracious to us, but I’m a planner and so I like want him to give me the five year plan, and He never seems to wanna do that for me. And it’s amazing to see Him answer these prayers in ways that we would’ve never expected in timing that wasn’t ours, but is always so much better. And, you know, He’s working for our good, for His glory. And so to see you walk obediently, whether it’s just a move to Tennessee or you know become a publish author is really cool.
Becoming a Published Author
Jordan: Okay, so I know nothing about the publishing world and so, and I think for people that are looking from the outside at your story to go from this, like, okay, I don’t really know. I think you were looking at, I think we talked about photography a little bit. I mean, you know, really trying to navigate what you’re doing to now being a published writer, that’s a really incredible accomplishment, especially at your age. And that’s a goal a lot of people have – so many people wanna write books.
What advice would you give to someone who aspires to be an author? Both just some practical things that you did to show up and make it happen, but also maybe the the leap of faith that it took to do that?
Molly: Yeah, so it’s so interesting. I love talking about this. Because, yeah, so Jordan knew me in this season where I was like, “what am I gonna do with my life?” Because I knew I didn’t like what I was currently doing. And so I was like just asking those big questions of purpose. And I was obsessed with calling, right? Like I was like, “what is my calling?” Like, it’s such a Christian word. And so I was obsessed with that.
And the shift that happened for me, that ended up like bringing so much, I guess you could call it “success” or I would say even like just significance in my life was stopping the focus on the calling and focusing on the Caller.
And that transition happened for me when I was reading a book about calling and someone basically said, you can’t have a calling unless you have a caller. And it convicted me at that time because I felt like I was just wandering, right? Like I was like, “I like photography, like I like drawing, like I like all these creative, fun things. Like I’ve always liked writing, like, what could I do? What could I do?” And I was just wandering.
But as soon as you have a Caller and you have someone who’s calling you to something, then that’s where the purpose is, right? You don’t have to look for it anymore. You don’t have to think like, “oh, what am I good at? Oh, what could I do with this skill?”
That’s what I was looking at. I was just like, I remember even like making lists of like, these are things that I’m good at. Like these are things that people say I’m good at. Like, you know, following all the career advice, trying to figure out like what could I do? As soon as I shifted to like, “wait a minute, God made me and He made me with intention and He is the one who calls me, it became less about like, “what is my calling?” and more about who is God and what is He doing right now, because I feel like God is always doing things constantly, whether or not we’re partnering with Him. And so then it was like, “okay, how am I gonna partner with God in what he’s already doing?“
Jordan: That’s so good.
Molly: When I moved to Tennessee, I was like, Already thinking, you know, photography or some sort of creative career. I knew like I wanted to start entrepreneurship in some capacity and ended up just working at a local flower shop for a while. And it was just the most beautiful season where I was like, after a while I was like, you know what I really wanna do is write. And I really think that that’s what I’m good at.
And I was like, I really like blogging and all these things. And I was kind of like, “okay, Lord”. And just like asking the Lord in the season where I was really just kind of waiting for direction of like, “where am I supposed to go? How am I supposed to do this?” And slowly like the pieces just became revealed.
So I remember having conversations with my husband, and he’s like a big like business guy, and so he’s always like subscribed to all these newsletters and all these things. And so he’s like, “well, what if you started a newsletter? Like what if you did one that’s focused on God and what you like to talk about?” and I was like, “I don’t know that anybody would sign up for that.”
But it just kept like kinda coming up and I was like, “wow, a lot of people are actually asking about this and like people wanna know like, where can they read your work?”
And so I started an email newsletter, which is so funny now because no one from the writing world told me to do that. But in the writing world, that’s like the number one first step is to start an email newsletter.
And so it was so funny because I did that just because I felt like God kept putting it on my heart and kept putting people in my life who were talking about. So I never had someone say, “oh, if you wanna be an author, you need to email a newsletter.” But God was like, “I’m gonna reveal this to you.
Created for a Purpose
Jordan: I love that and I think even going back to what you were saying about like knowing that we are called because we have a Caller, I think that’s so powerful and I think that’s something that’s really needed to hear and talk about because if you’re in entrepreneurship, especially in this like creative entrepreneurship world, I think it can get really woohoo. It can get really “Manifest your dreams” and like if you read just books on calling or purpose, I think you can get more confused than you started out, um, thinking that like we can bring this all into existence on our own.
And to know that you were created with purpose and on purpose and that God has equipped you, Molly, and anyone listening with specific talents and skills and gifts that He’s given you, that He wants you to steward to bring Him glory, to serve others, to love other people. That’s really where it comes down to, like, we have a purpose because God created us that way, not because we’re bringing that into existence. Like, let me pull this out of a hat and see if this works.
And I think, you know, calling can feel like this really weighty thing because you’re like, “what’s the ONE thing I’m gonna do with my life?” and at least for me, I’ve experienced it changing a lot season to season. I mean, even being a mom now, I still feel very called to the work I do, but I do that work in two days a week because my work as mom comes first.
But yeah, I love, I just loved your perspective on Caller and calling and I think for me there’s a book I loved, Called to Create, but I thought that was such a good, Jordan Raynor writes so well. You know, God as a Creator and us creating things and working is a way we imitate Him and is a way that we, you know, as His creations on earth, we get to do that. I think that’s so cool. That’s one of my favorite books that I read.
Molly: I love that. Yeah. I actually got to meet him and he’s such a genuine guy and so I, right before I met him, I listened to the audio book of Called to Create. It was great. And I was like, wow, this really is just like speaking directly to me. But I totally agree. I think in the creative entrepreneur world, there’s so many worldly ideas that we can get attached to.
Partnering with God in Your Work
Molly: I think about the verse in Habakkuk where it talks about writing the vision down and making it plain on tablets. And a lot of people in the Christian world will talk about that and be like, “oh, it’s good to cast vision.” And I totally agree, but don’t just like aimlessly cast. Ask God to impart the vision to you.
Because all those books that I was reading before when I was in this transition, like you said, it can be more confusing, right? Cause it’s like, “oh, think about what you want for your life and envision it every day.” And it’s like, well, it’s not just envisioning what you want. Like it’s actually asking God, like what are you doing in my community that I can participate in?
Like, what gift have You given me that like, would allow me to fulfill a need for someone else, or you know, to change the publishing industry or whatever industry you’re in. And I think that’s where we really see purpose because we’re aligned with God’s purpose. So we’re always gonna feel purpose in that.
Jordan: Oh, that is so good. And it’s, I mean, like you said, it’s partnership with Him and that we are His representatives here, He gets to work through us. Like the work we do is work that God is doing in the world through us. And that’s a really cool way to think about that.
The Importance of Our Words as Christians
Jordan: You just talked about scripture and obviously that has a lot of impact on what you do specifically as an author, but the Bible has a lot to say about words and how important our words are. I think about that all the time in my own work. How does that impact the work you do? Both just scripture in general, but the weight that is placed on the words that we do get to speak into the world.
Molly: Oh gosh, yes. I could talk about it forever. I think it’s important, not just for writers, but also just for every believer. I wish this was something everyone talked about more because the things that we speak out loud have so much power. We see that throughout scripture, right?
And my go-to example is just the fact that God chose the Bible. He could have chosen so many ways to communicate to us, but He said, this is gonna be my primary way, and it’s written word.
And so, I just think that’s so important to think about. And then there’s so many instances in scripture too where God speaks a word and something happens. And so, there is something really important about the relationship between words and what will actually happen in our lives and just what we speak over people.
So I take that very seriously, in my own work. Even with my book, like I pray for the book all the time and I pray that people will remember what they need to remember and forget what they need to forget, you know? Cause obviously I’m a human, so there’s probably stuff in it that’s not perfect, right?
But I take that responsibility seriously. If you get to say one thing to someone, or if this message gets to get into somebody’s house and into their hands, like what do you want it to say and what do you want it to impart to them? I think that’s a responsibility that all of us have like day to day, in our communication.
Even like as a mom with kids and stuff, Jordan, like you get to say over your kids and declare over them like who they are, and I think that’s huge. So that’s an opportunity to tell someone you are an image bearer. You don’t have to live in disappointment. You don’t have to live in depression and being able to say like, THIS is the truth of who you are.
So, and always coming back to the Word too as my source; it’s not just like Molly coming up with random phrases. But actually being able to back it up and be like, I know this is true because this is what God said about you. And so I’m gonna repeat it. I’m gonna speak it over you, I’m gonna write it. All those things.
Jordan: Yes. Our words are so powerful. I learned that so much more, I think, from becoming a parent first and then as an entrepreneur, because I mean, you’ve mentioned it. God spoke Creation into being. He spoke words and things happened.
It’s so funny to hear things that your kids say that, you know, like, I think I was saying like, “oh my word,” and my kids still just be little parrot, oh my word. But also, we were listening to the Book of Jonah, that’s the series we’re going through. And so Ellie’s been listening to a kid’s podcast version of it. And she was like, “mom, I’m always gonna listen to when God asks me to do something.” And it’s just amazing what kids think about and hear and, and we’re the same, right?
What we speak what, what Our husbands speak over our lives, being in fellowship, being with other Christians, the words we say really has such an impact. And I think even if we’re not running Christian business, the words that we speak over our clients and how we serve them, and you know, whether you’re an author or not, like words really matter and the Bible such shifts the tone for that.
Molly: Yeah. I love that example of your daughter too, because I was thinking about how we’re told to receive the kingdom like children, and I think that brings like a whole other element into that analogy for me because I’m like, oh wow. Like it reminds me that, you know, kids are so quick to reiterate what they’ve been told and they believe it at face value.
And so like that’s the way that we’re invited to read the Word is to believe it and to reiterate it and go tell other people. And that’s like just so beautiful that she does that so joyfully and so quickly.
Jordan: I know and it’s amazing because I’m like, “oh, she’s three.” Pete and I had this discussion the last year probably when she turned two of like, “how do we share the Bible, read it with her, make it kid friendly?” The Bible is true and it’s amazing how God’s word is piercing the soul of my three-year-old.
jordIt wasn’t like, “okay, Ellie, if you were in this situation, what would you do?” She just listened to the story and was like, “well, if God asked me to do something, I’m gonna do amazing things, mom, and I’m gonna listen to what God asked me to do.” And I was like, “yes you are!” How amazing is that?! Like give me some of my three-year-old’s faith and confidence in God and his Word, because it really is amazing to see!
I’m excited for you to become a parent, because it really, it’s like the whole other understanding God’s love for us.
Habits and Disciplines to Grow in Your Faith
Jordan: What are some of the habits or disciplines that have helped you? Let’s make it a two-part question that have helped you in terms of like figuring your purpose, publishing a book. I mean, those are big goals, right? Like there’s definitely some habits and disciplines that go into showing up and putting the work in, but then what are some habits and disciplines that have just really helped you grow in your faith. Because I think our work is not secular or spiritual where everything goes together. So what would be some habits or disciplines in both of those areas?
Molly: So good. There’s a word for the word for “tend” when God gave the garden to Adam and Eve to tend is called avodah. It’s work and service, and I often think about that, right?
As a small business and entrepreneur and all the things, we can’t divide it, right? Like we’re not gonna be able to like segment our lives and say like, “oh, this is when I’m worshiping and this is when I’m working.”
And actually this is very random thought, but I remember making a TikTok where I was like, “my quiet time was so great. I ended up just worshiping God all day long during work.” Like I had worship music playing the whole day and was singing and all these things. And a bunch of people on TikTok were like mad about it and they were like, “well, you’re cheating your boss outta money.” And I was like, “well, I’m my boss so it’s okay,” but it was just a funny moment for me because there was this moment where people were like, “I get that you’re religious, but you shouldn’t, you shouldn’t be doing that.” But yeah, I really believe we, it’s all together.
So for me, just practically what that looks like day to day, I always start the day with my quiet time. I’m a big coffee girl. So I love to do my slow pour over and I’ll just like soak in the Word during that time. And for me, I love reading the Bible, which I didn’t always but I love it now because I’ve found that He created us all individually, right? And so we’re all gonna enjoy reading scripture in different ways. And so I found so much freedom in how I read the Bible, so it looks different every day.
But I love journaling about scripture. I love writing down questions that I have and things like that. And meditating on the word of God. I like studying, but I try and keep that a little bit separate because I tend to, as a writer, like when I get into the studying scripture zone, I wanna just like pour something out immediately and start writing about it. So I have to kind of keep my morning time a little bit more, just that like devotion and praise and responding in prayer.
And then that carries throughout the day. So I recently, this year, one of my big goals has been to memorize more scripture because I didn’t grow up in like the church. And so I was like telling my husband, I was like, “man, this is kinda embarrassing. Like a lot of people know the word of God and can just recite it so easily and I can’t.”
And I was like, I need to start getting better at that. So that’s been really, really enjoyable because I have like different scripture on like different note cards that I’ve been memorizing. And I found that those things end up being prayers, right? So you’ll kind of keep it and tuck it away and then when things come up, you’ll be reminded of the Word throughout your day.
Or like, you know, if something’s happening with a client that’s like frustrating or something, you’re like, wait a minute. I remember like the word of God says this and it instantly turns to prayer. So being in like that continual conversation with God throughout the day, I think is so important for entrepreneurs.
Just because I believe full heartedly that prayer works, right? And in those moments where I’m like, “okay, I’m trying to reach a really big goal and this thing feels like it’s in the way” it’s helpful to just ask God, like, “okay, what’s your heart for this God? Like, what’s your plan? Like, is it different from mine? Can you reveal to me like, what’s going on here? What’s your intention? And like, how should I handle this?”
And you know, be able to kind of sort through the situation like with Him. And then it makes work so much more fun too, because then throughout your day you’re really storing up testimonies of just like crazy little answered prayers that you’re like, oh my gosh, that’s crazy.
Like, mean, even the smallest things, like on stressful days. I think last week actually I had like a really stressful day and I woke up in the morning and I was like, “man, I really hope that this meeting falls through.” And as I was saying that in my head, I was like, I should just pray for it. So I was like, Lord, like I hope that this meeting gets canceled.
And it did. The other person just emailed me randomly and was like, “Hey, can we reschedule?” And I was like “Yes, Thank you, Jesus!”
Spending Kairos Time with God
Jordan: That’s awesome. And I think it’s so funny, I feel like sometimes it can feel like weird or embarrassing or like silly to pray little prayers like, “can you cancel this meeting?” But we have to remember like, I want my kids. I think that’s like of a parenting, like I want my kids to come ask me anything. Right? Big and small. And God wants that too.
And I just love your heart for worship and seeing everything, all of our work, whether it’s your study in the morning or playing worship music throughout the day. I mean, that’s kind of the heart of Daily Kairos when we started that journal is because in Greek, the two words were time are “chronos” and “kairos.”
Many people just think of “chronos” which is chronological time. That’s what we live in. But “kairos” is the idea of that opportune time with God, right? Like we should always be in communication with God.
Our worship of Him isn’t just limited to our morning devotional or checking off like Bible reading in the morning. It’s throughout the day. And whether that’s, you know, when you walk your dog or whether I’m changing a poopy diaper or how we’re talking to a client, like that’s all worship. But I think having that heart posture of worship, you kind of nailed it on the head, it starts with God, and it starts in His word and it starts in the time that we spend with Him. And He will change our heart and mold our heart.
We are a new creation in Him. And the more that we spend time with Him, the more we’re gonna be like him. And I also didn’t grow up Christian, so I didn’t grow up memorizing scripture. And it was kind of, I was like, I feel like I should maybe know my Bible more or be able to memorize Scripture, so that’s a habit I’ve been working on too this last year – memorizing more scripture. But you’re right. It’s amazing when you meditate on the word and you’re not just reading the Bible to check it off or get through a plan like you are sitting and reading and meditating on it. Oh, it’s so good.
Prioritizing Quiet Time vs. Productivity
Molly: So good and I think it’s funny too and worth mentioning because as an entrepreneur, especially for me in the first, like in the beginning of my business, I often felt a little bit of that scarcity mindset, right? Where I was like, “oh my gosh, I have to be working all the time.” Like I would get anxious if I had emails that I hadn’t responded to quick enough and things like that. I thought the thing that will help the most right now is working and sitting down and working more. And I would have these conversations with my husband too, where I would be like, “I just need to work tonight. Like, I just need to work tonight. Like, just don’t bother me. Or like, I need to work this weekend. Like, I have to hustle.”
Like it’s a hustle season, right? But that’s so anti-biblical and God calls us to this balance of work and rest. And it’s so interesting when you start to live a life where you set boundaries around work and you truly rest and you really abide in the Lord and you really like have those habits, whatever works for you as far as like getting in the word of God, being in prayer, being in community, you end up being more productive and you end up being more successful, which feels so counterintuitive, but the days where you skip the Bible, skip the prayer time and go straight into work, end up being way more chaotic. In the days where you make space for it, it ends up being way more productive. And you’re like, “how did that happen?” And it’s just one of those things that I think is just like a little bit of a mystery of God, where it’s like when we give him our time and our offering, He gives us more of Him.
Jordan: That’s so good. I love that. It’s funny because of the timing of like how we met that first year that we were in Breck, it was right after we got married. We were running our business and we definitely had that scarcity mindset too, of like, okay, we’re living on the road and growing a business and like we, I mean, we were running an online business. So especially when you have an online presence, which I feel like everyone has nowadays, it’s so easy to feel like you have to show up all of the time.
I remember we kind of came to this reckoning place almost. Do we trust God enough to do more with our limited time than what we could achieve or accomplish on our own?
And the end of 2017, early 2018 was the first time we actually, I think it was like our New Year’s resolution of 2018, going in that year of actually practicing Sabbath and not using social media, not checking work, email, etc. And at that time it was Sundays. Now we do it Friday to Saturday night, but I can’t even tell you what the Lord did in our hearts, in our business by giving that time back to Him and realizing like, okay, maybe we can’t really pick and choose what we like from the Bible. Like maybe He had something going here with the idea that we need to rest in Him. Like maybe He knows how we function a little bit better than we do.
And I just love that you brought that up because I think as entrepreneurs, it’s so easy to fall into that trap of, I mean, we can work anywhere, anytime, so we wind up working everywhere all the time. To the point that I, I mean, I’ve been that way too, where I felt like I have so much on my to-do list that the time with God is the easiest thing to push off of it because it doesn’t feel as “productive.”
You don’t get to check something off the list at the end of the day. Every time that I choose to spend time with him first, and to spend time in the Word, it is the best thing that I could ever do for my entire day. And it’s so easy to forget that even when you’ve lived, you know, it’s so easy to fall back into old habits, but that’s such a good point, and it’s such a good discipline to have.
Molly: Yeah, it’s so true. And the work will always still be there. There were so many times where I did try that and I was like, okay, I’ll just give up Sabbath this weekend because I’m so busy. But it’s like as soon as you finish the tasks that you felt like were gonna be like, you know, leaving you with less anxiety or whatever, then there’s still more to do. And so it’s just this funny thing where when you actually just take that time and you create those rhythms of rest, that’s when you’re actually able to kind of be like, oh, I do feel at peace and yeah, that’s because you’re listening to your spirit more than you know, your body or soul, your mind, your will, things like that.
Becoming a Writer
Jordan: Pivoting back to your work, what would be the biggest lesson you’ve learned in it? Or if someone is sitting here saying, “I would love to be an author or write in some capacity”, what is one piece of advice that you’ve gotten or that you would give to them?
Molly: Yeah, it’s such a good question. I feel like so many people I meet wanna be writers or authors or they like, this is something that authors always joke about, right? Is as soon as you tell people I wrote a book, they’re like, “well, I have a book idea” and begin telling you about it But the thing that I found that makes the biggest difference, honestly, and this sounds so simple, between the people who actually write and the people who say they want to…
So I will meet people all the time who tell me, “oh, I’ve always dreamt of writing. I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I’ve always wanted to do this or that, and I’m really good at it, even I’m really gifted.” And I get it because I’ve been that girl. Like I was a creative writing major in college and felt like I was really good at it. And when I got out of school, I was so focused on work and trying to figure everything, and newly married and moving and all these things, I wasn’t actually writing consistently.
And then when you start to say like, oh you wanna be a writer, if you’re not writing consistently, you’re not getting any better and you’re not improving, and then no one’s reading your work.
So you’re not gonna go from not writing consistently to writing a book. Like it’s just not realistic. So I always, I’m first asking people like, “Are you writing every day? And what does that look like?” And if not, do it. And then if you are, then the next step is actually sharing it.
Because most of us don’t want to just write for fun and have noone read it, but we want people to actually read it. And so then the next step is figuring out, okay, am I gonna start a blog? Am I gonna be sharing this on Instagram or on some other social media platform? Am I gonna be doing an email list? How am I going to be getting feedback on what I’m writing and seeing whether or not it’s resonating with people. Because you don’t want the first thing that people to see from see from you be the book and then find out no one wanted that book.
Jordan: But that’s such good advice, Molly, for anything that you wanna do in any business. Because you can say, I wanna, I don’t know. I mean, or even just life, like I wanna lose weight. Well, if you wanna get fit or get healthy, like so many of the things that when we have these big goals to be an author, to lose 50 pounds, whatever it may be. Like, it comes down to the daily disciplines of showing up and what you’re choosing every day. And if you are building those skills, those habits, those disciplines, like most of the time hitting these big goals or being a published author, whatever, may be like for us, launching a course, the little tiny things that you do to take action and to hone your craft, to get better, to make mistakes and learn from them, like you said, like, okay, people don’t really like that, they like this – it’s such a part of the process and I think in our world of instant gratification and online influencers, it’s so easy to think, well, I just hit 10k followers and then someone will ask me to write a book, but there’s there’s so much more of the intention and the purpose behind it.
If you really have a goal and you really feel like this is where the Lord’s leading you and where you feel like you can steward whatever talents and gifts you have, then we should be working on that every day.
An excuse that we use to stop ourselves from starting
Molly: Right? And I find so many people will think of something that’s like a step away, further down the process and use that as an excuse, whether that’s a course or writing a book, like if you’re writing a book, someone might be like, well, I don’t know how to find a publisher. And I’ll be like, well, you don’t have a book idea. We don’t need to worry about that yet. You know, and same thing with like launching a course, like someone might not start with launching a course because they’re like, well, I don’t understand the technology, h would I record it? And it’s like, well, let’s talk about the content… do you actually even have content for a course? Do you have an audience that would buy the course? You know, there’s like so many steps that come way earlier. And I think what we do to ourselves often is we’re like, oh, I have this excuse that’s maybe step 15 or 20 and I’m just gonna use that to start or to stop at one.
And so I think the first thing is kind of thinking through the whole process and being like, okay, well if I really had to make progress on this by the end of the week, like what would I do, to feel like I was just moving forward in some way. And you know, I always, with other writers, I sometimes will joke, like, you can say you made progress. If you just open up a new document on your computer and you title it, “my book” , you started something, you know?
Small Steps of Obedience
So it’s like, it doesn’t have to be this huge step. And for me, that’s not how it happened. I’ve been writing my newsletter for years now, every single week. And a lot of the content from my book came from that. It came from those diligent email newsletters and figuring out what people liked and what they didn’t like, and that wasn’t, I mean, it didn’t feel like a huge deal at the beginning. Like sending one email was not that big of a deal, but now it’s like, okay, I do this every week. I’ve been doing it for years and have a book. And so people see that and they’re like, oh my gosh, that feels so unmanageable. Okay, but could you ask like, I think it started, I’m pretty sure how I started it was I just made an Instagram story and just asked people, would you subscribe for this if I did this.
Jordan: I was probably one of the people that were like, yeah, I will do it.
Molly: yeah. And I think it was literally like, I mean, I remember praying for like 150 people to start, and that’s what, that was exact number that I had the day that I launched.
Jordan: Wow. How cool.
Molly: But yeah, and I remember being like, I think I can find 150 like friends who would, who would do this.
Jordan: And I think that’s a good point of like our obedience. I think it’s so easy to think of our obedience, in living out what God’s calling us to do, as like this big act of faith. And a lot of times it’s like the little yeses that we’re doing along the way. I mean, I know for us in like Daily Kairos, it was just Pete starting his own journal and then he printed it at Staples and then he shared it with the Bible study and then we launched it on Kickstarter and now it’s his full-time thing. That was never even really the goal. It was just like, “okay, God. We feel like you’re asking us to do this and put it out in the world. Like we’re just gonna say yes in this little way.” And I mean, you can even think in the Bible, like look at Abraham. Like the first Yes was just leaving his people just going where he didn’t know where he was going.
And you know, there’s so much more that came from that story after. But a lot of times God just wants our obedience, He wants our heart and that like submission of our own will and to His, and it’s those little steps along the way to the big Yes.
Molly: Yeah. And there’s times too where I would say like we get to be obedient and nothing really seems to come out of it, right? Where businesses start and things launch and it ends up being this really cool story, but there’s also stories where it’s like, well, that didn’t really work.
Like I actually had a different blog before my current blog, and a lot of people don’t know that, but that one totally flopped and I’m fine with it because I learned so much from the experience. And also it was an act of obedience and I was stepping out in faith and learning to believe more from God. Yeah, so just for anyone listening who’s like, well man, that hasn’t been my story and like I have felt like I’ve been obedient. Just know that nothing is wasted.
Maybe it wasn’t the right iteration of it, and like maybe God’s just doing something in you and in your heart through this right now to prepare you for a later season where it’s gonna be different. That the obedience isn’t about the outcomes. I think sometimes the benefit is more internal, right? So like God’s doing something in us where he’s building our faith, or He is, you know, giving us some sort of internal shift. And there’s other times where it’s like a season might seem like it has nothing to do with your calling, but it ends up being training.
Seasons of Preparation
Molly: Like I worked in a bridal store in Nashville and I loved it. It was like the most amazing, fun job, and I always thought going to a job like part-time while I was building my blog and all these things on the side, I was like, man, like this really has nothing to do with my future career goals, but I’m just enjoying it and like praising God for this and for the income and all these things. And now it’s so funny because what I didn’t know about that job was it was a sales job. And so guess what I have to do as an author? I have to sell my own books. And so it ended up translating so well to understanding like how the psychology of sales works and like that sales process, and I would’ve never gotten that training anywhere else.
And so there was so much intention in that season that I did not know until way later when I was like, now full-time entrepreneur, author and writer. And I’m like, man, I wish more authors picked up a sales job before they started.
Jordan: Yes, that’s funny because our previous business was teaching Facebook ads to a lot of wedding professionals and photographers. And, that just happened because we bartered our own wedding photography and we’re like, “we love this industry.”
But Pete got such an expertise. I mean, it, it taught me funnels and systems, which is now what I do, but it taught Pete how to be really good at Facebook ads. And then we wound up launching a journal business that it grew solely because he knew how to run Facebook ads. And I was like, how cool is it that God? And, and it’s those hindsight moments that he’s so sweet to reveal to us of “wow, maybe that whole other business and maybe that whole reason that you developed this expertise and this really random specific thing was to be able to launch this one” and who knows what the purpose is, but it’s so cool when He prepares you in seasons for ones that you have no idea are even coming.
Molly: think it’s so fun too, because I knew you guys when you would talk about that previous business and the Facebook ads and I was like, oh yeah, they’re experts. And then I moved to Tennessee completely across the country and I see people with the Daily Kairos Journal and every time I would see someone with it, I would ask, where did you find out about that? And they’d be like a Facebook ad.
Jordan: God is so cool though, like, how He uses these like skills and these plans I mean it’s just so cool. I remember actually we connected cause I think someone in your Bible study, your small group showed up with a Kairos Journal. And it’s like these full circle moments and the funny is someone from our, our small group that we were in together four years ago was the person that came up with the name David named it “Kairos.” It’s just so, oh, God is so cool.
Rapid Fire Questions
Jordan: What is something that’s bringing you joy right now
Molly: Oh my puppy.
Jordan: What is a favorite book you’ve read recently?
Molly Oh, this is a good question. So many books. Okay, this is kind of a weird one, but I recently read was The Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents, and that was super interesting.
Jordan: Is there a verse that you’re, I mean, we’re talking about memorizing and meditating. Is there a verse that you’ve been meditating on lately or memorizing or just one that’s been particularly encouraging for you in this season?
Molly: Ooh, this feels perfect. Cause I’m like, okay, it’s my time to practice. The one that I’ve been memorizing recently is “they’ll have no fear of bad news because their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” It’s Psalm 112:7. I’m loving that one, because I do feel like I tend to think that everything is an emergency. I just feel like throughout my day I’m like, oh, that’s a little emergency. And so when I think that something is gonna go wrong or I start to feel fearful or afraid, I’ll just remind myself like I don’t have to be afraid of bad news because I trust in the Lord.
Connect with Molly:
Instagram: @MrsMollyWilcox
Website: MrsMollyWilcox.com
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God bless,
Jordan
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