Your Future Self Starts Today ~ Denisha Workizer Ep. 120

Too often, we make huge plans and major resolutions only to get burned out when we can't keep them. What if taking small, consistent, manageable action steps would lead to big changes in your life over time? In today's episode, we will discuss three things you can do today to achieve the change you want to see in your life. Your future self starts today.

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Transcript

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[00:00:00] Denisha: Too often, we make huge plans and major resolutions [00:00:05] only to get burned out when we can't keep them. But what if taking [00:00:10] small, consistent, manageable action steps would lead to the big [00:00:15] changes that you desire in your life over time? In today's episode, we will discuss [00:00:20] three things you can do today to achieve the change that you want to see in your [00:00:25] life.

Your future self starts today. Welcome to [00:00:30] living the reclaim life podcast. I'm Denisha. We're glad you're here for conversations [00:00:35] that revive hope, inspire healing, and encourage you to live a vibrant life [00:00:40] with Christ. So grab a cup of coffee as we chat with today's guest. [00:00:45] I don't know about you, but I am an all or [00:00:50] nothing person.

There are some places in my life where that is a good [00:00:55] thing, but as a whole, it does not serve me well. Here's what [00:01:00] that looks like for me. A new year hits, right? We make resolutions [00:01:05] and I go all in. If one of my resolutions is that I'm going to work [00:01:10] out, then my goal to work out is seven days a week. If I'm going to pray [00:01:15] more, then I'm going to set aside an hour every single day to pray.

If I'm going [00:01:20] to organize my house, then I'm going to set aside two weekends and spend every day of [00:01:25] sunlight diving into every nook and cranny of my house. Now, is that [00:01:30] realistic? No, trust me, it is not. I'll bet [00:01:35] you can already feel defeat as I say those things, because most of the [00:01:40] time when my mindset is like all or nothing, I fail before I [00:01:45] even begin.

Here's what that cycle of failing looks like. For me, [00:01:50] I go to the gym on that first day, right? I'm feeling good. Day one is in the books. [00:01:55] I could never do 75 hard. You guys, I would constantly be starting over [00:02:00] because that first day at the gym at 11 o'clock at night, I can almost [00:02:05] promise that a teenager in my house will want to talk until midnight.

So [00:02:10] then guess who doesn't want to get up in the morning to go to the gym for day two? [00:02:15] So it's the second day and I already don't return day three comes around. And while I [00:02:20] already messed up yesterday, so I guess I can just skip it again. Maybe I'll get to work a [00:02:25] little bit early and that cycle, you guys have defeat just [00:02:30] continues for that hour of prayer time for the, for those weekends set aside to clean my [00:02:35] house.

This is a cycle that I have seen over and over in my life when I desire [00:02:40] to make a big change in a particular area. Now, when I first make [00:02:45] these plans, right at the beginning of the year, whenever it is, I really love it because [00:02:50] I always have this sense of optimism and faith and hope that this year [00:02:55] there are some things in my life that are going to be actually different.

[00:03:00] And I don't know what those things are for you. Maybe some of you want to get in better [00:03:05] shape or maybe be more spiritually focused. Maybe it's spending more [00:03:10] time with your kids. Maybe for some of you, you want to get better with your money [00:03:15] or quit some kind of habit. I don't know what it is for you, but I pray [00:03:20] that God would give you the power to achieve those goals this year because there's something about [00:03:25] starting a new year that just brings us hope that things can be different.

So where [00:03:30] are you right now? We are a month into the new year, and I wonder [00:03:35] if you're still living in that hope that you had on January 1st, or if [00:03:40] some sort of defeat has already started to set in. [00:03:45] Oftentimes, I look at the lives of others, and some [00:03:50]people seem to have it together in some area of their life more than I do.[00:03:55]

And I don't know about you, but sometimes it intimidates me. I may look at their life and [00:04:00]think, Oh, there's so much better at working out than I am, or there's so much better at this area than I [00:04:05] am. And I don't know what big things I need to do to get the results [00:04:10] that they have. I have no idea all of the big changes I would need to make [00:04:15] to be like them.

Well, today, friends, I want to suggest. What if [00:04:20] it's not about huge changes to change your life? What if it's not about [00:04:25] sprints to the finish line? What if it's the small things that no one [00:04:30] sees that results in the big things that everyone wants? Here's an [00:04:35] example of that compound interest. Now hang with me for a second.

I'm [00:04:40] teaching my kids right now about investing and it's a little overwhelming for them because they're just [00:04:45] starting out and they're not even really making enough to save. But then we found this [00:04:50] article on Dave Ramsey's website that was super encouraging and it was about two guys. [00:04:55] Jack turned 21. And he decided to start investing 200 a month [00:05:00]for nine years.

And at 30, he totally stopped investing, never put in [00:05:05] another penny. But his friend Blake started when Jack stopped. [00:05:10] He was investing 200 a month every month, starting at 30 all the way to [00:05:15] 68. So at 68, who do you think had more money in their [00:05:20] account, Jack or Blake? Well, at the end of nine years, Jack had [00:05:25] invested 21, 600, never invested another dime and it's [00:05:30] 68 ended up with 2.

35 million. Jack's [00:05:35] friend, Blake, invested 91, 200 over the course of [00:05:40] 38 years and at age 68. He had built up 1. 3 [00:05:45] million, but he never caught up with Jack. Now you might be thinking, wait, but [00:05:50] both of them were consistently doing something. But the difference is Jack [00:05:55] started today. And that is what compound growth is.

[00:06:00] That's compound interest, right? It's the same things in the action steps that we take in our lives [00:06:05] today. It's the small things that no one sees that results in the big [00:06:10] things that everyone wants. Now, we may not be teenagers anymore, [00:06:15] and although we can encourage our kids to be like Jack and start their action steps, whether [00:06:20] it's investing, whether it's being healthy, whether it's spiritual disciplines, we can encourage [00:06:25] our kids to do that.

But what does it mean for us in our lives? [00:06:30] Well, maybe for you, maybe you want to read your Bible more. Well, [00:06:35] did you know that if you read your Bible for only 15 minutes a day, that you can read through the [00:06:40] whole Bible in a year? And there's several plans online to do that. There's even [00:06:45] Bibles you can buy that break it up into 365 reading times.[00:06:50]

We don't need an hour a day. We need 15 minutes and you can do [00:06:55] that. Maybe it's getting in shape instead of jumping all or nothing [00:07:00] in like I tend to do. What if you just committed to moving more three days a [00:07:05] week? And if you take a day or a week off, give yourself the [00:07:10] grace to begin again. Because it's a small things that no one sees that [00:07:15] results in the big things that everyone wants.

One of my goals is to finish [00:07:20] writing a book. And now remember, I am all or nothing. I constantly have [00:07:25] to check that in my life. I have thought for years that I had to go away to a [00:07:30] condo on a beach or a mountain cabin for inspiration for two weeks and crank out a [00:07:35] book. And because while I've never had two weeks to do that or a [00:07:40] condo on the beach or a cabin in the mountains, I have been putting it off for years because I [00:07:45] have this perfect way that I think it has to happen.

Well, as I began [00:07:50] learning from people who have published numerous books, I learned that the most successful [00:07:55] authors aren't doing writing marathons in some perfectly decorated place somewhere. [00:08:00] They are simply consistent. They get up in the morning, and they write for an hour or [00:08:05] two, and that's it. They're consistent.

One hour every morning, [00:08:10] times the amount of days a week, and before they know it, they have a book. So where do you want to [00:08:15] be six months from now? How about a year from now, five years from now? [00:08:20] It's the small action steps you take today that will lead to your future [00:08:25] self tomorrow. Now, you might be thinking, Denisha, I have [00:08:30] tried to change on my own.

I have tried to do big things and they haven't worked. [00:08:35] Well, I want to suggest to us that sometimes we often try to do things in [00:08:40] our own strength. I want to take a look at Zechariah chapter four, [00:08:45] and as we look at this to kind of set up what's going on before we read [00:08:50] this passage in Zechariah chapter four, during the time it was written, the [00:08:55] temple was destroyed and God's people were in captivity.

So it was kind of a low point in [00:09:00] history. We don't have a house for God and we're not even in the place that we're supposed to be. And so [00:09:05] people were very depressed. In the year 537 BC, [00:09:10] Zerubbabel led a remnant of people back to Israel, and then there was some [00:09:15]hope. We're back in the land we're supposed to live.

And then 18 years [00:09:20] later, God spoke to King Zerubbabel and said, I'm going to give you the [00:09:25] power to rebuild the temple. So let's read [00:09:30] verse six of Zechariah four and let's let it speak to us and where we are in our [00:09:35] lives. This is what the Lord said to Zerubbabel. It's not by force, [00:09:40] not by strength, but by my spirit, says the Lord of heaven's armies.[00:09:45]

And so here's the thing. You can try and change and you can try in [00:09:50] your own power. You can make improvements by your own power, but if you'll [00:09:55] tap into a power that is greater than what you possess, if you tap into the power of the Holy [00:10:00] Spirit, his spirit is made perfect in your weakness and not by our [00:10:05] effort, not by our might, not by our power, but by his spirit, he [00:10:10] can transform you.

You know, we can try our best all day long to make [00:10:15] all of the changes that we want to see in our lives. But when we tap into the spirit of God, there is [00:10:20] strength beyond what we can muster up on our own. You know, some of us have [00:10:25] tried for years to change something, to improve something, to complete something, and we [00:10:30] can't seem to do it.

But what if in 2024, you say it will [00:10:35] not be by my might, nor by my power, but by his spirit? [00:10:40] Sometimes we have to start small. Verse 10 [00:10:45] says, and I hope this encourages us, do not despise these small beginnings for the Lord [00:10:50] rejoices to see the work begin. Friends, we've got to start [00:10:55] somewhere and God rejoices to see you be faithful in the small things.[00:11:00]

One of the challenges is so often we look at people and we see their highlight [00:11:05] reels and we know our behind the scenes and we compare it to theirs [00:11:10] and we can get intimidated. We can even look at people in the Bible and [00:11:15] think, Oh, look at David. You know, David was a man after God's own heart. He took down [00:11:20] Goliath.

I want to take down my giant. But we forget that he was [00:11:25] faithful for years in the fields, tending sheep. And whenever a wild animal would [00:11:30] come up, he would run off the animal or he would kill the animal. So what was happening during those [00:11:35] years? He was learning to be faithful with the small things so that God could [00:11:40] trust him with the big things.

We look at Daniel in the [00:11:45] Bible and we're like, Oh, he has such great faith. I mean, he's standing in a lion's den [00:11:50] and his faith is unwavering. I want to stand like that. Well, we [00:11:55] forget that three times a day, year after year. Do you know what Daniel did? [00:12:00] He stopped whatever he was doing, knelt down three times a day and sought [00:12:05] the Lord in prayer.

What kind of faith do you think you would have if you [00:12:10] devoted three specific times a day every day to seeking after God? [00:12:15] It's the things that no one sees that results in the things that everyone wants. [00:12:20] I want to leave us with three things that we can focus on in our lives today to help us [00:12:25] achieve the results that we want tomorrow.

Our thoughts, our [00:12:30] words, and our actions. Let's start with our thoughts. Our [00:12:35]thoughts matter so much because our thoughts influence our words, which [00:12:40] influence our actions, which influence our habits, which in the end end up determining [00:12:45] who we become in shaping our life. So let's start with our [00:12:50] thoughts.

Solomon said this in Proverbs 23, as a person thinks in [00:12:55] his heart, so is he. Your life will always move in the [00:13:00] direction of your strongest thoughts. In other words, if you think you can't, [00:13:05] you probably won't. If you think life is going to be bad, it will probably be [00:13:10]bad. If you think you don't have anything to offer, you probably won't make a difference.[00:13:15]

But on the other hand, if you think you can, you probably will. [00:13:20] If you believe that there are opportunities out there, you will see those opportunities. If you [00:13:25] believe that God is for you and with you, you will sense his power in his presence because our [00:13:30] thoughts matter. As a person thinks in his heart, so he becomes.

[00:13:35] Your life will always move in the direction of your strongest thoughts. [00:13:40] So what do you think about? What would you like to think about to change the [00:13:45] direction of your life? The next thing is our words. [00:13:50] Our words have power, but often we forget that I know I [00:13:55] do. I often find myself speaking more about the news from TV than I [00:14:00] do speaking the good news of Jesus.

But our words have power. Genesis [00:14:05] tells us that in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, [00:14:10] and the word became flesh. Whenever God created the world, he did it [00:14:15] with a spoken word and our words are incredibly powerful. In [00:14:20] fact, Solomon drops more wisdom for us as we learn this about our words [00:14:25] from Proverbs 18 21.

The tongue has the power of life and [00:14:30] death. In other words, the words that we speak can be life giving words [00:14:35] or the words we speak can be life taking words. If you want to change the [00:14:40] life you have. We need to change the words we speak [00:14:45] because small things in the words we speak can make a big difference in the life [00:14:50] that we live.

And the third thing I want to leave you with today [00:14:55] is our actions. To change our actions takes discipline. [00:15:00] Ooh, we don't like that word, do we? This is where I tend to go overboard in my [00:15:05] all or nothing goal setting. I love this definition of discipline. It's [00:15:10] choosing between what you want now and what you want most.

Hmm. [00:15:15] Let's think about that for a second. Discipline is choosing between [00:15:20] what you want now and what you want most. Going back once [00:15:25] again to the wisdom of Solomon, Proverbs 25, 28 says like [00:15:30] a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self control. [00:15:35] I want self control. I do. I do. I want to choose what I want [00:15:40] most versus what I want now.

I want to choose being healthy over eating an entire [00:15:45] row of Oreos. I want self control, but if I'm honest, I can relate [00:15:50] more to what Paul says in Romans 7, 15. He says, I do not understand what I [00:15:55] do. For what I want to do, I do not do. But what I hate, I do. [00:16:00] I can relate to that. I can wrestle and [00:16:05] try and fail and go through that cycle that we talked about earlier of, I'm going to [00:16:10] go do this, but now I didn't go.

So I guess I just don't have to go again. I can wrestle and try and [00:16:15] fail, but Paul lands the solution to that cycle in verse 25, [00:16:20] he says, thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ, our Lord. [00:16:25] I want to propose to you. What if we weren't self disciplined? [00:16:30]What if we were spirit disciplined? Going back to [00:16:35] Zerubbabel, It will not be by my might, nor by my power, but by his [00:16:40] spirit, says the Lord.

God says, I'm going to give you my power to rebuild this [00:16:45] temple. So what thoughts, words, and actions do [00:16:50] you need to remove or add to your life right now that will help [00:16:55]lead you toward what you ultimately want most? There is so much power [00:17:00] in a focused life. When you focus on small action steps, it's amazing what you can [00:17:05] do.

Your future self can start today. [00:17:10] Thank you for joining us for today's episode. We hope that that encouraged you [00:17:15] today. I want to invite you back in two weeks to meet Brianna Barrier Weatherby, as [00:17:20] she shares wisdom from her and Roger Barrier's new book, Look Like Jesus, A Guide [00:17:25] to Spiritual Growth. On the same topic of what can we do today to [00:17:30]become who we want to be tomorrow, we're We are going to talk about spiritual growth and the ultimate [00:17:35] joy of knowing Jesus intimately.

Be sure to check in same time, [00:17:40] same place in two weeks. Thanks for listening. I pray you found [00:17:45] hope in today's conversation and maybe even feel a little less alone in your [00:17:50] story. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram at reclaimed [00:17:55] story. Want to learn more about living a reclaimed life and how you can be a part of our [00:18:00] growing community of reclaimers?

Check out our website at reclaimedstory. com. [00:18:05] All of those links and more will be in the show notes. And if you enjoyed this [00:18:10] inspirational podcast, be sure to subscribe, rate, and review. Not only will [00:18:15] you be the first one to know when new content comes out, but it is also a huge help in [00:18:20] helping us reach more people to live the reclaimed life.