The Power Project Podcast

In episode #93, I sat down with Dr. Vanessa Bouché who has been studying the issue of human trafficking since 1999, and her explorations of this topic have taken her all over the globe from Latin America to Europe and Asia.  She has created HumanTraffickingData.org, an open-access and searchable database of federal human trafficking prosecutions in the U.S., interviewed convicted traffickers in federal prisons, surveyed hundreds of survivors, and consulted with a variety of international organizations and NGOs.  Most recently, however, she co-founded Savhera, a premium social impact aromatherapy brand that provides sustainable, living-wage, professional jobs to survivors of sex trafficking in India and the U.S.

She and I discuss biblical justice, business as a force of good, and her greatest challenges busking a social enterprise. Tune in for this impactful conversation.

Check out what we have going on with our own social enterprise @ www.thepowerhatco.com

For this episode, you're getting a front-row seat to the Mindset Mavens webinar that we hosted over on our FB page: www.facebook.com/thepowerprojectvlog

"Mindset Mavens" is a panel of life coaches, speakers, authors, and podcast hosts that believe in chasing the big audacious calls on their lives and encouraging others to do the same! Tune in for a candid conversation about overcoming limiting beliefs and following the call on your life.

Brandi was joined by
Demi Austin-Thomas, TV Personality and Parenting Coach https://instagram.com/demiaustinthomas?igshid=1dhccg7qrbi99

Ashton Cantou, Transformational Life Coach
https://instagram.com/ashtoncantou?igshid=dvvmm3mcpqjo

Tamra Cornwell Andress, Christian Business Coach
https://instagram.com/tamra.andress?igshid=ybab68tomi8b

Alice Edgerton, Podcast Host and Retreat Host
https://instagram.com/thrivingalice?igshid=1259fxi006bi1


Have questions about overcoming limiting beliefs?  Send us an email: [email protected]

Get Brandi's new book at www.thepowerprojectbook.com

Want to be part of The Power Project Book Launch Team?   Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/powerprojectcommunity

For this episode, you're getting a front-row seat to the Mindset Mavens webinar that we hosted over on our FB page: www.facebook.com/thepowerprojectvlog

"Mindset Mavens" is a panel of life coaches, speakers, authors, and podcast hosts that believe in chasing the big audacious calls on their lives and encouraging others to do the same! Tune in for a candid conversation about overcoming limiting beliefs and following the call on your life.

Brandi was joined by
Demi Austin-Thomas, TV Personality and Parenting Coach https://instagram.com/demiaustinthomas?igshid=1dhccg7qrbi99

Ashton Cantou, Transformational Life Coach
https://instagram.com/ashtoncantou?igshid=dvvmm3mcpqjo

Tamra Cornwell Andress, Christian Business Coach
https://instagram.com/tamra.andress?igshid=ybab68tomi8b

Alice Edgerton, Podcast Host and Retreat Host
https://instagram.com/thrivingalice?igshid=1259fxi006bi1


Have questions about overcoming limiting beliefs? Send us an email: [email protected]

Get Brandi's new book at www.thepowerprojectbook.com

Want to be part of The Power Project Book Launch Team? Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/powerprojectcommunity

In this episode, we are discussing the cycle of failure and how it keeps us from stepping into success.

I mentor women that have endured terrible trauma in their past. They’ve been through situations that were sometimes a direct consequence of their own poor choices and others that were not. Most of the women have criminal records.

I teach a weekly course at an aftercare home for survivors of sexual exploitation and trafficking. The course is a combination of business & life coaching. While I help them to realize their gifts and skills as well as acquire the skills necessary for gainful employment, we also do a deep dive on emotional and mental roadblocks, unpacking past hurt, releasing shame and guilt, and taking responsibility for our own actions.

I’ve now taught 4 different groups of women in this course, and we inevitably reach the same point each time. It’s the midway point. Halfway through the course, this is where they start experiencing overwhelm, self-doubt, fear, and… this is typically where, if they are going to, they choose to leave the program.


Reasons we don’t break free from the cycle of failure:
1. Fear of Success
Success doesn’t feel comfortable.
Failure is familiar.
When we become overwhelmed and afraid, we revert to familiar behaviors. How did we feel with overwhelm before? Did we quit? Did we run away? Did we lean on unhealthy coping mechanisms?
What has happened in the past when we have attempted to succeed?

2. Fear of the unknown:
The devil we know is better than the one we don’t. Jer. 29: 11 “For I know the plans I have for you. Declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God knows these plans. We don’t, and oftentimes, it seems much more comfortable to believe in the past hurt we know than the hope of the future. It’s hard to imagine something we’ve never seen before. Exile came before the hope. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy, but that we must trust God’s plan and persevere.

3. Fear of New Identity (Accepting Failure as your identity)
When people have a line of bad choices & behaviors, this becomes part of their identity. People label them as a failure. However, when they take the steps to break the cycle, they step into a new identity. One where they are no longer the person of their past. This new identity requires them to be held accountable. The excuse of “that’s just the way they are no longer applies.” They have a new name.
Col. 3:9 -10 “…you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”

4. Fear of Accountability: When transitioning from failure to success, you have to take responsibility for your actions and make changes.
1 Cor. 13:11 
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. “


5 Ways to Break the Cycle of Failure & Step Into Success

1. Take accountability for your actions. Recognize write or wrong choices that have led us to where we are. Own them without absorbing the guilt and shame. Recognize them as obstacles along the way that do not identify you. Acknowledge that who you were is not who you are today.

2. Recognize a time in your past that you turned an obstacle into an opportunity or a failure into a success.

3. Identify a time that you stepped through fear. Celebrate that moment as a victory. (RFW: the resident came to the program)

4. Remember a moment of power: a sense of accomplishment. What did that feel like? How much joy was in your heart? Who told you that you couldn’t. How did it feel to prove them wrong?

5. Imagine what it will feel like when you (accomplish this hard thing) you’re standing on the stage at graduation. What are you wearing? How is your hair fixed? Who is in the audience? What friends and family are there with you? How proud do you feel about this accomplishment? How much joy do you have in your heart? How will it feel when you are able to share this success?



Claim your victory.
Write your victory statement:
I have accomplished ________________________________________________________________
Whatever goal that you are holding back from accomplishing right now)
Visualize the feeling of success. Close your eyes and imagine what life feels like on the other side of that statement.
Just because we haven’t seen it before doesn’t mean we can’t imagine it. Visualize what your life looks like on the other side. What does your life look like after achieving this victory.


Write a letter to yourself:

Dear Self,
I want you to know that you are: __________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
(strength & overwhelming characteristics: ex. *A child of God, fearfully and wonderfully made, resilient, persistent, forgiven, redeemed, worthy)


You have __________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
(statement of triumph: Overcome addiction, survived abuse/trauma, saved a bankrupt business)

You possess all the _______________________ (knowledge, talent, gifts, skills) to accomplish

____________________________________________________________________________________

You are committed to ___________________________________________________________
(putting in the work and taking the action steps necessary to complete this goal because the success that lies on the other side of this challenge is worth every step of the journey.)

From now on, anytime I feel like giving up on a goal, or turning back to a cycle of failure because the fear of success is too great, I promise to go back and read this letter to myself. I promise to constantly seek success and not fear the unknown, but embrace the plans that God has for me.

LOVE,
YOUR SUCCESSFUL SELF STANDING ON THE SIDE OF VICTORY

in Episode #89, I sit down with my cousin Chelsey Collier to have a conversation about her biracial struggle during the Black Lives Matter movement. We have an open conversation about her struggle as a biracial child in our white family with a racist background. She also opens up in our chat about her experience being rejected by her black family. Chelsey shares with us how she has grieved the lack of connection with her black family and how she was never taught what it meant to be black.

I hope you lean into this conversation with open ears, open mind, and an open heart.

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Also, The Power Project book is available for purchase! Head over to www.thepowerprojectbook.com to get added to the launch team and order your copy now!

It’s easy to get discouraged right now. It’s easy to look around and see
the hopeless state of our nation. It’s easy to lose hope and feel
powerless. But, where there is hopelessness, God can show up and do
great things.
We look around and see anger, confusion, turmoil, and division. We have argued over
those concerns tear our country apart at the seams. ed about COVID, and those saying
it’s all a conspiracy. We have seen racial division tear our country apart at the seams.
My cop friends are scared and angry. My black friends are scared and angry. Those of
us in the middle are scared and angry.
I’m not going to speak in detail on this subject. I don’t feel qualified. What I am going
to speak on is what God has called me to speak on. It’s easy to feel pulled in one
direction, in an all or nothing battle. Our society has created this all or nothing dialogue
where we have to pick teams. We see it in every stage of our society, from politics and
religion, to vaccinations, where we send our kids to school, and even down to
breastfeeding or bottle feeding. Somewhere along the way, we believed the narrative
that we can not love others that have a differing view from us.
But, today, I want to point something out that we may all be forgetting.
We are not fighting flesh and blood. We are fighting against the powers of this world’s
darkness and against the spiritual forces of evil. (Eph. 6:12)
This is part of the enemy’s attack. He seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. He uses
weapons of confusion, anger, and division. He sews discourse amongst God’s
children. He has our nation where he wants it right now. We don’t trust our leaders.
We don’t know what to listen to. We don’t believe what we read. People are searching
for truth. People are searching for hope. We are not fighting a battle against the color
of our skin. We are not fighting a battle against injustice. We are fighting a battle
against our spirits. If we turn on one another rather than supporting each other, we will
never be able to carry out God’s plan for our lives. We will not bring glory to the
kingdom of God.
Eph. 6: 10 tells us to. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand
against the schemes of the devil.”
I look at our country and see that we need God more now than ever before. I see
powerlessness, hopelessness, and Godlessness.
The armor of God:
• The belt of Truth (We are all looking for truth. His word is truth) *Go to your bible.
• The breastplate of righteousness, while we are all fighting over who's right, we
need to make sure that we are guarding ourselves with his righteousness
• The gospel of Peace: To know him is to be able to have peace in the midst of
unrest
• The shield of faith: don’t just hear the words, commit them to your heart. Stand firm
in your faith.
• My faithful friends are those that I see full of peace,
• The helmet of salvation: Having salvation in our hearts but also in our minds.
• The sword of the spirit
We have instruction for how to fight this spiritual battle, this attack of the enemy, but
how do we show up for a fallen world in the midst of the worst of humanity.
We are the BEST OF HUMANITY. We LOVE.
*Conversation with Izell*
We are all on the same team. We all have the same heart.
When we show up and love others well, we will see change.
Love sees no color. TRULY
Love is BLIND.
Love sees no transgressions.
Love sees no division.
Love says that an officer in uniform and a criminal on drugs can love one another.
Love says that my friends and I can have different experiences and still love one
another.
Romans 12 gives us clear instruction on how we can deal with these times that feel so
divided and so full of division:
• Let Love be Genuine
• Truly: serve the homeless, serve the marginalized, serve the differently-abled, serve
those less privileged. Have conversations. Listen to their experiences.
• Love one another with brotherly affection
• Like I tell my children, you have the same last name. You’re on the same team.
Love one another
• Be fervent in spirit
• Having great warmth, intensity, a burning desire
• Rejoice in HOPE: Holiness, Opportunity, Power, Expectancy
• Be patient in tribulation
• Be constant in prayer
• Contribute to the needs of the saints
• Bless those who persecute you
• Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep
• Live in harmony with one another
• Repay no evil for evil
• If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peacefully with all
• DO NOT be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

#87: Developing a Responsible Mindset
May is mental health awareness month, and I think it is so important to highlight the power of mindset. Today we are discussing Responsible Mindset vs Victim Mindset. How do we move from the place of being stuck to the place of growth? Ways to develop a responsibility mindset 

A person with a responsibility mindset takes initiative and strives for growth. The responsible mindset is driven by an internal compass rather than an external force. Responsibility mindset chooses to eat healthy when no one is looking rather than binge on junkfood. A responsible mindset opts for a personal development book or podcast rather than binge watching NetFlix.
A responsible mindset is dependable and others can count on you, but also chooses to draw boundaries.
Victim Mentality:
Why does this keep happening to me?
If only I had_____. I could_____
Typically express feelings of sorrow, an overall sense of overwhelm, helplessness, defeatedness,
Looks for things to be better one day,
All personalities can fall victim to vicim mentality: feel life has dealt them an unfair hand, distrusting of others, see other’s growth as competition, become defensive easily, scarcity mentality, are manipulative, deceitful, over-inflate their importance, seek to be the center of attention, co-dependent, needy, want instant gratification, use others for their own agenda, indecisive, over-indulgent
Responsibility Mindset:
What action can I take to prevent this from happening?
I can do this______ in order to be able to have this______.
Expresses gratitude, optimism, contentedness, peace in the presence, hope for the future.
All personalities can have or develop a responsibility mindset: commitment to service, patience, and persistence, generous, giving, honest, exhibit self-control, fully embrace community and collaboration, appreciate strengths in others, recognize happiness as a choice, use powers for good, unselfish, make practical decisions rather than emotionally driven whims, practice moderation
15 Ways to Move from a Victim Mindset to a Responsible Mindset
Volunteer for opportunities outside of your comfort zone that you can learn fromSurround yourself with others that share the mindset and will encourage and push you in your growth.
Interrupt the “One Day” thought process. Self correct with Today I will_______
Allow yourself to be authentically vulnerable with those closest to you.
Journal what it is that you are truly experiencing. Not just emotions, but what is the process that you are walking through. Identify what you are most afraid of. Recognize how you are holding yourself back. Admit that you would rather be healthy than right.
View your mistakes as a lesson in growth rather than failures.
Accept constructive criticism. “Until we can receive what areas we lack in, we can not begin to grow in those areas.”
Communicate respectfully and directly with others. (don’t grumble behind their backs)
Shine the light on others. Celebrate their victories.
Realize that others successes do not diminish your potential.
“Realize that while your past has impacted you, it does not define you.” Stand in the present, acknowledge who you are today, and set your eyes on who you want to be in the future.
Listen to others.
Guard your mind. If you feel yourself being pulled into the black hole of someone else’s drama, physically and mentally remove yourself.
Adopt growth mentality: there is plenty of room at the table for all of us
Practice self control in in the small things. Do less of something each day. 

“Acknowledge that who you are today does not determine who you will be in the future.”
What happens when we have moved into a responsible mindset but have left others behind? Sometimes, those still sitting in the victim mindset will choose not to grow with you, and in return can become an anchor. This is where you have to choose to enforce boundaries.
5 Ways to draw boundaries with a Responsible Mindset :
Learn to say no to obligations not serving your growth: Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you should do it. Often times people will see your strength more accessible than it should be. If it’s not something aligned with your mission or contributing to your growth, you shouldn’t be doing it.
Allow others to take ownership. Don’t do it for them. You prevent them from growing when you do. They will ask you to do things for them rather than learning to do it for themselves.
Do not allow others not striving for growth to speak into your life.
Do not allow others to make you feel guilty about your own growth. Recognize that it is about their own mindset, insecurities, and self- belief.
Recognize people stuck in the victim mindset, and quit trying to make them responsible. Love them and leave them where they are. Otherwise, your own growth will be inhibited.

In Episode #86, I sit down with Tamra Andres, Minster, Personal Coach, & Host of The Fit In Faith Podcast
She and I discuss the importance of persistence in life and our walk with God leading to patience. We discussed how persistence at this time is an important reminder for us to trust God’s plan for our lives in spite of the times we’re walking through.
Tamra shared 3 ways that we can all stay persistent in faith in times of uncertainty:
Let go of the expectations that we had for our plans.
Believe in what God has actually planned for us.
Stay rooted in the truth and knowledge of what he has already promised for us.
During The Great Pause, Tamra has used this as a season of intentionality and encourages us all to dig deep into who we were created to be.
Tamra shares with us how in her personal coaching sessions, reminds her students whose they are and helps them apply tangible resources for aligning their mind, body, & soul to fulfill their purpose.
Tamra and I discuss the intersection of faith and self love. She shared with us her beliefs about Self Love. “Self love is an ability to operate only out of overflow. God is there in that overflow moment. But if you don’t reach for it, you are going to be starved.”
When asked what she wanted our audience to know it’s this: “You’re ready. The lie you’re telling yourself is that I’m not ready. But you are ready. You were born ready. God has perfectly timed this moment of your life where the passion is boiling inside. You’re a little bit nervous. You are a little fearful. He’s already utilized the highs and lows to get you to where you can say yes. So, all you have to do is release the fear and say yes because he has already equipped you. You don’t need a certification. You don’t need a degree. You don’t need to invest in another program that you don’t know what is going to come from it. You need to lean in. You already have your purpose.”
Follow Tamra over on IG @tamra.andress or @fitinfaith_podcast
Check out everything she has going on at www.tamraandress.com
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