Guest Post: Taking a Leap?

Today, our guest post is from Brian Setaro. Brian is taking a leap to fulfill the dreams God put on his heart. What a treat to walk with him and learn from his adventure. Enjoy his guest post:

I am embarking on what’s sure to be a wild journey.  I’m a father of 2 boys (both under two) and a loving husband.  Until recently, I was also the sole income provider for my household. I climbed the corporate ladder at a relatively decent pace and I was making good money.

The one thing I didn’t have though was what mattered most….happiness.  I decided to roll the dice and take a large risk.  I made a bet on myself (a rather big one).

With the support of my family, I quit my job and started my own company.  This new adventure allows me to see my kids grow up, and use my creative skills to make a real difference in our digital world making religious mobile apps.  No more 4 hours a day commute!

This isn’t the first time I took a gamble in my life and it isn’t the first time I’ve put a lot of stock in myself, it also won’t be the last. These two critical characteristics are necessary to accomplish your dreams: believe in yourself and set the bar high.

What does it take to achieve the unachievable?

You know the list – and thousands of books are written on these principles: persistence, hardworking attitude, take no prisoners, intelligence, relentless…  Then there is the spiritual – accountability, time with God…

What people don’t talk about is what holds it all together. Aside from our relationship with God, the most important thing we need to be professionally successful AND personally happy is support in the home.

I have an incredible support team in my family.

• My wife has supported me through several job transitions. When I am down in the dumps, and that feeling of uncertainty creeps in, she is there to pick me up, put a smile on my face and assure me that my talent will lead to great places.
• The second part of my support system is my kids. We often think of kids as a distraction – but a 2 year old running into my office with yogurt on his face and an ice-pop in hand absolutely puts an ear-to-ear smile on your face.
• The third part of my support system is friends and extended family – knowing you have a community that counts on you and believes in you gives you the fuel to go through uncertainty, push through adversity and walk the extra mile.

Support is such a powerful tool that often gets overlooked.  The people you surround yourself with and the environment you select to be in can lead you to great places.

Here’s an illustration – imagine you are sitting at your dining room table. What is the table?  What is the chair you’re sitting in?  Just wood.  What makes them able to achieve their purpose is the screws.  The screws, nails and glue that only cost a fraction of penny.  It is easy to look at the beautiful design in the table, the elegant lines of the chair and completely ignore what holds it together.

My wife and kids are these screws, and there’s no better hardware than that.  I know with them I’ll be able to make TheBibleAppProject.org a success even if I don’t raise enough money in my Kickstarter campaign.

The next time you want to chase your dreams or know you’ll be fighting an uphill battle be sure to have a great support team around you.  It’s an invaluable asset and tremendous motivator that will provide great benefits whether you win or lose your mission.

Today, think about your support system.

1. Who is your glue? Surround yourself with great people and a great environment (both professionally and personally)
2. Do you chase after meaning or stuff? God created you for a reason, and when you work to fulfill that purpose, you will find that place of deep contentment. What better example does your family need?
3. Dig in! “Persistence is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite.”
4. Know when to take matters into your own hands.  Don’t leave your fate up to other people if you can take control. Put another way, do what only you can do.
5. Patience. There will be days when the ice cream face just gets on your nerves – probably it is because things aren’t going so well. Those are the days when we choose to wait on God and practice patience.

Wouldn’t it be great if families enjoyed Bible Apps as much as they enjoy Subway Surfer? Brian’s mission at The Bible App Project is to make mobile applications more inspirational by creating apps that provide a mix of entertainment and education while also including messages from the Bible. Would you like to know more? Visit thebibleappproject.org.