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What can you do when you lack the energy and vitality to pursue your God-shaped dream?

Oftentimes we find ourselves with to-do lists that far outweighs the hours we have in a day to complete those tasks. And somewhere in the mix, we can lose sight of our health and the impact it has on everything we do, including running after your God-shaped dreams. But where do you start and how do you make healthy living sustainable?

Robin Rhine McDonald is a Faith-Based Holistic Health Coach who is passionate about supporting and empowering Jesus-loving women to gain true health through a sustainable, grace-based process. So if you're looking to move your dreams forward or just need a little motivation and help in prioritizing a healthy lifestyle, this episode is for you!

In this episode Robin and I talk about: 

• How getting your health in order can actually give you the energy to carry out your calling,
• Pursuing your dream with God and not just for Him, and
• 3 Simple tips to prioritize your health starting today.

 

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Join me to experience the transformation that becomes possible when you are no longer working on your dream alone!

Register here: https://www.merrittonsa.com/augustworkshop

Date: Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Time: 9am PT / 10am MT / 11am CT / Noon ET

Location: Zoom

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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Have you delayed your dream because you don’t feel ready yet?

One of the biggest lies keeping dreamers stuck is thinking you are lacking something necessary to begin. It’s like there’s a box to check, an accomplishment to achieve, or a degree to earn before you can truly begin on the dream in earnest. Well, that’s simply not true.

In this episode, you’re going to hear:

• What’s at stake if you wait to feel ready
• The truth about what pursuing a dream is really like (instead of what you’ve made up in your head)
• Strategies for starting before you feel ready

And that’s not all. There’s one factor that will make the biggest difference in how you feel about beginning a project that's unfamiliar, intimidating, and overwhelming – building a support team around you. If I can help you do that, let me know by hopping on the Accountability Working Group waitlist here: Merrittonsa.com/awgwaitlist

 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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Do you have a burning question that feels too small to ask?  

I have a really special episode for you today, thanks to a previous guest Jenn Jett Barrett who came on the show first in 2016 (ep 16) and then again in March 2022 for my financial series. In that most recent episode (#234, which was filled with amazing ideas for funding our dreams), Jenn offered to do a follow-up Zoom call to help a few of listeners with their questions on this topic.

Trauma integration practitioner Mandy Mae Johnson was the first to respond when I put out the call in my private Facebook group, and she admits that her question felt too small to ask, but she asked it anyway. (Can I pause a sec to say how proud I am of Mandy for doing that!?) More about her segment of the episode below.

Another listener Hannah Pierrou joins us as well for this conversation. She’s a photographer, designer, illustrator and children’s book author. She brings her question to Jenn about how to sell more of her children’s books.

Jenn responds to Hannah with insights on:

• Dedicating marketing dollars to activities with the highest return on investment, including how to get more of her books into boutique stores,
• Up-leveling her website messaging and putting buttons for revenue generating activities front and center on the home page,
• Creative ways to connect with her ideal customer and show how other families are engaging with the books, and
• Building an email marketing strategy now to prepare for a future podcast launch.

For Mandy’s part of our conversation, she is looking for creative ideas of additional revenue streams that could offset her one-on-one trauma integration practice. Jenn shares her thoughts related to:

• Collaborating with other organizations that have like interests,
• Creating an evergreen course for ideal clients at an entry-level price point,
• Website updates to clearly explain her best offers on the front page,
• Reaching clients who may not be ready for 1:1 services, and
• Steps to determine if nonprofit status is the way to go.

There are so many ideas packed into this 45-minute conversation! Even if your dream is completely different from the pursuits Hannah and Mandy are working on, I have some questions for you at the very end to help you process and apply what you’ve heard to your own God-shaped dream.

I hope you’ll set aside at least 10 minutes after listening to this one for journaling and to consider how one of more of Jenn’s ideas could work for you. Then, come on over to the Facebook group and share what came

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How do you discern God’s will when it comes to your passion and purpose in life?

I regularly speak to Christian women seeking to discern what God wants for their lives, especially as it relates to a personal passion or God-shaped dream. These women share worries about hearing God incorrectly, making a wrong decision about a direction to pursue, or even lacking clarity in a vision for their life and purpose on earth. None of them wants to miss God’s plan for her life.

That is why I’m bringing you today’s guest, Jen Evangelista, with her passion for teaching women to study the Word of God for themselves, and she specifically talks about how it can help us find clarity on God's will for our lives.

In this episode Jen and I talk about:

• The priceless gift of partnering with another like-minded dreamer to bring your dreams to life,
• The best way to know the will of God for your life, as well as
• Specific practices for getting into the Word consistently.

 

17 Quick-Win Actions to Get Your Dream Moving Forward

You’ve likely heard me talk about the value of taking baby steps toward your dream. I believe this is one of the most useful tools we have at our disposal at the beginning of such a journey.

If you’re not sure where to start or what those steps might be, check out 17 Quick-Win Actions to Get Your Dream Moving Forward. It’s just a list—you could use it as a checklist, if you like—and you don’t even have to do them all. Just choose one and that’s your baby step, momentum-builder to get you out of procrastination today. Then, choose another one tomorrow.

Get the list at: http://www.merrittonsa.com/quickwin

 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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Are you living as a stranger in a strange land?

My guest this week was struggling with loneliness and homesickness living away from her native India when her husband’s work required them to move to the States. It was in that experience that Mabel Ninan began to cry out to God, asking for His help to face these struggles and in the process realized the deeper issues of identity and belonging that came from her circumstances.

In this episode, Mabel shares about realizing her identity as a spiritual immigrant and her dream to inspire believers to embrace their pilgrim journey and boldly pursue their heavenly calling.

We also talk about:

• Finding stability, permanence, and security when you’re feeling adrift in the world,
• Knowing what you were made to do but having no idea where to begin, and
• How God meets you when you walk right out of your comfort zone.

 

Get 17 Quick-Win Actions to Move Your Dream Forward

You’ve likely heard me extoll the value of taking baby steps toward your dream. I believe this is one of the most useful tools we have at our disposal at the beginning of such a journey.

If you’re not sure where to start or what those steps might be, check out 17 Quick-Win Actions to Get Your Dream Moving Forward. It’s just a list--you could use it as a checklist if you like-- and you don’t even have to do them all. You can just choose one, and that’s your baby step, momentum-builder to get you out of procrastination and get you moving today. Then, you can choose another one tomorrow.

Get it here: http://www.merrittonsa.com/quickwin

 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
Theme music by Reaktor Productions.
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Have you wanted to quit on your dream before you’ve made any real progress?

Getting started can be one of the most difficult parts of pursuing a dream. In the early stages, a lot of the details are still foggy. The lack of progress makes it feel like you’re pushing a boulder uphill and pushing something heavy uphill makes you want to quit.

But don’t quit before you get to the good part!

In this episode you will be encouraged that you’re not the only one who feels this way, and in fact, these feelings are part of the process of getting started.

You’ll also hear about:

• A simple process for confidently taking the first steps into a God-shaped dream.
• The phase of pursuing a dream you will most want to avoid and why that's a mistake.
• What happens when you give in to excuses instead of getting started.

And that’s not all. I have compiled all my best baby steps ideas that will work for any kind of dream--whether it’s writing a book, starting a business, creating a home that’s bursting with hospitality, or launching an app. It doesn't matter what God has put on your heart; you can use these quick-win ideas to begin making a little headway today.

Get the free resource at Merrittonsa.com/quickwin

 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
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Find show notes here.

What can you do to intentionally place yourself in God’s good care?

Mindy Caliguire is President/Co-Founder of Soul Care, a spiritual formation ministry dedicated to increasing soul health in the Body of Christ.

In this episode Mindy shares about a dream that’s been on her heart for decades, the shape it’s taken over the years, and where she finds herself in it right now.

We also talk about:

• How soul care differs from self-care and why both are important
• How to step into a dream in small ways rather than waiting for clarity on the whole thing before you begin, and
• Specific soul care practices you can take with you and implement once this episode is through.

It struck me when Mindy said, “If your soul is doing well or not so well, it will show up in the rest of your life.” That statement alone can and should inform the manner in which we pursue (or rest from) a God-shaped dream.

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
Theme music by Reaktor Productions.
Ad music by Komiku.

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Find show notes here.

What if God has a different path for you than the one you are on right now?

When you begin pursuing a passion project, there usually isn’t a clear finish line, so how will you know when the dream has run its course? Do you ever wonder what else might God have planned for you after this?

You may hesitate to even ask these types of questions, especially if things are going fairly well so far. Of course, God knows everything, which can be both reassuring and a little unsettling all at the same time. But one thing we know is true: God is good, and he can be trusted.

If you’ve wondered about whether you’re on the right path, or how to hear God’s gentle whispers, or maybe you’re even getting a sense that he has something different for you, you’re going to enjoy hearing from today’s guest, Lindsay May. A professional photographer turned print magazine founder, Lindsay is a fellow dream chaser who is learning to embrace the journey over wanting to control her circumstances.

In this episode, we’re talking about:

• How to replace your worries of what other people might think with something better,
• The unexpected surprises that come when God closes doors you thought were firmly open, and
• For all you aspiring writers out there, Lindsay’s best tips about submitting your writing for publication. 

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Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
Theme music by Reaktor Productions.
Ad music by Komiku.

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Find the show notes here.

Does it ever feel like you’ll never reach the finish line?

If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you probably think everyone else is years ahead of where you are with your dream. It feels even worse if you haven’t started yet. But I’m here to shatter that perception and tell you that you’re right on time no matter how far along you are (or are not).

The reassuring truth is that God exists outside of time and yet He can still appreciate that our time on this earth matters to us. In fact, He was gracious enough to provide a clear example in the Bible of someone who waited what must have felt like an eternity to see a dream come to reality.

I’ll walk you through that story and offer a hopeful reminder that your waiting is not in vain. But that’s not all.

You’ll also hear about:

• Avoiding the biggest mistake that keeps dreamers from progress
• Examples of small steps of faithfulness you can take today
• Courageously facing the scariest part of pursuing a God-shaped dream

 

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MORE ABOUT THE DEVOTED DREAMERS PODCAST:
Produced by Jonathan R. Clauson.
Theme music by Reaktor Productions.
Ad music by Komiku.