Write Your Life Forward

If you've been in your head, trying to figure it all out and quietly wondering if there’s more...

This episode is a simple, honest invitation to get out of the mental noise and start leading your life from the inside out using a tool you already have.

If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected, may this be a reminder that you’re not powerless and give you a different way to think about your next move.

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Website: https://www.differentlyco.com

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Transcript

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Your Thoughts Can Change Your Life

SPEAKER_00 0:00

A deep change in the way that we live requires a deep change in the way that we think. I'm Carla Reeves, and this is differently. Hey, if you've been in your head lately trying to figure something out, today's episode is for you. Maybe you find yourself spinning your wheels, unsure of your next step, stuck in transitions somewhere in your life. Aren't we always doing this somewhere in our life, whether it's our business or relationships, or just the conversation in our own head? And if you've started to believe that the negative talk in your head is just the way it is, may this be a reminder that you have creative agency in your life. You were made in the image of God, the ultimate creator, which means you are creative. And it begins with your thoughts. And what I've found after 20 years of doing this work is that writing is one of the most powerful ways to manage and lead your thoughts differently. And when you do that, everything starts to change.

My Shift From Powerless To Present

SPEAKER_00 1:14

If you're new here to the podcast, welcome. I'm Carla Reeves. I'm a wife. I've been married 25 years. I'm a mom. I have two adult sons. And I'm on a mission, have been on a mission to squeeze the juice out of this gift of life. But that wasn't always how I felt for a long time in my life. I felt powerless and at the mercy of my circumstances. And it sucked, to be honest. I was doing all the things, working so hard with the best of intentions, checking the boxes and trying harder to be better, to be more productive, to work harder, to get more efficient, kind of uh holding on to that someday illusion that things would get better as long as I lined them all up on the outside to be just right. But it wasn't getting me closer to the life that I knew was possible. About 20 years ago, God called me to write, to start paying attention to my thoughts and getting honest about what was going on inside of me. It took my focus from the outside and turned it inside to my inner life, my thinking, my beliefs, my perspective. And as I started to take ownership of those things and clean those things up and cultivate those things, everything started to change on the outside. Not all at once, but I realized that I had been looking to the external world to make me fulfilled. And the real work was learning how to lead my inner life. So this podcast is a space where I want to remind you of that every single week that you're not stuck, you're not powerless, you're not at the mercy of your own thoughts. And you have say, you have an invitation to take part of how your life unfolds.

Why Writing Breaks Mental Loops

SPEAKER_00 3:09

And here's the cool thing that there is a tool that you already have access to that lives in your back pocket literally, that could calm your mind, get you clear, and help you move forward on the daily. It's writing. And it's not what you think. It's not about being a writer, it's not about knowing how to write, it's not about journaling perfectly. It's really about getting out of your head and getting some distance from your thoughts so that you, they don't run you, that you lead them. Because here's what I see over and over again: is that we are overwhelmed. We are stuck in our head, we are spinning in the same thoughts. We feel like something is missing. We know there's more. I know that you know in your heart that there is more to life, but you just feel like you can't quite get there. I felt that way too. There might feel like there's just a lot of mental noise and friction inside. Like your life looks good on the outside, but inside there's a disconnect. There's a lot of second guessing and wondering like, what am I doing with my life? And a longing to not miss out on one more day of really deeply experiencing this gift of life that you have. And maybe the more you try to think your way out of it, the more stuck you feel. You are not alone, my friend. Here's the thing writing interrupts that. We literally just did that this morning in the free class. I hope I host every month. And I hope that you will join me one of these months coming up. You can go to the website and see the upcoming class. Writing interrupts that, and that's what we do every month. It creates space, it helps you to step back so that you can see what's actually going on. Because when you're too close to something, everything gets jumbled and distorted and feels proportionately scarier, bigger, more overwhelming than it actually is. And three to ten minutes of writing can give you perspective that you didn't have. So, what does this look like? You can write through overwhelm. You can write through spinning your wheels, you can write through being stuck in your head, you can write through fear, doubt, and confusion. You can write to process what builds up just in a given day in your thoughts and your emotions. You can write your way to your next step. You grab a notebook and you get honest.

Writing Through Life Transitions

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Right now in my own life, I'm writing through so many things. I'm writing through a new season of um having an empty nest and having adult sons who are navigating their own hard things. Um, my family rhythms are changing. My husband and I are on a new journey because we've spent most of our time, he and I. There's some loneliness, but there's some excitement about what we're creating now in our life. There's an exploring of what's next. There's a lot happening in the business and an invitation to like step into a bigger version of what I've been doing. I'm writing my way through that. And I'm writing my way to figure out who I'm called to be in the face of this and this and this and this. Because we don't always control what is happening in our lives. I want to remind you that we do always have say in how we think about it and how we show up to it. And that can change everything. I don't know about you, but the world feels really noisy. It seems to be getting extra hard to look around and find a moral compass. And I was just reminding a couple friends this last week as they're navigating hard things that they, you know, they're maybe feeling overwhelmed by what others are thinking about their choices or their opinions of what they're doing. And I had to remind them only you can see your compass. Only you can hear what God is saying to you. And it's always super unique to each of us. We all are on a spiritual journey, and you have to take ownership over that part of your journey. And sometimes that's hard. Sometimes it's hard to make a choice that you know inside is the right thing, but to the world and to people around you, it may look odd. So instead of trying to figure everything out, what if you started with just a simple practice where you check in with yourself? You take five minutes, literally in the free class. We write for between three to ten minutes every class, and you your mind would be blown around what happens in that three to ten minutes for people. It doesn't have to take a lot of time, and that writing lets you empty your head, remember who you are, remember what you're up to, and find a next step. You don't need the whole plan. And the lies that come up to keep us from doing this nurturing, healthy um practice in your life, those are things probably like I don't have time, I don't like writing, I don't know what to write, I'm afraid of what I might find. But what if those are just things that are really getting in your way and excusing you from the life you actually want? So, what if you stood up in the face of those and borrow what I know is that three to 10 minutes can be life-changing or day changing. There's nothing more you need to figure out first. You just need to take five minutes. This is why I've created over 250 episodes to share this message that you have agency in your life that you don't realize you have. And one of the ways you can find it is through putting pen to paper. It'll give you a place to come back and reset, to remember, to think differently, and to keep moving forward.

Five Minutes To Find Your Next Step

SPEAKER_00 9:37

So here's what I want to invite you to do today: grab a notebook, ask yourself what's taking up space in your head right now. Write it out. You don't have to edit it, you don't have to fix it. Then just stand back and say what is calling for my attention and what's one step I could take today. If this resonates with you, I want to remind you that the Differently Journal is available. It's a guide and a journal to help you do just this on a more regular daily practice in your life. You can come to the free monthly class, bring that journal to the class. It will inspire you to get started. It'll inspire you to fill up the pages, and it'll reinforce the framework that you can not only use in your journal, but you can use it in your life to literally take part in writing your story. And if you know someone who is spinning their wheels or going through the motions or quietly wanting more, send this to them, please. Throw them a lifeline. Friend, you are not here to survive your life. You're here to create it. One thought, one page, one step at a time.