Inside Voice Podcast

Our mind is a powerful tool. It can power us through tough times, it can hold onto memories and useful information, and it can get stronger. But what happens when your mind becomes your worst enemy? Suddenly you find yourself up against a powerful adversary. How do we push out the doubt and negativity before it ever has a chance to take root? There are three things that we can practice daily to help keep those thoughts at bay.

Are you too hard on yourself? There's a difference between wanting more from yourself and not giving yourself any room for mistakes. Our world is quick to dismiss you or "cancel" you if you make a mistake. It's as if we all need to live a picture-perfect, Instagram-worthy life or we're not worth anyone's time. We've got to be more delicate with ourselves. When we are quick to forgive ourselves and move on, we open up the door to even greater growth than we imagined. 

We spend so much time focused on age, don't we? In the end, it's just a number. Yet we compare ourselves to the age of others and measure our success by how many years we've been on this Earth. We've seen countless stories of famous, well-accomplished people who achieved high levels of success "later in life" or even at very young age. So who is to say that it's too late or too soon? When pursuing the dreams you have, when you are working to let your Inside Voice out, you are never too old or too young. You just have to get to work... now.

When this year started I was focused on networking and getting myself in front of people for auditions and such. Obviously with the pandemic that hasn't happened. However, I've discovered a fitness routine that not only works for me, but it's become a part of who I am. I've seen so many benefits to taking care of myself that go beyond looking good. I want to encourage you to not only get moving, but I'm also sharing 3 things that have helped me stay consistent with this new part of my life.

Can you believe we are almost halfway through this year? Now, I know this year has been less than ideal (understatement of the year) however, that is no excuse to just give up on the next six months. Don't let what's happened in the last few months dictate what you can still do in 2020. Allow this pandemic to make you stronger. Allow it to motivate you to make those dreams happen now. We're not promised tomorrow. So let's pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and press on through the rest of this year. 

It's a rough world out there, ain't it? We could all use a serious dose of love. As a kid, I underestimated the power of love. I reduced love to just an emotion and not a powerful force that can make lasting change. I also believed the lie that loving yourself was incredibly selfish. True humble people don't love themselves, they love others before themselves. As I've gotten older, I've learned that in order for us to love one another, we have to start with loving ourselves. For me, that started with growing my relationship with the Lord and seeing myself through His eyes. Implementing that practice into my life makes it a whole lot easier to love others.

Ever wonder why resolutions don't stick? We have an entire year to complete them, so why do we fail? I believe it's because we choose too many and we have no plan to conquer them. What if we created mini resolutions throughout the year? What if it was just one, simple goal a month? Imagine the accomplished, changed person we would be at the end of the year if we did this every single month. We need to establish habits that keep us moving forward toward our goals. We need to harness the power of 30 days. 

The last few months have been a wonderful mix of stress, uncertainty, sadness, and fear. Routines and schedules have been rattled and it's been difficult to find our footing again. How do we take care of ourselves when everything feels out of place? Well, we get back to the basics. I've got seven things that I believe we are forgetting to do right now to care for ourselves. And you know what? They're so simple, you can start doing them today.

Have you ever noticed that good baseball players are always in motion? They are moving with the pitch and charging the ball as it barrels toward them. Believe it or not, this motion gives them control over the situation. They're not sitting back on their heels waiting to see what happens. Instead they are on their toes moving with the game. We should be charging life the same way those players charge the ball.

How can we experience joy in our lives? Joy, to me, is bigger than happiness, which can be based on events or circumstances. Joy is a practice that I believe we can exercise in our daily lives. But how? How can we bring ourselves joy on a daily basis? There's no magic potion, but there are some practices that I believe will foster more joy and enjoyment in your life.