How to Thrive in a Dry Spell

Being a living, breathing creature walking and functioning on this earth means that we exist through different seasons. Although we are all accustomed to different climates, all of us experience dry spells as the atmosphere shifts and our surroundings shift with it. Naturally, this changes how we interact with those surroundings. Sometimes for the sake of comfort and margin, and other times for survival. 

This concept continues to heavily relate to facets within modern life as well. While most of us may not have to shift with physical seasons and climate changing to stay alive, we do have to make conscious changes within our work spaces, relationships, and personal habits to create a sustainable environment for ourselves and those around us. 

While overflow and abundance have their challenges, we most often more heavily struggle with dry spells and what to do in them. When good things happen all at once, we know what to do. We put our head down and grind in order to reap the rewards. But when dry spells come, how do we steward the space in them well?

For Ali (my co-CEO) and I, we went through what felt like an eternal dry season. Constant pivoting, re-working plans, and even physically re-locating multiple times in a fairly short period of time. During this time, we didn’t even really see a ton of return on the work we were putting in. By the grace of God, we always had just enough of everything we needed to make it work. But we struggled at times to see the drought coming to an end. 

At some point in the struggle, we both realized there were lessons to be learned that were designed to serve us in our business for years to come. Both Ali and I are women of faith and believe that everything happens for a reason. We believe that as we do the work we have been given to do, that God is doing a work of His own that we can only catch a glimpse of while it is happening. This is true even in the dry spell.

So what do we do in the dry spell…? When there is so little we are capable of moving forward and our energy and resources are running out. What do we do? We prepare.

Instead of viewing the slowing of pace as a sign that something was going wrong, Ali and I chose to use the time to prepare and pray for what was on the horizon. For us this looked like, re-working our processes to best serve our clients, changing our business structure, rebranding to represent who we are now, and making new goals based on what we believed God wanted us to do in and through our company. We made personal goals for ourselves as well, knowing that healthy changes we make in our own lives makes us more able to pour into things that require our attention elsewhere. 

The reality of dry spells is that we actually need them. They are a moment to reset and evaluate where we are at. Without a slow in pace, we plow ahead in whatever direction we have been going, not always bothered to think about where that direction leads or the purpose in going there. Dry spells are a space for extra intentionality and going back to your “why?”. 

One of the core values that Ali and I set in place for our company is “motion”. This is probably our most unique value and has been such a cool thing to get to discuss with others. Motion is not always a forward physical concept. For us, it has been equally as much mental. Moving forward sometimes looks like stopping to make sure you are moving in the right direction and not taking yourself in circles. Motion can also look like back-tracking to get onto the right path that you missed the first time you lost sight of your “why”. 

If you are in a dry spell, be encouraged that the rain comes when it needs to. You don’t have control over the season you are in. But you absolutely have control over what you do in the meantime with what you have been given.

So, take the time to evaluate where you are at, where you would like to go, and work on what it will take to get there in preparation for the next leg of the journey. 

Have questions on HOW to do that? We’d love to help! You can learn more about our consulting packages by contacting us!

-Laurel, Co-CEO of ALLAUR