In this last week of the year, I look back on 2023 and distill the big lessons I learned over the past 12 months.
The post The Walk: The Lessons I Learned in 2023 appeared first on Father Roderick.

The Walk: The Lessons I Learned in 2023

A weekly walk with Fr. Roderick during which he shares his thoughts as a priest on the struggles and challenges as well as the joys and surprises of day-to-day life.

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Self-Improvement

On Monday, I got a tour behind the scenes of the Tropical Reef Aquarium of Burger's Zoo in Arnhem. It was a fascinating experience. Our guide explained how the zoo makes its own, high quality sea water, eight million liters in total! This water is first distributed to the most important and most demanding part of the Aquarium: the thriving, colorful coral reef, the largest living coral reef in Europe. From there, the water flows to the other, connected parts of the aquarium. While I was riding my bike back home, I reflected on the way I have been organizing my media work over the years. The world of social media and online content has changed quite a bit since my early days of podcasting on Saint Peter's Square. Now that I'm on the verge of opening the early access fase of my new communities on fatherroderick.com, it is a good moment to rethink the way in which I connect with my followers and how I can serve them best. Similar to the way in which Burger's Zoo creates its own sea water and makes sure it reaches the most important and valuable parts of the aquarium first, only to flow to connected areas later, I'm planning on focusing my efforts on the creation of one content pillar, aimed at my primary target audience first and foremost. In a subsequent step, I can repurpose that content and distribute it to the various connected audiences on my social media channels next.In this episode of The Walk, I explain my thought process and what it means for my future workflow.

The Walk: How a Zoo Visit Made Me Rethink My Workflow

Last weekend I spent two full days at the biggest fantasy and costuming festival in Europe: Elfia. In this episode of the Walk, I share how over the years, I have managed to overcome my social restraints and how I'm learning to engage with total strangers on a deeply personal level.
I also share what the new communities will offer you now that we are transitioning to the new website environment and I reflect on the various ways I hope to serve you with my podcast episodes, with my videos and live streams and with my coaching.
Make sure to subscribe to my email newsletter to be informed about the upcoming changes: sign up at www.fatherroderick.com/free and get my newest book for free!

The Walk: How To Have Engaging Conversations With Total Strangers

I recently discovered why social activities often wear me out: in many situations, I feel that I have to 'put on my happy face' instead of being fully myself. It is an ingrained habit of 'masking', and I have noticed that the more I feel free to 'unmask', the more I actually enjoy social company.
What are some of the reasons that we sometimes force ourselves to behave in a way that other people expect of us, instead of fully being ourselves? When can this be useful, and when can it become harmful?
In the premium part of the episode I share with my patrons some ideas for monthly masterclasses, retreats and pilgrimages.

The Walk: Masking and Unmasking

I was staring at the shelves of my fridge. What would I eat? I couldn't decide, and for a reason: I had just had dinner an hour before. And yet, I had felt this urge to grab a snack even though I wasn't hungry at all. Time to pause and to ask myself what was going on.
I had been struggling with an important decision I had to take and instinctively I was trying to cope with the tension by eating something. Sounds familiar? In this episode of The Walk I talk about how to 'sit' with your emotions instead of trying to suppress them or letting these feelings take over.
In the premium part of the show for my patrons, I share how I envision the creation of two goal-oriented membership communities next to the existing community of friends and supporters of my work.

The Walk: How to 'sit' with your emotions

In this first episode of The Walk of the second quarter of the year, I look back on all the developments of my online ministry since the start of 2024 and I share with you the exciting next steps I am taking to improve the way in which I help my followers.

The Walk: The Lessons I Learned in 2023

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