Darnell overcame chronic procrastination and launched his mindset coaching business through Grace’s coaching program.
“When I first reached out to Grace, I was struggling with procrastination with a Capital P, and it wasn’t just any kind of procrastination. I felt like there was something on the inside of me that I wanted to be able to express. My job was fine, family was fine, but there was some kind of destiny on the inside of me. There was some kind of purpose on the inside of me that I felt like I kept putting off. I kept prioritizing other people, but there were things that I didn’t do for me. There was a purpose on the inside of me that I kept procrastinating on, that I kept pushing off. And when I first reached out to Grace, I wanted to be able to prioritize myself without feeling guilty.
“My concern with working with Grace was the fact that I was thinking that this is information that she’s providing that I could probably look up on my own or I could be able to find somewhere else and just implement. The problem with that was the fact that I hadn’t done it up until this point, so what made me think that I was going to do it? Now also, another thing that was an issue for me was age, race, and gender. I felt like Grace and I were on opposite ends of the spectrum, and I wondered how much she would be able to help me. So that was a big concern for me. But as I began to speak with her, as I began to talk with her, I began to understand that there was something about her that kind of transcended those things, and I realized I wasn’t just getting information, that I was tapping into an opportunity for transformation.
‘Since working with Grace, I’ve had a lot of wins, tangible wins. I would have to say I finally started the business that I’ve been wanting to do. I always thought that I wanted to be able to put myself out there to help people, but I had things inside of me like imposter syndrome or I kept thinking that who am I to do that, or there’s got to be somebody better. But then working with Grace, I began to understand that nobody can be me. I am the best version or best representation of me that will ever be out there. And so working with Gracie began to help me systematically push out those characteristics that caused me to not want to put myself out there. Something else is that working with Grace, it caused me to embrace hard things. A lot of times I would have a to-do list and I would get the easy things and I would begin to put my effort into those.
‘But working with her, I began to realize I can do hard things. One hard thing that I’m working on right now is I’ve decided that I want to run a marathon. I’m not in shape for a marathon. I’ve never ran. I’ve never been a runner, but being in her program has helped me realize I can do hard things, that I can do, things that I didn’t think I could do. The thing about it is it’s not necessarily about running a marathon or not running a marathon, it’s more about the person that I become in the process of training to run a marathon. My goal is to finish it. My goal is to do it, but I’m excited about the person that I’m going to become in the process, and I started my mind coaching business. I started being able to put videos out. I started being able to be vulnerable.
‘I started being able to express myself and not worry about what people think, not worry about so much how people will respond. As much as I’m concerned about what do I want to say or how do I want to express it, and focusing on people who are out there, who I can connect with, who I can help. Those things right there have been invaluable to me. They have changed how I see myself. They have changed how I see work and hard things. I began to be able to understand that I don’t have to procrastinate. That procrastination is something that I can deal with. It’s something that can be addressed. I’m able to handle things. I’m able to tackle things, and it’s not just routine things. Like every day, okay, this is what I’m going to do. I’m able to set routines in place. I’m able to build habits.
‘I’m able to set goals, and I’m able to believe on the inside of me. I’m able to believe genuinely that I can actually accomplish those goals and that I’m worthy of accomplishing those goals. When I first started, I kept thinking, I don’t know if I want to do this. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t. Grace and I had a couple conversations, and the thing that really stood out to me was the fact that what are you going to do if you don’t try this? What are you going to do if you don’t put yourself into this? And so it was more of a, I got to take a chance on myself. I got to bet on myself. I can’t keep trying to think about it. I kept thinking, okay, if I stay in this mindset for another year or another two years, I just can’t do it.
‘I got to take a chance. I got to put myself out there. And after being in the program, I’ve learned one of the main things I’ve learned is how to tie things together, how to stack habits and how to deal with the emotional barriers that I’m dealing with. What was it like working with Coach Grace? It’s interesting. I always called her Coach Grace, and in the beginning she said, you can just call me Grace. You don’t have to call me Coach Grace. But it was something about calling her Coach Grace that really stood out with me. What I liked most with working with Coach Grace, it’s almost like talking to a friend. Even though she has a group program and she has group coaching, whenever she was coaching you, whenever she was speaking to you, it’s like she was talking directly to you. It’s like there was nothing more important.
‘There was no one more important than you at that moment. And I really liked that part about it. I’ve shared things with her and talked to her about things that in the past I’ve been embarrassed to talk about. And one of the exciting things about working with Grace is that she’s very vulnerable herself. She doesn’t mind sharing the challenges she’s going through. She doesn’t mind sharing her victories. And something I really enjoy about working with Grace is the fact that she has goals, she has aspirations, she has things that she wants to do, and the things that she’s teaching us, she’s actually using those things to be able to progress her own life. So I really enjoy the fact that she’s vulnerable, that she’s authentic, and it’s like talking to a friend. So I have to always remind myself, this is Coach Grace. This is not just your friend.
‘Even though that’s what it feels like we’ve developed over these months, it feels like we’ve developed a friendship because of how much we’re able to share and how comfortable I feel with her. There’s a movie called Rocky, and he was getting trained by Apollo and Rocky was working hard, working hard, and he said, okay, I’ll get it right tomorrow. And Apollo told him, there is no tomorrow. And that’s what I was remembering. There is no tomorrow. You’re saying you’re going to get it right tomorrow, you’re going to get it right. Next time you’re going to get it right in a month or it’s going to all work out. It’s all going to come together. Unless I did something I had in my mind that it wasn’t going to work out, that things weren’t going to get better and I just could not wait for another tomorrow, you should work with Grace if you’re tired of seeing tomorrow as a viable option, if you see tomorrow or getting it right tomorrow or working out tomorrow, if you see that as a viable option, you should work with Grace.
‘She helps you understand that today it can happen. The dreams you dreaming, the things that you want to do, the things you want to accomplish, you can have those things today. You don’t see your life as something that’s going to happen in the future. You actually see yourself doing it today, being that person today, and you’re excited about the fact that your future self is going to thank you, that your future self is going to tell you that. Good job. I’m glad you made that decision. I really value the time that I worked with Grace, and it really has transformed how I see things and how I see myself, and I’m really believing that I’m going to have the future that I want because I made decisions, made different decisions today.”