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One Step at a Time · Revolution of Purpose Podcast

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What if the reason that you haven't taken the next step isn't because
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you don't know what to do, but because you're waiting to know what happens 10
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steps from now? What if you don't need the whole plan
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though? What if you only need enough faith to take the
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next step? Today we're talking about why the path to our biggest life may
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not be revealed all at once, and that's okay. Welcome to the
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Revolution of Purpose podcast. I'm your host, John Street, and each week
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we bring you conversations with thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and individuals who
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have aligned life with purpose and created extraordinary
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results. So, I'm going to live through it and accept it radically with grace
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and hope and love. I mean, I would be proud to be in this
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council. It was an honor. I had so much fun. Tune in every Monday for
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the Revolution of Purpose solo show and every Thursday for Revolution of Purpose
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Conversations. Welcome back to the Revolution of Purpose Podcast. I'm John
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Streit, and I am so glad that you're here today. Today, I want
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to talk to you about one word that has stopped more dreams
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than I think I could even realize. And that word is how.
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We get a vision for something bigger. We feel a calling. We imagine
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a different life, a different business, a different career, a different relationship.
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Sometimes we even imagine a different version of ourselves. And then almost immediately
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the mind says, yeah, but how? How am I gonna get there?
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How is this going to work? Where is the money going to come from?
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Who do I need to know? What if I make a wrong decision?
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Or what if I take the first step and then the rest of the staircase
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never appears? I think that desire to know the how is deeply human.
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And in many ways, it's a safety mechanism. If I can see the entire
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path, then I feel safer believing that the destination
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is even possible. I feel less embarrassed if people see
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me try something. You know, if, if I can build the spreadsheet and map every
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turn, predict every obstacle, then I know exactly
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what's going to happen next. And then I can convince myself that I'm in
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control. But here's the problem. Some of the biggest
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visions for our lives are bigger than our current ability to
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understand how they will happen. And maybe they are supposed to be.
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The vision, you see, comes before the map.
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If your dream only requires steps that you already know how
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to take, then it may be a good goal, but it probably isn't
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stretching the boundaries of what you believe is possible. The dreams that
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awaken something in us often come before the map.
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We see the destination before we understand the route to get there.
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And that's where faith enters the picture. For me, faith means that
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I can hold the vision without demanding that God, my higher power,
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the universe hand me the entire blueprint right away.
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I can envision the goal. I can practice living from the wish fulfilled,
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as the great Neville Goddard taught, feeling into the
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identity and emotional reality of the person for whom this
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desire has already become real. And then I can release my grip on the
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how. That doesn't mean that I sit on the couch and wait for the universe
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to just knock on the door. But it does mean that I take the step
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that is available to me now without demanding proof of steps 2,
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3, 20 before I'm willing to move.
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There is a difference between having a vision and controlling the route.
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The responsibility is the vision, the becoming, and the
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aligned action that is yours to take today. You do not have to control
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every person, every circumstance, every opportunity,
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connection, detour, even those unexpected doors
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that may just be opening right in front of you and part of bringing
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that vision into reality. You know, I love the story, especially of Sara
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Blakely. She's the founder of Spanx. So because her beginning
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looked nothing like a perfectly mapped out entrepreneurial plan,
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I thought it would be a great example to share on this podcast episode.
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Today. You see, Sara was selling fax machines door-to-door.
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She had never worked in fashion or in retail. She had never taken
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a business class. She did not know how to manufacture the very product
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that she was imagining, but she had a vision.
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Blakely has talked about visualization being part
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of her life before Spanx ever existed. She had become very
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specific about wanting to create a product of her own that
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she could sell to millions of people that would make people feel good.
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And then one day, after cutting the feet out of a pair of
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pantyhose to solve a problem with an outfit,
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she had an idea. Notice what she did not have in that moment.
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She didn't have a manufacturing plan and she didn't have a fashion industry
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connection and she didn't have a giant investment fund or every answer.
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But she did have an idea. And so she
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took a next step. Her next step was to start researching.
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Then she learned about patents. And then when attorneys were too expensive
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for her limited savings, she bought a book and began writing much of the patent
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herself. She called hosiery mills even when they weren't interested.
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She kept learning what the next step required, and eventually one
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step led to another and another and another. And every step she took
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awakened her to more of the possibility that this goal could become
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real. And it was changing her identity. She was believing
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that it was possible and becoming the person that was making it.
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Possible. This story matters because from the vantage point of success,
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we can look backwards and see a path. But the person standing
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at the beginning, there's no way she could have seen that finished staircase.
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She could only take the step in front of her. And you're not required
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to know everything. If you're listening to this today,
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you may be holding a vision that feels almost unreasonable.
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You can see it in your mind and you can feel something that is
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deep within you saying, this is where I'm supposed to go, then your rational
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mind starts interrogating the vision. Well, how, how are
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you going to get there? How could that possibly happen from where you are right
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now? And I want you to hear this. Not knowing how does not mean
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the vision is wrong. Sometimes it simply means that you haven't
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arrived at the part of the journey where that information becomes
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necessary. Think about climbing an actual staircase.
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You don't stand at the bottom and then somehow place your foot on the 10th
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step. No, you take that first step.
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And from there, the second step becomes available. And then the third step
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shows up. And the only way to climb that staircase is to then take
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the fourth and the fifth and the sixth. And you're doing it one step
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at a time. So maybe the question is not, how do I make this
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entire dream reality today? Please pardon this interruption to
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your podcast episode. This will not take but a minute. Before we continue, I want
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to ask you something. Do you know that you're capable of more, but your life
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right now just isn't fully reflecting the person you
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know you can become? Then I want to personally invite you to schedule a Shift
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Mindset call with me. This Shift Mindset experience
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is something that I created to help you identify one decision that you
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can make that will shift your life. And when I say that this is a
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call with me, I mean exactly that. This is a live,
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one-on-one, personal call between you and
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I. This is not prerecorded. This is not a member of my team.
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It is you and I having a real coaching conversation about your life.
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And it does not cost you any money. It is a 45-minute exchange
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of time. I'll give you 30 minutes of my best mindset coaching to help you
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identify a decision that will create a real shift in your life. And in exchange,
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I just ask that you give me about 15 minutes to show you the coaching
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experiences that I offer. There's no obligation, but there is
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an opportunity to create a meaningful shift in your life
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just from this call. You can schedule yours today at johnstreet.org.
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Just click on the button that says schedule your Shift Call.
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And also, if this podcast is helping you, please subscribe,
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please like, and please share it. Every time you do that,
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every time you engage, you are helping to spread this message and inspire
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someone else to create their best life through also living their
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own revolution of purpose. Now let's get you back to the
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Revolution of Purpose podcast. Maybe the question is,
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what is mine to do next? What is the next
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best step? And I know that you may be thinking, you know,
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John, how do I know whether something is really my next aligned step or
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not, or something that's just keeping me busy or something that is distracting
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me from what I should be doing? But for me, this is where Being
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quiet becomes incredibly important. You see, we live in
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a world filled with noise. Everybody has an opinion about what you
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should be doing. Social media will tell you what success is supposed to look
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like for you, and fear will tell you where you could be going
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wrong. Your limiting beliefs may tell you that you aren't smart enough,
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experienced enough, connected enough, young enough, old enough,
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wealthy enough, ready enough, fat enough, thin enough, muscular enough,
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whatever it is. But underneath all of those limiting beliefs
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and noise is something quieter. And it's your inner knowing,
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your intuition, your connection to a wisdom
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that is greater than a fearful chatter of your conscious mind.
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I call that God. You can call it God, your higher power,
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the great stream of consciousness, whatever language resonates with you.
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But I believe that we are connected to a source of wisdom
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that is so much greater than the limitations that we have learned to
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place on ourselves. But you have to become quiet enough to actually
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hear it. That looks like meditation, journaling, prayer,
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sitting in silence, taking a walk without filling your ears
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with something. And then ask, what is the next step?
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And then trust what rises. You know, trust what comes up from deep
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inside. You may not get a 10-year business plan, but you may get
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a name to call, someone to email, a class to take,
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a conversation to have. Maybe it's a boundary to set that
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comes to mind. Or a room that you need to walk into. Maybe it's an
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application to submit or a habit to begin, but you'll get one step.
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Something will come to mind, and I want you to take it. And then
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comes another fear. John, what if I take the wrong step? What if I'm wasting
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my time? What if I'm failing and I'm gonna be so embarrassed? I don't believe
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we truly blow it nearly as often as we think we do.
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I believe all things can work together for good.
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Sometimes we feel like we have labeled
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a failure as something that is just destructing the
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rest of our lives, when actually it's something that's educating us or strengthening
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us or revealing what we really need to be doing with
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our life. Sometimes what seems like a failure is introducing
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us to someone who we were supposed to meet all along. Sometimes it's building
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a capacity that we're going to need later. A lot of times that
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closed door is important because it's redirecting us toward a door that
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we might never have even noticed otherwise. That doesn't mean that every
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painful experience has sent us to some kind of lesson,
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but it does mean that we can choose to extract wisdom from everything
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that happens to us and allow it to become part of our growth.
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A step that doesn't lead where you expected can still teach
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you something that you need for where you're going.
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So stop demanding perfection for every decision.
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You are allowed to learn while you move. Here's what I want you
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to practice this week. Give yourself 5 or 10 quiet minutes one
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day. Put, put your phone away, close your eyes, and just allow yourself to
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see the life that you genuinely desire. Don't begin with what
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seems realistic. Don't begin with what you currently know how to accomplish.
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Begin with a desire. What, what you really want.
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What does that life look like? Who have you become in that life? And how
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do you feel when you wake up? What kind of work are you doing?
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Who are you serving? And what kind of relationships surround you?
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What does abundance look like and feel like in your life
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when you're envisioning this goal-achieved life? I need you to see it.
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And more importantly, I need you to feel it. I need you to live for
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a few moments from that wish fulfilled. And then
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instead of immediately grabbing the vision and squeezing it with the question,
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how? Just release the how. Give the how away. You may
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simply say, God, this is the vision in my heart, and I don't know every
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step required to get there, but I release the how.
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Please show me what is mine to do next. And then sit quietly.
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Just listen. And when that next step becomes clear, take it.
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And after that, you can ask again, okay, what is next?
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You don't need to see the entire staircase to begin climbing. You don't
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need to know every person who will help you along the way. You don't need
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to predict every opportunity or to understand every detour. You don't
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have to have the evidence today that the thing you see in your imagination
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is guaranteed to happen exactly the way you picture it. You need a vision that
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is strong enough to just move forward. You need the willingness
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to become the person capable of holding that vision and the faith
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that there may be resources, wisdom, people,
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possibilities, and pathways that you can't even see from where
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you're standing today. And you need enough courage, not enough courage to
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do the whole thing, but you need enough courage to take the next best step
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and then another and then another. The only way to climb
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a staircase is one step at a time. I really hope this
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resonated with you today. And I, and I thank you for spending this time with
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me. Please share this podcast. I hope you'll share it with people.
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If you're listening on Apple or Amazon
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or Spotify, I hope that you'll follow it. If you're watching on YouTube, I hope
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you'll subscribe and share this with someone who might need to
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get this encouragement that they don't have to know the whole plan before they take
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their first step. And wherever you're listening or watching today, I hope that you
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will continue to live your personal revolution
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of purpose. Until next time, have an amazing
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day. Thank you so much for spending this time with me today. If this
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episode encouraged you, if it challenged you, or if it helped you see your life
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a little bit different Would you do me a favor? Subscribe to the podcast,
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leave a rating or review, and share this episode with someone
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who needs to hear it. Every share helps us reach more
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people who are searching for hope, purpose, and a life of
14:18
greater meaning. And if you're ready to stop wondering what's next and
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start living with greater clarity and purpose in your own life,
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I would love to meet with you personally. Visit johnstrait.com
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street.org right now to schedule your complimentary live Purpose and Clarity call with me.
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Until next time, remember, your purpose is not something you
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find. It is something you awaken to, and then you
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choose to live it. Go make today another step in your own
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revolution of purpose.