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Life is a series of choices, or “baby steps” if you will. Today we’re going to talk about some of those little choices that will add up in a BIG way. I’ve grouped those little choices, those “baby steps” into two categories: input and output. By taking a look at the input and the output areas of your life, I’ll show you exactly how you can fine tune the little choices you make every day, so that you can create the life you want while finding joy in the journey!
Sound good? Awesome!
Before we dial in on the input and output of your life, we have to make sure that you know where you want to go.
In other words, what do you want your life to look like? We need to intentionally pause to paint the picture of your ideal life.
Think of your life as a race. During a race or a marathon, the runner knows exactly where she is going. She knows what the finish line looks like. She knows how it will feel when she reaches it. Her eyes are fixated on her destination. Her focus is laser sharp. The runner has a vision, a goal, a target. She shakes off all distractions. She does not look around her, nor behind her. She doesn’t compare herself to the runners beside her. She simply marches on, or runs on towards the thing that she wants.
Your ideal life is like that. It’s there waiting for you. But you have to know what it looks like, in order to grasp it, to touch it, to experience it, to live it.
A lot of people say they wish they were happier or more driven or more successful or more this or that… And a lot of people sit and watch with jealousy, as others chase their dreams and live their ideal life. The ones who sit, stubbornly refusing to take action feel sad, embarrassed, jealous or angry they don’t have THAT… that marriage, those kids, that job, that genuine JOY, yet they’ve never even taken the time to DEFINE their ideal life. They don’t even know what happiness WOULD look like, even if they DID “find it” or “get there.”
So…. what is the life you want? What does genuine happiness look like for you? If you could wake up tomorrow and have the “perfect day” play out before you, what would it look like?
Consider what is most important to you.
Where do you want to be on a personal or spiritual level?
Where do you want your health to be at?
How do you want to treat your spouse and kids on a daily basis?
What do you want your work to look like? Do you want to start your own business? Do you want the 9 to 5 job with steady income? Do you want to be a stay at home mom?
How do you define time freedom? What kinds of things do you want to be doing in your free time? If you had an open, free weekend exactly how would you spend it? What would you do? Where would you go? Who would you go with?
What is your life’s purpose and calling, and what would it look like to walk that out? (Side note: If you need help figuring out your life’s purpose, download my free guide at KatieHedrick.com/PurposeGuide)
I encourage you to spend some time carefully considering, and writing down what your ideal life would look like.
Because, sweet friend, we have to DEFINE before we can DO. We have to consider… what is the end goal?
If you’re already living your ideal life? That’s awesome! That’s great! But there’s always room for more growth, for more improvement.
You might assume that I am living my ideal life right now. I AM doing what I love to do, but I know in my heart there’s absolutely room for growth! I still have work to do and I will continue to have work to do until the day I die! We are not called to be stale or stagnant. We were created to dig in and to keep growing. It’s the reason that God gave us a full book of wisdom to dig into with the Holy Bible.
I would never say that I’ve “arrived” but I will say that I am creating the life I want to live on a daily basis and I’m definitely finding JOY in the JOurneY!
Are you ready to know HOW I do it? My secret is simple…
It’s through the INPUT and the OUTPUT areas of my life!
You’re like “Katie girl, what the heck are you even talking about?!”
Here’s what I’m talking about:
The INPUT of our life is what we are consuming, the things that are seeping in to our heart and mind.
The OUTPUT of our life is what we are producing, or putting out in to the world. It’s the fruit of our life, so to speak.
Let’s talk about the INPUT area of our life.
This is huge! The things you are CONSUMING are either nourishing or poisoning you! These things are literally transforming your heart and mind and they are being regurgitated out of your mouth and they are becoming your life!
If you don’t believe me, then do a little self assessment. Take a look at the things you are consuming:
Tv and Media. Think about what you’re consuming on TV and media. It’s all negative! Thenews, the politics, the doom and gloom. Everyone’s talking about everything that’s going wrong! And on top of that, all your TV really is is a giant box in your living room that’s advertising to you and selling you a bunch of stuff that you don’t need or necessarily even want!
Social Media. All these glossy photos of so and so’s perfect life that you’re only seeing one side of. It’s causing you to play the comparison game and it’s causing you to feel terrible about yourself. And you’re seeing all these political opinions and you’re seeing supposedly what’s cool, what’s not cool, who’s cool, who’s not cool, what to do, what to say, what to wear, how to think, how to speak, how to act, who you should vote for. All the things that you’re consuming from social media are sinking deep into your mind and it’s those feelings and thoughts that are being created as a direct result that are becoming your life.
Let’s talk about the friends that you hang out with and the input on your life there. You’ve often heard me talk about your 5 tribe. Who are the 5 people that you’re spending the most time with? What do their lives look like? Are they happy? Full of Joy? Optimistic? Honorable? Productive? Kind? Hardworking? Does love show in their life or are you hanging out with friends who are gossiping about their jobs and their spouse and their kids and their extended family members?. Think about who you’re hanging out with and what is being dripped into your heart and into your mind through those people. Show me your friends and I will show you your future.
These things are shaping your life! We should be PROTECTING our eyes and ears to protect our heart and mind!
I told my kids this story where back in high school I remember I had gone to a friend’s birthday party and all the other girls wanted to watch this really scary movie. I honestly had the Holy Spirit burn inside me. I had these weird vibes and feelings about it but everybody wanted to watch this scary movie so I did. I sat through it and it was terrible, and I hated every second. That night in my dreams, those terrible images actually out. They had sunk so deep into my heart and my mind that those images came out in my dreams. I’ve shared with my kids that if we’re in that position, we have to be so careful and really protect our eyes and our ears from what we’re consuming. It’s okay to say no. It’s okay to walk away. I love this quote by Christine Cain, “I’m as vigilant about what I keep out as I am what I put in.”
Friend, it’s time that we stop consuming crap and start consuming WISDOM!!
What does that look like? I will tell you that the holy bible is the greatest book of wisdom that has ever been breathed or written so that’s a great place to start. You’ll find a ton of rich wisdom in the book of Proverbs in the bible. Podcasts are also a great source of wisdom! We can also choose to read books over TV and social media. Here’s the thing, any of the books that are rooted in goodness and truth actually came originally out of the scripture because every concept and idea that is good and true and pure came out of the holy bible and it’s origin.
Here’s what you need to know… what you are consuming, the INPUT of your life is GOING to shape your life. It’s going to change the way that you think and act and it’s going to spill from your heart, out of your mouth and it’s going to BECOME your life.
Jesus taught this: Luke 6:45
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
That being said, let’s talk about the OUTPUT area of our life.
What are we producing? What are we putting out into the world? Our ACTIONS and our WORDS are SO POWERFUL!
Proverbs 18:21 “Life and Death are in the power of the tongue.”
In other words, our words have the power to create our life! SPEAK LIFE!
What are you speaking over yourself and others?! It’s manifesting in your life!
As a mom and wife…… Proverbs 14:1 “The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.”
Proverbs 31:26 “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
Speak life & ACT upon it!!
What are you doing? Like, what are the literal things you are doing? What are the actions you are taking each day? What type of things are you walking out in a literal sense? Do they align with your ideal life?
Do you want to have a deep relationship with Jesus? Are you reading your Bible?! Or is it collecting dust?
Do you want to be healthy? Are you exercising and eating proteins and greens or are you sipping on Monsters and consuming an entire bag of chips while binging on Netflix each evening?
Do you want a thriving marriage? Are you investing into it? Are you honoring and respecting your husband? Are you doing things to help lighten his load? Are you picking up his laundry without grumbling? Are you edifying him, instead of gossiping behind his back? Are you meeting his physical needs, even when you’re tired? (5 Love Languages)
Do you want to raise honorable, kind, productive human beings? Are you spending time pouring into your kids, choosing to be present and teaching them the things they need to know or are you numbing out and only “half listening?”
Do you want to cultivate great relationships and meaningful connections? Are you creating a time and space to actually get together with your girlfriends or are you hiding behind excuses and always finding a reason why you can’t?
Do you want to start a business? Are you pouring your free time into researching and doing the things that it will take to get there? #worthit!!!
Do your actions line up with your ideal life?!
We were created to take action! We are called to take action!
Check this out. This will blow your mind…
Matthew 25:14-30
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money.
Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’
But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Which do you want to be??!
Consider that story as you’re thinking about the output of your life!
We’ve worked on defining your ideal life. And we’ve talked about the INPUT and OUTPUT of your life.
So how will you know if you’re “getting there?”
The answer is simple, the fruit of your life will show it. Circle back to your ideal life. The fruit of your life will be in alignment with the life that you want to live and there will be JOY.
We all know people….. hate their life.
And we know some beautiful, incredible joy-filled people who are creating and living the life of their dreams. We know them because the fruit of their life shows it! They radiate love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Check out Galatians chapter 5 for more on that. That’s a great chapter to deep dive into!
As we come to a close, let’s recap… how do we create the life we want while finding joy in the journey?
-Define our ideal life
-Clean up the inputs
-Be intentional with the outputs
-and consistently examine the fruit
