Well today I'm going to share a small journey with you, on our home renovation. If you're like me, you love a great before and after picture. I was going through our recent renovation pictures and thought I would share some of the insight I gained from the lesson of our renovations. We have done several different spaces within my house, and each one, I learn something from. A lesson that goes beyond the renovation, but more tangible than that. Wisdom that is dropped like dew into my heart, so that I can share it with others. Have you ever heard the old proverb, "As a man thinks in his heart, so he is"? (Proverbs 23:7) Just take moment and think about that. It is saying what you think you are, you are. Hmmm… Maybe it is time to renovate your thinking.
Have you ever stopped to think about how many times you batter yourself with your words on a daily basis? Maybe you say say things like, "oh I'm so stupid, why did I do that? I can't do anything right! UGH dummy why didn't you see that? You're an idiot, what is wrong with you? Don't try that, you will never be able to do it. Why would you think you are capable of that? No one will purchase that from you, who do you think you are?" Can you relate to any of these statements? I can't be the only one, that has ever told themselves one or more of these. For a moment, think about this, would you say any of that to someone else? Would you say that to your spouse, children, friend, or boss? Of course not! Then why should you tell yourself that? You're worth speaking kind and loving words over you!
As a speaker, I realize that in order to retain and remember information, I may have to rehearse it over and over. Have you ever prepared for a presentation and as you rehearse it, you begin to retain the information, so that you don't need to necessarily have your notes? This is a strategy used to build your memory, so think about how many times you tell yourself something negative about yourself? I'll wait….. The more you say it the more you will remember it. As a woman of faith, I corelate a lot of practical things with the Bible, and so I think about the verse that says, "faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). From a practical perspective think about this, negative thoughts come by hearing you say them over and over. Positive thoughts come from hearing them over and over. There is an old proverb that says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and they that love it shall eat the fruit of it." (Proverbs 18:21) Meaning, that what you speak out of your mouth, either to yourself or anyone else, can bring death or life.
I wrote a blog called Word Power, and if you haven't read it, I highly encourage it, because it relates in so many ways to what we speak is what we think. Our minds are very powerful and we have the ability to recall memories and create them. I love the quote that says, "a person's mind is so powerful we can invent, create, experience, and destroy things with thoughts alone."- Unknown. Let that seep in for a moment.
Prior to my office renovation, I often felt like I was in a dungeon, the room was a catch all for everything in the house. The walls were dark panel, the floors and desk all looked the same. I simply did what I could in it and left as soon as I could. I've worked from home for years, and I did what I had to and left. I felt myself, sad, depressed, I wasn't happy in any sense of the word. I wanted a room just for me, an office that I was excited to go into. One that would cultivate creativity and bring an atmosphere where I could dream. I had lost my ability to dream.
During the process, I realized how many unnecessary things I had in my office. They had no value at all to me. They either were old and not needed any more, or something that didn't bring joy. As I cleared out the space, even with the old things still in tacked, I thought I can breathe. I can think! Wow, what do I want to create. I knew the paneling had to be removed although my husband wanted to paint over it. All of a sudden vision started happening again. I called my friend who is an interior designer to show her my plans. She made some tweaks, shared some thoughts, provided necessary direction and all of a sudden there was a full plan. As this was all happening in my natural world, I heard this small voice inside, saying there are some things you have to do to change in your mindset. See changing my office was only one piece of the renovation that had to happen. I had to begin to reimagine my business, my work, me. Who I was and who I would be. The renovation on the outside reminded me that there were some negative thoughts, old memories that were not fitting any more. They were not helpful or part of who I was, so I needed to do some renovation in areas of my life.
Today, I want to challenge you to really consider what you are thinking about, how you think about yourself, your situation, and others. Consider those thoughts, and where they are coming from and what should be remove from your life. Are they thoughts of insecurity that causes you to keep toxic relationships alive. Are they thoughts of failure that have kept you from building that business you desire to have. Are they thoughts of rejection, that is holding you back from experiencing true relationships in your life? Regardless of which it might be, the answer is the same; it's time to renovate. Something amazing happened after my office renovation. I was able to dream and build more than I had in the 10 years I sat in my previous office. My husband told a friend this, "I thought I provided my wife with what she needed, an office. It wasn't until I saw what she created that I realized I hadn't given her what she really needed. It functioned as an office, but now after the renovation, I realize what she needed was a space to create and birth dreams. She has been more productive in the past month than she was in the years before." This told me, that this space helped me to thrive! That I was able to
produce more for my family, clients, and church than ever before. The fact is during the office renovation, my mind was being renovated too!
Are you ready to renovate to thrive? One lesson I learned is that I had to hire professionals to help me. I had a contractor and a designer to assist me in the office renovation. Without them, it would not have been possible to create what I have today. I hired a therapist, and coach to walk me through some mindset changes. You are worth the investment. Invest in you and creating that new mindset, and your dreams will always come true. It's our desire to see everyone thrive and be the most successful version of themselves. We believe we're better together! We would love to partner with you for growth, let us know how we can empower you. Click here for a free consultation.
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