The Transparency of Transition: Lifting the Veil on My Journey

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Introduction

There comes a moment in every journey when the veil must be lifted—not for applause, but for awareness.

With the release of my newly upgraded website, the launch of The Undercurrent podcast, and the electrifying success of the Bluewater Brilliance Weekend featuring Simon T. Bailey, I stand in a sacred space: the intersection of imagination and execution. These are not just milestones—they are monuments to courage, clarity, and a refusal to cower before fear.

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The Struggle Beneath the Surface

I’ve long lived with the ache of potential—knowing there’s more in me than I’ve been allowed to express. That gnawing feeling that despite titles, talents, or time served, the full scope of my brilliance remained buried beneath obligation and misplaced loyalty.

For decades, I over-invested in others’ dreams—hoping that by sowing generously, I’d eventually reap honor and opportunity. But what I reaped instead was disillusionment and depletion. I believed that if I put relationships before requirements, I would earn the reciprocity of doing unto others. But Luke 6:31 only works when both parties follow the same sacred script.

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When the ROI Is Negative

I gave generously. I mentored selflessly. I resourced recklessly.

And yet, my return was often a negative ROI. I watched as those I lifted found platforms—while I remained in the background, holding the scaffolding. I called it loyalty. I now call it what it was: self-neglect dressed in spiritual language.

The law of diminishing return was not just financial—it was emotional, spiritual, and deeply personal.

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The Turning Point: Necessary Endings

The paradigm shifted when I read Dr. Henry Cloud’s Necessary Endings. He wrote:

“Getting to the next level always requires ending something, leaving it behind, and moving on.”

That clarity was my permission. Some relationships—business, personal, social, and even religious—had to end. Not because I stopped loving them, but because I started loving myself enough to stop bleeding.

I replaced crutches with competence. I stopped excusing behavior that didn’t match the excellence I was modeling. That birthed what I now live by:

My Mattism: I model what I expect so I will determine what I will accept.

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A New Chapter: Brilliance & Beneath

When we hosted the Bluewater Brilliance Weekend with Simon T. Bailey, I felt it: permission to be everything I was born to be. Simon said it best:

“Brilliance is not a destination; it is a decision to be fully alive.”

And now, with the launch of my new podcast The Undercurrent, I’m diving beneath the waves of public perception to explore the internal flow where real transformation lives. The podcast is a sacred space where truth isn’t tamed—it’s told. Where transition isn’t feared—it’s honored.

Both the symposium and the podcast are not merely platforms. They are postures—my commitment to visibility, vulnerability, and victory.

Simon T. Bailey and I during the Kingdom Advantage Training Academy session

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The Toll of Transition

Let’s be clear: transition is costly.

The American Psychological Association reports that over 62% of professionals experience anxiety or depression when undergoing major transitions. The emotional toll is real. Sleepless nights. Faded friendships. Silent seasons of grief.

But what lies on the other side? Freedom. Fulfillment. Forward movement.

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Transparency: A Divine Discipline

Transparency is not weakness—it is witness.

Jesus modeled this in Gethsemane:

“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (Matthew 26:38).

He didn’t hide the heaviness. He brought it to God.

I write transparently because I lead transparently. As

I penned in Becoming Distinctively You:

“True distinction doesn’t emerge from performance; it emerges from the courage to face the mirror and still believe in what you see.”

Becoming Distinctively You

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Other voices echo this truth:

• Brené Brown: “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.”

• Oprah Winfrey: “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”

I would add: You get to become what you have the courage to release.

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A Story from the Trenches

Some years ago, I entrusted a part of my brand to someone I believed in. I ignored red flags and overcompensated with grace. When things collapsed, I lost money, momentum, and trust.

But in that dark silence, a whisper came:

“Build it anyway.”

So I did. With new people. With new posture. With new peace.

That’s when I realized—transition is not about loss. It’s about alignment.

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Three Calls to Action for You

If you’ve read this far, you’re likely standing on the edge of your own transition. Here’s your next move:

1. Audit Your Alignments

Ask: Who around me feeds me? Who drains me? Who multiplies what I carry? Then release everything that subtracts from your soul.

2. Own Your Undercurrent

Spend time in silence. Journal. Pray. Identify the parts of you beneath the surface that are screaming to be seen. Then bring them to light.

3. Model Before You Expect

Let your standard be the syllabus. People rise—or fall—to what you tolerate. As I live: Model what you expect, so you determine what you accept.

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Closing: Brightness Beyond the Break

Isaiah 43:19 declares:

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

The new thing was never waiting on others—it was waiting on me.

So now, I step forward not as a survivor, but as a strategic successor of my own destiny. My transparency is my testimony. My transition is my triumph. And you—yes, you—deserve the same.

Let’s journey forward. Transparently. Boldly. Brilliantly.

Ready to live your own transparency of transition?

This isn’t just my story—it’s a mirror for yours.

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Let’s walk it out—boldly, transparently, and together.

— Matthew L. Brown