Neivis Paulino Of Galilee Life On Becoming Free From The Fear Of Failure
An Interview With Savio P. Clemente
Prayer — It is so important to have a consistent prayer life with Jesus. Time for your relationship to develop with God. Time to hear his voice and lean on His guidance. A conversation with God can be made in many ways, but one way is to keep him present in every decision. As a business owner I cannot say that I kneel in prayer every single day, but what I can certify with all of my heart is that every thought in my mind brings me closer to God because each one first begins with “God what should I do? I want to please you, Lord. Lead me.” My advice would be to let God in your everyday so that he may work as he chooses to.
The Fear of Failure is one of the most common restraints that holds people back from pursuing great ideas. Imagine if we could become totally free from the fear of failure. Imagine what we could then manifest and create. In this interview series, we are talking to leaders who can share stories and insights from their experience about “Becoming Free From the Fear of Failure.” As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Neivis Paulino.
Neivis is a Christ believer, a wife, mom of two beautiful girls, daughter, sister and friend. Neivis is a Health Care Administration graduate, and an entrepreneur. She founded Galilee Life in 2018. Founding Galilee Life came with great sacrifice, but she is driven by her love, obedience to God and deep desire to make a positive difference in the lives of many. Despite some troubled times in her own life, she is certain that her relationship with God is where she has found her true strength, deep love for herself, family, and others. Trials of all sorts have only intensified her longing for empowering others. Working closely with people in need, she saw the power of personal connection and how something as small as a piece of clothing or handmade item could inspire joy through difficult times.
Thank you so much for joining us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
I grew up in the projects of Brooklyn and though there were a lot of deaths and tragedy all around me, I always felt God’s protection over me and my family. Some may say that growing up in the projects, which are low-income apartments is the worst that can happen for a child. It really wasn’t the case for me; I saw everything that we had, and all that God blessed our family with as a blessing. There were times when things felt scary, and I remember myself at about 7 or 8 years old scared as we left our building as the day right after gunshots were fired. I was especially uneasy for my dad, as he was a truck driver and always left home at 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning. I believe this was the hardest, to live in fear of the unknown, but at a young age, God taught me to lean on his promises and to move forward despite of fear. Everything that I am doing to date, my business, my household, and my desires of advancement are the evidence of not only my survival, but of God’s mercy and grace over my life, and the life of my family.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘take aways’ you learned from that?
I had to learn how to navigate WordPress on my own, and that was not an easy task. Staying up late nights after my 9–5 job and college classes, doing research to help my online platform’s technical issues, was not fun. There were times that I would cry on my desk, wanting to give up, and when it was time for bed, usually at 2 or 3 in the morning, I would cry my eyes out until I would fall asleep. At times I feel like a WordPress guru with all that I can accomplish now, but don’t be fooled because I still need and require a lot of help. Thankfully, I have been blessed with an amazing developer that also loves God and believes in our mission. I know every step that I have taken, whether I felt the Lord at moments or not, I am certain that God was always by my side leading the way. Therefore, I have been able to accomplish all that I’ve accomplished so far. I am unable to do anything without Jesus. I always blame the good things on God. Since I began this business, I have learned to have a lot a confidence in what I can deliver because I am fully aware of what I was unable to deliver before.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Commitment — Sticking through your business ideas, ups and downs, and never giving up. I remember being so excited about Galilee Life and feeling that positive overwhelming feeling of building something from the ground up. I can’t say that I was always feeling good, but I knew that no matter what, I had a mission to accomplish and that I wasn’t going to let God or myself down.
Courage — Knowing that there is a long road ahead, full of uncertainties, but doing what you must do for yourself and your business regardless of the circumstances. It takes a small business owner taking risks not knowing if things will work out, to be courageous. As John Maxwell’s Leadership Bible states: Courage is “Faith and Leadership in action.” For me, many times courage was hard to think about and to put into action, but I also reminded myself that I was not alone. I knew that God was by my side and the courage that I may have displayed to others around me, was not a lonesome act.
Convictions — This is a hard one. In business we find ourselves wanting to mimic the culture, the crowds, and the noise around us. So much that especially as Christian Leaders and Entrepreneurs, we tend to get lost in what the world calls as “the norm”. Conviction is refusing to lead your business the way the world does, instead drive your business the way God would want you to, based on biblical principles. My experience as an entrepreneur that fears the Lord has been difficult. I have been told by the masses that I can be Christian, but I do not have to portray or display Christian or Christianity in the marketplace the way I do. God has shown me time and time again that I can’t run a business the way I think others do, listening to what others say, without consulting Him. I’ve always wanted for Galilee Life to be a marketplace that reaches all people with Christian love, encouragement, and truth, but I was also confused on how to portray that without excluding others. I realized that if someone feels excluded because your business is all about Jesus, then you are doing the right thing. In the years I’ve been in business, I’ve had people that were non-believers of God’s word bash us, then come to us when they needed prayer. We give all the glory to God for this because it confirmed to us that leading our business with conviction and no side-tracking mechanisms that pleased the world and not God, was the right way to go.
What are the downsides of being afraid of failure? How can it limit people?
The downsides of being afraid of failure are many. Fear of failure creates an impossibility mindset making you believe that nothing is possible for you and that others are just destined to succeed, and you are not. Fear of failure distorts one’s reasoning of what they believe they can do, creates a victimization reality that makes one believe that their circumstances in life predict their future, and most of all it paralyzes and prevents people from realizing their dreams. Being afraid should not paralyze us, being afraid should allow us to see beyond our capabilities knowing that we were all created with a purpose and that it is not what we are capable of that will drive us to success, but more so our dependence on God and his infinite love and power. Fear equates to dependence in the Lord. A successful thriving business owner that fears the Lord, glorifies Him with all that he or she owns, and uses the business as an instrument to lead others to Christ. In Colossians 3:23, it states: Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.
In contrast, can you help articulate a few ways how becoming free from the free of failure can help improve our lives?
Becoming free from the fear of failure can improve our lives in a beautiful way. Failure only happens when we believe that we have failed. It is all the state mind and heart that you see for yourself. I personally do not equate failure to not meeting a goal or not being at that place you believed you would be 5 or 10 years ago, today. Becoming free from that mindset is liberating and opens unimaginable doors. One specific thing that keeps me moving forward even as I face moments in my life where I question why I am here and not there, is my belief that God has a plan for my life, just like he has a specific plan for yours. In God there is no timeframe that we need to be worried about. Whether we are 30, 40, 50, 60 years of age and so on, God can glorify himself through us and bring forth his blessings upon us. I am reminded as I write this about the story of Sarah and God’s promise in Genesis 17:16, that states the following: God promised Abraham that she would be “a mother of nations.” For a lot of us, we can say, that was a late promise, or I don’t want to be as old as 90 years old to be able to enjoy what God has for me, but no, when we let go of the fear of failure, we allow God to work and do as He said He would without reservations. Becoming free of failure brings a peace that goes beyond our understanding, and we can rest as we depend on Him.
We would love to hear your story about your experience dealing with failure. Would you be able to share a story about that with us?
When I started Galilee Life in February of 2018, I dreamed that this beautiful business venture would be accepted and loved by everyone instantly. I dreamed of no setbacks, a smooth ride, and the ability of being able to pay off everything I needed to provide my parents and loved ones with a better life. Starting out was rough and tougher than I could ever imagine. I remember seeing the website crash, vendors that trusted in our platform at one point would leave because they couldn’t deal with the slow website and many other issues I was facing as a solopreneur at that time. I wanted desperately for things to work out, and I would cry my eyes out, right in front of my keyboard asking myself and God why am I here doing this when things are going wrong? I felt lost and in a solace place with no one that could help me but God.
How did you rebound and recover after that? What did you learn from this whole episode? What advice would you give to others based on that story?
I am not at that place that I have dreamed of just yet, but I have learned that just when I feel the fear of failure creep in, that my current feelings are not final. I am reminded by the Lord that I am not alone, and that God is not a liar that I should fear anything. He made a promise over my life, and the lives all the people that would be touched by Galilee Life that I do not need to worry. I am learning to take things a day at a time and to allow God to reign more and more in my life. I’m learning that though it is a business of many, it starts with my individual heart towards God and what I believe can be achieved through Him. Today Galilee Life is better than where it started, the growth has been inconsistent, but there is a visible sign that I am moving in the right direction because my heart towards God only grows and that good things always come to those who wait on Him. I have realized that this journey is not mine alone, in this journey, souls will be saved, prayers will be answered, and God will be glorified and exalted in every little step that I take and in every decision that I make.
Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. In your opinion, what are 5 steps that everyone can take to become free from the fear of failure”? Please share a story or an example for each.
Prayer — It is so important to have a consistent prayer life with Jesus. Time for your relationship to develop with God. Time to hear his voice and lean on His guidance. A conversation with God can be made in many ways, but one way is to keep him present in every decision. As a business owner I cannot say that I kneel in prayer every single day, but what I can certify with all of my heart is that every thought in my mind brings me closer to God because each one first begins with “God what should I do? I want to please you, Lord. Lead me.” My advice would be to let God in your everyday so that he may work as he chooses to.
Bible Reading — Read your Bible and you will find how fond God is of business. God knows the way, and He is powerful to do as he chooses, but God also wants us to go and move, do something for ourselves. I have learned that I must go after what I want, but in full consecration with the Lord, knowing that if God does not believe a certain open door would rule in my favor, he would keep it closed.
Positive Affirmations — Keep positive words around you. Tape them on your wall, desk, and wherever it is visible. Focus on words of encouragement that keep you pushing towards your goal everyday no matter the circumstances. Fear of failure is real, but the more positive you are in the way you speak and read, the more in tune you will be with “He whom never fails.”
Podcast — Listen to inspirational and business focused podcasts that will elevate your self-esteem and your ability to work through issues. Podcasts are a great way to keep your mind focused on the project you are working on. There are many great leaders that have the perfect timing for the words that your soul needs to keep pressing in.
Network — Talk to people and do whatever you can to find people in your niche to bounce ideas from. (P.S. I am still working on this.) Having a network of likeminded individuals and entrepreneurs helps to remind you that at one point they were exactly where you are, or you meet others that help you realize that you are far ahead and quite frankly did not know it.
The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle once said, “It is possible to fail in many ways…while to succeed is possible only in one way.” Based on your experience, have you found this quote to be true? What do you think Aristotle really meant?
I’ve never followed Aristotle and his sayings, but if I base it on biblical finding I would say that I do not agree with this quote. One because to fail is only a perception of the mind. In God we never fail, we have bumps in the road and lessons we need to learn, but failure is not an option. I believe that success is never-ending as success is dependent on how you view life daily. You may be going through a difficult circumstance, but does that equate to failure? No, it doesn’t, but it does equate to there’s work that needs to be done for improvement. Improvement is a never-ending process, but if we take each small thing that we have improved on and put it all together, you will see that you have succeed not only once, but more than a billion and 1 times.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
The greatest movement that I could ever think of is using any platform possible to bring light to the things of the Lord and help bring souls to Christ. In business leaders have a platform and a choice to use to enhance the Kingdom or not. I choose to enhance the Kingdom of God every day and everywhere I go.
We are blessed that some very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them :-)
I would love to meet Ed Mylett one day because he has lived through so much and continues to push through everyday without stopping. He’s built a huge business and inspires so many people all around the world. I believe that he is the epitome of strength, empathy for others, and intelligence.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
We can be reached via email at: info@galilee-life.com
Online Marketplace website: https://galilee-life.com
Blog / Devotional website: https://inspiredbygalilee.com
Galilee Life Instagram URL: https://www.instagram.com/galileelife/
Neivis Paulino Instagram URL: https://www.instagram.com/neivispaulino
Neivis Paulino Linked in URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neivis-paulino-51b0b868/
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
