The Next Right Thing

By Emily P. Freeman: Writer, Listener, Creative Director

Personal Journals Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality Christianity

What's The Next Right Thing about?

For the second-guessers, the chronically hesitant, or anyone who suffers from decision fatigue, best-selling author and host Emily P. Freeman helps create a little space for your soul to breathe so you can discern your next right thing in love. Because out of the thousands of decisions you make everyday, chances are a few of them threaten to keep you up at night. If you're in a season of transition, waiting, general fogginess or if you've ever searched "how to make a decision" on the internet, listen in.

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111: Never Believe Anything...

01.21.2020

We all want to make our choices with wisdom, courage, and discernment. Today we come back home to one of the most foundational truths I hold on to when making decisions. On the surface it may not sound like it ...

The Next Right Thing episodes:

01.21.2020 111: Never Believe Anything Bad About God We all want to make our choices with wisdom, courage, and discernment. Today we come back home to one of the most foundational truths I hold on to when making decisions. On the surface it may not sound like it ...
01.14.2020 110: Build for the Years You Can’t See Since adults make over 35,000 decisions every single day, it’s no wonder that this idea of doing the next right thing feels like such a relief. But there are also times when doing the next right thing doesn’t seem like ...
01.07.2020 109: Wait Until The Morning Back in Episode 70 we talked about The Best Time to Make A Decision. Spoiler Alert: Being a good decision-maker has less to do with having a certain kind of magically decisive personality and more to do with timing. In ...
12.31.2019 108: Walk at Your Own Pace Because I talk a lot about reflection and intention regularly throughout the year, when December/January come around and everyone else talks about it too, I find myself leaning forward to hear what they have to say. So here on the ...
12.24.2019 BONUS: For Anyone Waiting for Home Today’s episode is a bit different than our usual format so I’m offering a brief introduction to welcome you to it and give a bit of background. Every year my church here in Greensboro creates one of my favorite offerings ...
12.17.2019 107: 8 Books for Soulful Decisions Today I'm sharing some trusted books I've turned to multiple times over the years. If you’ve been listening for any amount of time, these recommendations probably won't surprise you. But it seemed fitting to have them all in one place ...
12.10.2019 106: Let's Talk About Disney's Frozen 2! Spoiler Alert! Today's episode will have spoilers about Disney’s new animated film Frozen 2. Months before the movie released previews of some of the songs were made available and one of those songs was called The Next Right Thing. As ...
12.03.2019 105: How to Manage Holiday Decision Fatigue Is there a way to enter this season thoughtfully with our whole hearts? How can we manage the holiday decision fatigue that seems inevitable? Is there a way to remain centered even in the midst of lots of activity? If ...
11.26.2019 104: Make Soup (And Eat It, Too) For those of us in the US, this is Thanksgiving week which for many may mean a shorter workweek, a few days off school, lots of travel and/or preparation for the arrival of friends and family. Whether this holiday comes ...
11.19.2019 103: Look for the Children: Mister Rogers and Decision-Making Sometimes decision-making is a straightforward choice between two things. Those things may be both great things, both not great things, or one is greater than the other but the choice is nuanced and not as simple as it seems it ...
11.12.2019 102: Say Short Prayers If your concerns, decisions and complicated problems feel like they need an extra complicated solution, I hope you’ll listen in and find some relief. Links + Resources From This Episode: Share your thoughts about The Next Right Thing podcast in ...
11.05.2019 101: Read Your Own Headlines In the midst of what might be a busy schedule, a life transition, a big decision, or the constant demands of everyday life, it can be easy to lose the thread of the story our lives are telling. That may ...
10.29.2019 100: Tell Me About You (and I'll Tell You About Me) As we celebrate 2 years, 100 episodes and 5 million downloads, it seems like a good time to learn more about who you are and to share a personal update about my own next right thing. Links + Resources From ...
10.22.2019 99: Tear Down the Old, Make Room for New I am not a tear it down kind of person. But keeping things intact is not a character trait. It’s a decision, and it’s not always a good one. The painful truth is that sometimes in order to experience wholeness, ...
10.15.2019 98: Don't Preach to Your Emotions Making a decision is hard enough. But add the unpredictability of emotion to the mix and making a confident decision can feel nearly impossible. What do we do when we have a decision to make but we have such strong ...
10.08.2019 97: Take a 10 Minute Timeout In nearly every major and sometimes not-so-major decision, I’ve prayed for clarity. I’ve shared here before how in times of cloudy decision-making frustration, I’ve even Googled how to make a decision. More and more, though, every time the word “clarity” ...
10.01.2019 96: Listen to Your Crazy Ideas When the problems of life feel big and the way through seems impossible, the last thing we want to do is to consider what we most want or to look desire in the face. But what if clues to our ...
09.24.2019 95: Practice Friendship For a few minutes each Tuesday, our directive is to do the next right thing, not to think about doing the next right thing. Of course thinking is a part of doing. But they at least have to work together ...
09.17.2019 94: Ask the Second Question It’s often the simplest phrases that have the power to change our lives. Like “I love you” and “I’m sorry” and “You’re not alone.” Since adults make over 35,000 decisions every single day, it’s no wonder that this idea of ...
09.10.2019 93: Borrow Prayers We’ve been told not to borrow trouble and to be careful borrowing money, but when is borrowing okay, even welcome? Listen in. *Content warning: This week's episode references the events of September 11, 2001. Links + Resources From This Episode: ...
09.03.2019 92: Point and Call Sometimes it’s the simplest things that help to ease our decision-fatigue the most. Links + Resources From This Episode: Atomic Habits by James Clear When a Simple Gesture Prevents 85% of Workplace Errors Episode 22: Embrace Your Limits Episode 90: ...
08.27.2019 91: Be A Placemaker If you’re in the ellipsis in your own life right now, you might have more questions than answers, more furrowed brows than nodding heads. But there are some things you can still choose - like making a place where roots ...
08.20.2019 90: Start with this Simple Rhythm I talk a lot about the importance of creating space for your soul to breathe. One question I often hear is how? What does it look like to create space for your soul? Practically, on a Tuesday, in the middle ...
08.13.2019 89: Come Back With Peace In our last episode I shared about my plan to take a six week sabbatical, but going away to plan, pray, and create is only helpful if you return. Today I'll share about the equally important task of coming back. ...
06.25.2019 88: Come Away for Awhile Is there a difference between a vacation, a sabbath, and a break? How can we tell and why does it matter? Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 87: Create Space Subversive Sabbathby AJ Swoboda The Power of Introverts: A ...
06.18.2019 87: Create Space Creating space for the soul is part of being a healthy human. For some of us that phrase sounds delightful. But for others, not so much. What does it mean to create space for the soul and why does it ...
06.11.2019 86: Decision-Making with James Bryan Smith The second most often quoted phrase from this podcast is one I didn’t even say. The first phrase people repeat the most is obvious, do the next right thing. Want to know the second most often quoted phrase? Well it ...
06.04.2019 85: Hold Space When Someone Dies Grief descends as a permanent part of our rhythm of life, coloring everything, reshaping the narrative, changing us in ways we would never ask for but there it is anyway. Death changes every part of life, including our ability to ...
05.28.2019 84: A Beginner's Guide to Self-Reflection This is a practice that has changed my life and, I believe if you do it regularly, will change yours as well. Here's a step-by-step explanation of how I reflect on my life and some questions I ask that make ...
05.21.2019 83: Remember What's More Important Than Your Decision Today I’m stepping away from the daily nuts and bolts of decision-making to remind us what it’s all about. Yes, we want to make better decisions. More, we want to make decisions in a better way — but what does ...
05.14.2019 82: Find the Beginning in the Ending Are you facing the end of something but find yourself dragging your feet to the finish line because you aren't sure what will come after? Today I'll offer 3 things to consider just before or right after an ending as ...
05.07.2019 A Blessing for the Mothers Today I’ll offer a short blessing for all the mamas everywhere - both the newest ones, the most experienced ones, the ones who are still waiting as well as those who don’t think of themselves as mothers but they mother ...
04.30.2019 81: Listen to This Before Graduation If you are a graduate, have a graduate, or love a graduate, this episode is for you. It's help for that question people keep asking: So what will you do after graduation? Here are 3 things to remember as you ...
04.25.2019 Bonus: Myquillyn Smith, The Nester Do you have a no mentor? Someone who helps you find both your brave yes and your life-giving no? If you’ve been around here for any amount of time, you know my sister Myquillyn is my No Mentor and today ...
04.23.2019 80: Don't Take Offense If you feel like you don't have enough time in the day, here's one way to open up some space: Refuse to take offense. It's not easy, but it is interesting. Let's get curious about it. Links + Resources From ...
04.18.2019 Bonus: Kendra Adachi, The Lazy Genius Do you prefer to make decisions quickly, acting first and thinking later? This episode is part of a short series we’re doing this month to celebrate the release of my new book, The Next Right Thing. Today's guest is sitting ...
04.16.2019 79: Find Relief From Regret What if you try to do the next right thing but later you look back and realize it wasn’t the right thing after all? What do we do when our next right thing turns out to be wrong? And how ...
04.11.2019 Bonus: Annie F. Downs If you've ever felt unable to move forward because you’re worried there’s only one right answer and you don’t know what that right answer is, today’s episode is for you. This is part of a short series we’re doing this ...
04.09.2019 78: Feeling Stuck? Start Again If you set a goal and haven’t been able to meet it, it doesn’t mean you set the wrong goal. Maybe it means you’re measuring it the wrong way. Instead of starting over, here's how to start again. Links + ...
04.04.2019 Bonus: The Next Right Thing Live Show! Listen in as we gathered in my hometown the night before The Next Right Thing book released into the world! You can now grab a copy of the book wherever books are sold - learn more at NextRightThingBook.com. With special ...
04.02.2019 77: Do The Next Right Thing You never know how your simple next right thing could have an impact on people 100 years from now. Today is the official US release of The Next Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions -- and ...
03.26.2019 76: Create A Simple Morning Routine Where is your fixed point in the midst of life transitions? I want to suggest that fixed point can be found in the morning and it's simpler than you might think. Links + Resources From This Episode: Pre-order The Next ...
03.19.2019 75: Tell Yourself the Truth On Tuesday March 12, 2019, fifty people in six different states were accused by the Department of Justice of playing a part in a major college admission scandal. Our belief informs our action. What we believe will always direct our ...
03.12.2019 74: What's Your Decision-Making Style? We all approach our decisions from our own unique point of view, our own set of personal filters, and a particular posture that’s baked in to our personality. Today’s episode will narrow all of that uniqueness down to three simple ...
03.05.2019 73: Design A Rhythm of Work - Theme Days Today’s episode is all about the one thing I’m doing in my work that is saving my life this year. Links + Resources From This Episode: The Next Right Thing Pre-order Bonuses: Discern + Decide and audiobook for free! Michael ...
02.26.2019 72: Design A Rhythm of Life If we want to make life decisions in a better way, then we can’t wait to start with the decision. We actually need to start with the life. That’s what a rhythm of life is for. I’d love to help ...
02.19.2019 71: Let Time Be Your Friend If you’ve ever felt like you could make better decisions if only you had more time or wished for time to stop just for a while so you could catch your breath, today’s episode is for you. Links + Resources ...
02.12.2019 70: The Best Time to Make A Decision Being a good decision maker has a lot to do with timing. When is the best time to make a decision? Research has some actual answers. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Do You Suffer From Decision Fatigue?- ...
02.05.2019 69: Tell Someone One life-giving choice I’ve made when I’m feeling overwhelmed with indecision is to decide not to walk through it alone. Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 49: Collaborate Laura Tremaine's 10 Things to Tell You Episode 33: Gather Co-Listeners ...
01.29.2019 68: If You're Afraid of Making the Wrong Decision If your fear of making a wrong choice is keeping you from making any choice at all, this episode offers 3 simple things to remember. Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 05: For the Love of Good Change with ...

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