Pause

/pôz/

verb

interrupt action or speech briefly.
“she paused, at a loss for words”

synonyms: stop, cease, halt, discontinue, break off, take a break

noun

a temporary stop in action or speech.
“she dropped me outside during a brief pause in the rain”

synonyms: stop, cessation, break, halt, interruption, check, lull, respite, breathing space, discontinuation, hiatus, gap, interlude

I started my own business my senior year of college. I didn’t have a business plan or anything, I just knew I wanted it. Here I am few years later not knowing what I want to do with it now. My goals have changed since then but I wasn’t doing anything to shift the business to what I wanted it to be. Plus stating the obvious that entrepreneurship isn’t easy.

A few days ago, I paused my company. I am not dissolving my company but I had to come to terms that right now I need to put it on pause. I originally felt like a failure because how could I have not made this work more in my favor. I felt pausing was on the path to quitting and it had me in my feelings quite a bit.

After some soul searching, I’ve come to terms with it and will not allow myself to feel like a failure. Taking a moment to pause and re-evaluate and refresh my brand is what is needed. This is just a bump on my path to greatness.

Sometimes that’s what we all need in our lives. We must hit the pause the button to reflect, re-evaluate, and refresh. Taking a moment to be still and figure it all out. All our lives are busy and jammed back that makes reflection harder when your mind is constantly racing. You can also feel like loser because you can’t go as hard as others. Pressing the pause button isn’t a “no” and it isn’t “failure”. Pressing pause to me is an aspect of self-care. Figuring it out for me meant I had to shut it down. I had to breathe and make new plans.

I suggest scheduling some time for yourself to press pause and to simply think. Evaluate your progress on goals and if you need to pivot some actions, plan and do so. If you need to cut some people out of your life, make that plan and do so. Do not feel bad because you have to take a step back. Feel empowered that you are self-aware to what you need.

– Shanae