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Episode 54: Habits to Help With Info Overload · The Habit Lab

• 1:08
  Speaker 1: We all have areas in our life we might feel stuck or overwhelmed.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: So join me, jenna Zint, habit coach, teacher and follower of Jesus, as we go after little bits of better by building offensively small habits that create big impact.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: This is the Habit Lab Podcast.
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: If you have been wanting to build a Bible reading habit that actually sticks, but you've struggled with the how-to, I've got something special for you.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: I actually released a free 15-minute instructional video where I break down.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: I have slides.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: I made it so professional.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: At first I just tried to do a video and I was like I would not be able to track on my own if I was watching this.
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: So I actually made a little slideshow and it's like a mini class.
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: It's 14, 15 minutes, but I break down exactly the four steps on how to build a Bible habit that fits your life and actually, last, I share some tips and simple strategies so you can actually it'll be in the show notes.
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: It's on YouTube.
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: Click that little 15 minute video if you want to start 2025 strong.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: One small habit at a time, sabbath at a time, with increasing your consistency with your Bible habit.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Okay, so that's for you in the show notes.
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: Free little video.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: I don't know if course feels too small when it's 15 minutes, just a how-to.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: It's a how-to video, but anyways, this episode is actually about my habits around managing my input, and what does that mean?
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: I feel so fluffy, voo-voo New words.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, you know that's really why you tune into Habit Lab is to hear Jenna make up words all the time.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: You're welcome.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: I will stay true to my brand Promise to never lose that, no matter how big I get.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Just kidding, I hope I get better at pronouncing words.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Anyways, one of the things that I have been doing.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: It's funny.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it's been conscious.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: It's definitely been conscious, but I've made some habits around managing my input, and what I mean by input is, yes, I think of areas as any media I'm consuming, but I think most of us think about unhelpful like, maybe shows like Netflix, or scrolling or social media.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: Those were kind of the more obvious areas that everybody's aware of, and when I was wanting to manage my consumption, it almost feels like not a diet, but like with your food.
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: When you're intentional, you just don't eat whatever's put in front of you and you like, you're strategic, so that you feel the best and it supports your lifestyle.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: I feel like that was my perception with managing my input.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: But then, when I got a little deeper, I realized that I needed to manage some of the ones.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: I would say that social media and shows are maybe the ones that people will be like oh yeah, of course, like they could almost be considered like junk food, if you will.
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: So then that feels like those are what people think and that's what I do too.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: I did first.
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: I manage those a bit.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: I have an episode.
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: I'll link it to some of the ways that I broke my nighttime TV watching habit.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: And then the other thing with social media.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: People ask all the time I don't have profound like what's the word?
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: Habits in this area.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: I actually the couple that I have is one.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: I usually delete the apps, that I delete Facebook and Instagram on Saturday and Sunday so that I'm present with my kids, and then I usually take a sabbatical in July where I take off the social media, and then usually around Christmas I take off for at least 10 days to two weeks and my thought process is that I can manage like I have to be on it for work, but I can actually at least remove it from my life in seasons where I'm home with the kids so that they get my most present self, and it's so helpful.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: So right now those are just my habits around consumption with social media.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: But the ones that I didn't notice, that I really wanted to talk about this episode that took me a little while to clue in that I needed some kind of habit or boundaries with myself, would be podcasts, books, music.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: I would say those would be the main ones that were my first, I think.
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: If the social media and shows were junk food, I was like, yeah, of course you got to manage your appetite.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Well, I think books, podcasts and music felt more gosh I don't even know what the word.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: It feels like it's not as obvious.
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: You're like, oh, those are all good and you're learning.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: And that's what I realized.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Like gosh, I don't even know what the word like.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: It feels like it's not as obvious.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: You're like, oh, those are all good and you're learning.
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: And that's what I realized.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Like, oh, the things that could be good, and they are good.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: There's not something.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: They're not causing me to sin, they're not intrinsically bad.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: I'm actually.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: They're good because I'm learning.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: But what I realized?
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: That there is a big gap between what I'm learning and I'm growing and I think the difference if I could like break it down was learning almost got to this point of like collecting information, almost like a collectible.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: Like you know, I was going to say all those like ceramic cows that were super popular in the late 80s or 90s I feel like so many of my friends' moms I also lived in North Carolina would have.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Their kitchen was themed country kitchen or something.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: It would be like cows or chickens or whatever.
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: So it's almost like collecting those little.
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: That's what I realized I was doing with all these books and podcasts.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: I was reading, I was collecting information, but I was collecting knowledge, I was not implementing it and I realized some of the disconnect.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I was like I actually am not interested in just knowing more, I want to have space to implement.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: It's almost like collecting seeds, I guess, versus actually putting them in the ground and tending to them and letting them grow and actually change your life and your behavior and affect you.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: And I realized that when I was on this almost like treadmill of consumption with books and music and podcasts and whatever else sermons again, all good stuff, but I was overwhelmed.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: It was like information overload and there's so many statistics.
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: I was doing a little research before, but about the mental fatigue when you have information overload and a lot of us just think of it as social media.
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: But they were talking.
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: One of the studies I was reading was talking about high schoolers online, how overwhelmed they actually get in doing some of their work.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: Because they were saying that there's this it's like the amount of information we have available to us and that we consume it causes a weight, actually does the opposite.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Where it's like decision fatigue, we hear things that conflict.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: We don't know what to do first because we have all these areas.
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: We have a backlog of books we've read that we now want to implement, but we're just going to go read the next one instead of actually making a space to implement what we learned.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: And they said that the high schoolers felt overwhelmed and have decision paralysis, have more anxiousness, have all these things from having more resources.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, that's actually it.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: This is where this habit came from, where I managed my input, because I realized collecting information is not.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: I actually don't care.
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: This may be a very controversial statement, so watch out.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: I am not interested in having read a bunch of books at the end of a year.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: I'm interested in putting a bunch of stuff into practice that changes my life, that I've read in a few books.
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: So that shift for me was like oh actually, if I'm just constantly consuming, I'm not making any space to implement and grow or like chew on this with the Lord.
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: So I scaled way back how many podcasts I listened to, how many books I've listened to.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: I would say I probably did this halfway through 2023, but 2024, I read very few books outside of the Bible and if you had told me that, gosh, that was not as much a conscious choice, it was not.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: I feel a little hesitant to even say that because it sounds so religious and it's partially.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: I'm imagining my 19 year old self, who is like a little more religious and like, yeah, that should be the right answer.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: And then I'm imagining my 30 year old self who was like kind of lukewarm and definitely not really.
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: The Bible was like a task, it wasn't something that I enjoyed or felt like a lot of life on.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Imagine her, the 30-year-old, listening to me say this at 38 and being like ew, gross, that's a cliche.
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: Or rolling your eyes at it, sounding like Christianese, but what happened?
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: So that one kind of, I knew that I wanted to manage my consumption because I was like I'm actually overwhelmed and I don't think learning more is what I need right now.
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: I actually think I need space to implement and grow and practice what I have learned and then, when I feel like I have space and capacity or something the Lord really highlights, I'll go and then learn and grow some more or get some more knowledge.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: How about that?
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: So, in that I did not say I'm not going to read anything other than the Bible and I did I think I did read maybe a couple books this year.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Actually, one of my habits in this limiting my consumption I'm like, oh, actually I'm not interested in just collecting more knowledge, I want to have the space to implement it.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: I went back and re-listened.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: So my habit for 2024 were some of the books that made the most impact on me.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: I went back and re-listened to them because I had this awareness of like man, there's so many books that I'm like, oh, that was so good and maybe I can quote a couple points.
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: But I was like, wait, I finished it and I felt so inspired, but where's the fruit in my life of how it changed my life by implementing it and realizing like it's not actually the book's fault, it was a fault is a word that sounds shamey or blamey.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: Just realizing like, oh, that's not me, like so in 2024, I reread quite a few, maybe like three or four, of the books that were really impactful that I had read in years past, cause, like I want to get these into my soul, like I, every time I reread them I hear something different.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: And then what am I going to do?
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: And it really it's almost feels like the difference of quickly plowing through knowledge versus marinating in it where it gets, like deep in me.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: So that was a conscious choice habit I made to limit my consumption of is constantly at input overload.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: Any of you I always think of the most over input overload moment in the day is usually at dinner time.
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: You know where they need a little bit of homework help and maybe they've been home long enough that there's some sibling squabbles.
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: And then Aaron comes home and I want to talk to him but I'm trying to get dinner on time and checking on homework and it's just like boo, nervous systems like and we're shutting down, anyways.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: So input overload.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: So my first habit for limiting with reading was going back to reread the books that I really meant and it's been cool.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: Now it's like a practice.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: When I read a book that really impacts me, oftentimes I'll just start immediately again and reread it.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Or, because they're in my library, I'll go back and read things and I've gotten so much more.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: It really does feel like a deeper layer to work with the material.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: It almost reminds me in college how you don't just do English class once, you do 101 and 102 and then 201 and 202.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: That's kind of the principle that I think of with this and I have to be honest, it's a bit of an ego hit because we're in a culture where it's popular and like shiny to have an extensive reading list or podcast list.
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: So I'm and again I'm on a podcast how ironic to be like, hey, listen to this podcast, which I get.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: But I care more about you managing and making space for implementing.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: If that means some of you stop listening to me, you decide I'm on the list of things you're going to scale back on, no problem.
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: I care more about you having room and not being overwhelmed with good information, to actually have space to practice.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: That is the implementation's the secret sauce.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: So that was one thing.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: And then the other thing with my reading, when I was limiting my input, was realizing that I wanted to have more time to learn about the Bible, like the context of the Bible, and just dig a little deeper, which you guys again, if you had told 30-year-old me that someone of my friends gave me a concordance last year or commentary, I actually don't know the difference I probably should look that up after this episode.
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: Clearly I'm a theologian over here, anyways, but she gave it to me and I was like, okay, last year, if I'm honest, aubrey, you can handle honesty right.
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: And then it has been such a gift where I'm like, oh, if I'm not consuming more like reading, I actually have time and space to dig into the Bible in a way that has come alive to me this year.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: And it's been beautiful because in that sharing with Aaron and we actually did a Bible study that was literally just the Bible, it wasn't someone else's book and the Bible.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: But then we like dug into some more like historical context and what was it like to be a Jewish person in this, under this, you know, emperor, and under this like what does the census actually mean?
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: And look like.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: And it's been because I've been limiting my input.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: I have the space to actually really dive in and almost like interact with the Bible in a way that I never had.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: But then it's beautiful because, also, you know what the concept of what you feed grows.
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: And because I wasn't reading even if I enjoyed it to then go read something else, like it was most of what I was reading I would pick it back up at night or be like, yeah, I read my morning this, like this morning I read it, but then at night, if I was looking for, you know, to fill five to 10 minutes before bed, I'd pick it up again because I was like, well, I wonder what they say overall about revelations, or I wonder what the thoughts around the authorship of this book are.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: And I'm like, oh my gosh, and it was just this beautiful awareness of like oh, and I make space or recalibrate.
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of good information out there, but I actually know that this is what the Lord's doing in my life right now and I feel so alive and hungry for it, and again, not like I'm a mom.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: So when I say alive and hungry, I probably look up something extra, maybe three times a week, four times a week.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Not crazy over here.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: No Bible scholar, but I'm noticing.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, when I was consuming a ton of information even if it was helpful learning stuff I didn't point my appetite or like empty space towards the Bible in the same way and I was like, wow, this has been such a.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: That was not a purposeful habit.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: If you had told me, hey, read less other things so you could read the Bible more, it'd be like telling a kid, hey, we're going to have less chicken nuggets and more broccoli and you'd be like meh.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: But then the beautiful part gosh, the Lord's just so faithful in this little bits of better which, again, I just so subscribed to.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: I think this is often how he works in us, when he's the potter and we're the clay.
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: How slow and meticulous of a process that is.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: And how not upset or disappointed when I just look back to how he shaped me this year in 2024.
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, there's definitely this theme, but almost thank you for not, there was.
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: No, my 19 year old self was maybe more religious, would have been like made a harsh proclamation or did something really black or white or all or nothing.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: But I think the beautiful part of watching this shift for me as I've limited my input and had a lot more of that, given that piece to reading the Bible in context and all the other things is that it's come out of relationship.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: It hasn't come out of this big should or this is what I'm going to do, and the irony for me I don't know about y'all's history is a lot of the religious stuff or black or white or all or nothing mindsets that I had were just imposed on by me.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: I wasn't part of a really crazy religious group but like in my zeal or when I'd feel almost like some level of conviction or want to grow in this area, I would just go so all or nothing, black or white, that I'd make these big declarations or absolutes or I used to do no talking fast and all the things.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: So then I kind of burned myself out, and that's part of where that and kids and then Aaron deconstructing his faith, is where I got like lukewarm in my early 30s, late 20s, quite a few years, I would say so to then be in this spot where all of these things I'm saying is not coming out from a black or white.
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: It's been this slow shift over a couple of years and I'm not shitting myself, it's just coming out of relationship and true curiosity and being overwhelmed with how much I don't know about the Bible.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: That would be so.
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: It's like I actually have felt multiple times.
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: I'm like, how am I a Christian?
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: Oh, you guys, here's a great example.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: You're going to laugh because probably some of you I mean most of you probably yeah, don't know.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: The other day, when Aaron and I were talking about like the Bible, what we had been reading that morning in the Bible, it was like, oh, I was like, so are all the letters, the epistles?
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: And Aaron was like, yeah, yeah, I actually, frankly, before we read the Bible through together or whenever I think it was 2023 was the first year I didn't know other than New Testament and Old Testament and the Gospels.
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: That was it.
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: I didn't know there was subsections or there's prophet or minor prophets, and I'm like my friends are all talking and I'm like, hmm, am I?
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Am I really a Christian?
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: Just kidding.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: But it was like this awareness of like how much I don't know and it's been, it's cool going into 2025, because this is probably more like Aaron and I.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: Actually it was like this awareness of like how much I don't know and it's been.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: It's cool going into 2025, because this is probably more like Aaron and I.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Actually, it was really sweet for his.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: I just finished Christmas shopping for him today and one of his last requests was what was it?
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: Reading the Bible through Eastern eyes or something like that, versus like the Western mindset that we have, like things we wouldn't know about, their culture and peace, and I just felt I think, even just the awareness, like he would say this we'll probably do a podcast on our marriage podcast about kind of something around both of our hearts taking such shifts.
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: But as he saw me going after it, he then started reading it and he's in such a different place with the Lord and with the Bible than he was the first year.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: But it's just profound and it just re-reminds me that when I take my hands off of his process, I feel it so deeply and when I've like it was such a hard thing, not micromanaging him or telling even as I was discovering life and fruit out of a good spot, like I wasn't trying to control him, but like I was discovering so much life, so wanting to give it to him, like give him that habit, knowing it would help him, you know, or be so beneficial.
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: Letting go of all my attempts at controlling him and then watching him make his own habits around the Bible and just even just like editing his own input, like around the whole topic of this podcast, is like habits on limiting your input, watching him go from like I mean, he still reads a ton, but he actually reads a whole lot less.
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: As I'm thinking about it, I wish I would have asked him specifically.
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: I don't know that he's made a conscious choice, but he now is consuming way more about the Bible and reading longer or deeper or these other things.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: And the beautiful part is that it did not happen when I was trying to give him my habits.
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: Part is that it did not happen when I was trying to give him my habits, when I let go of all like almost like hands on the steering wheel and actually it was like yep, I remember the Lord being like almost like not prying my fingers, but it felt like it.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: And he was like do you actually trust me?
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: And I was like, okay, okay, jesus, yes, I do.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: And I had to let go of all of it.
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: And I think sometimes we mistake that because our hearts are in the right spot that we should keep meddling, for lack of a better word, but I think I've just gotten so to this point of it's not passive.
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: It actually takes so much more faith and trust to be like.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: You are better at this than I am, lord, and I can trust your timing and process in Aaron's life and heart.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: So for him, he's really edited his own input and he's been reading way more Bible than ever and that's huge because he's a learner.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: That's one of his top five strengths.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: So that's like a really big deal.
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: But I think just the biggest takeaway for me would be making space, like asking yourself, reflecting on your own, whether it's podcasts or books, what do you want to edit or shift about the level of consumption of information you're experiencing, whether it's news or maybe it is social media or maybe it's shows.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: But I think reading and podcasts and other things that we're listening to making actually space.
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: I realize sometimes, man, I heard this great quote from the leader of the upper room.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: It was in his book and he said something like we're often more interested reading about God than being with him and I was like, yep, that one is actually easier because the being with him is not as active doing and it's so much harder to train your mind, it's so much more intimate and it could go wrong.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: You know, in a sense wrong, like I could judge it, like I didn't get anything profound.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Did he even show up?
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Do I hear the Lord?
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Versus if I listen to Bill talk about his relationship with the Lord?
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: Sorry, my pastor is Bill Johnson and he has so many books that are awesome and when I'm listening to his I definitely encountered the Lord.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: So I'm not saying that.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: But it is so different for me listening to his history with the Lord versus me building my own, and that quote and a few other things has made me.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: That brings me to the next point of purposely being more in silence when I'm walking or reading, so that I can actually have my own conversations and sit and listen.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: I'm not just asking.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: That was like a little different too, in the idea of like managing my input, habits of management, input making more room for silence and stillness.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: And then also in that, in this, the making the more room for not just consuming, for being quiet and actually just being with God, I realized how often my prayer time would just be my list of requests versus this relational Like if, if Aaron I don't know any other wives out there if I come to Aaron with just a list of honey dues without investing in our relationship, that does not, that doesn't go well.
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: And of course, god is not like Aaron or me, he's way more gracious.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: So I'm not saying God's going to be prickly or anything like that, but that's not actually how relationships work or intimacy works.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: There is this like investment into just being with them and connection, that then usually the overflow of actions or requests usually come out.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: And I'm not a theologian, but I did feel the Lord just correct me with the stillness and the being with him.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: And then the other point okay, so that was books cutting back on the quantity, focusing one book at a time, rereading them, making way more space for the Bible.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Because I just I feel like now, after reading it through one year, I was like, cool, I probably don't need to do that for a while, right.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: But now, after doing it a second year, I'm like, oh my gosh, I feel like there's so much more that I didn't know.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Because even finding out some of the history like, for instance, we're in Revelations and Revelations has been like a mind bender my whole life.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: And then I have a little bit of history with IHOP, so then I have some emotions around it as well.
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: So when I started reading it, my friends were excited.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: It was like, instead of judging myself, I just got curious and started digging into it and I realized all those things, which was helpful because I'm like, okay, I can process that emotionally and still give revelation a chance.
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: But in reading some of the commentary about the history of the time, finding out that like six seals was actually you know how, like there's the on the scrolls, there's six literally like wax seals or whatever.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: That was true for the Jewish con.
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: When they had that was true for the jewish con when they had legal documents of the time.
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: They would often have six seals on them, one per witness who watched it so they could verify it was not like you know forgery, that it was authentic.
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: And then they seal it six times because it was like that's how not confident.
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: What is it like?
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: Um, that's how true it was and uninterrupted.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: It's not forgery and that just totally flipped.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: I know it sounds so silly and little, but realizing there's so many nuggets like that in the Bible that I have not read literally or thought about the time that I feel like I'm so excited to go back and read it again, which I am going to read in 2025.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: And you're welcome to that video, is a text message passed, popped up right when I started talking.
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: I was like what am I saying?
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: I don't even know what my name is, um, anyways.
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: So if you want to read in 2025, you're welcome to watch that video.
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: Figure out how you're going to do it.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: But the next thing I was going to say is about podcasts.
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: So it's similar thoughts, um, but with me for podcasts, I was listening and then I'd bounce around and people would send me a ton and then I'd look for information on topics and I was just like, ah, actually this is overwhelmed, like I'm, it's almost an escape.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: That's not helpful.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: It's like an escape that's learning and kind of good is good.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: Like again, it's not this.
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: I think, when we take the judgment out of it, it actually lets me look at an honest assessment of my relationship with it and what I just realized is that I would skip a lot or I would jump around because I was trying to find the thing where a lot of times, I was like I just want to emotionally connect with something so I wouldn't fully listen and then even I would just be thinking about what they said.
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: I didn't always agree, or sometimes I'd feel comparison and I was like, actually I think I just need to limit my sources and not be podcast shopping or hopping.
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: They call it a decision fatigue and I would bounce a lot.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: I wouldn't finish all of them and I know that maybe might be more my personality.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: But then also to just being okay with it being good enough and going along with the process and then limiting the people that are speaking to me, so people that I really resonate with, that I feel like the Lord's really highlighting and of course this is not.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: I think I always get nervous about talking about things like this because it sounds like it could be so religious or I'm like my first thought was this is how cults happen.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: If you only listen to three people, I'm like wait, that's not true, that's an extreme, that's an exaggeration.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: But I think it is helpful to notice what pops up in your heart or your mind.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: What objections to you, resistance do you feel to limiting your input and even asking yourself oh, am I overwhelmed?
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: Am I sometimes using good resources and learning as an escape because they're not the junk food that social media or shows are, and just assessing like, oh, do I need more silence?
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Do I actually feel overwhelmed?
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: What would it look like to give me more mental space?
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: And it was interesting.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: I read one study about how our brains function and how there's a certain wavelength in our brains that only happened after we've been like listening free screen, free outside, so not even artificial light, for 24 hours.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: And there's another wave.
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: I think it was like beta and alpha I probably shouldn't have said that because I can't remember exactly but there was another one that happened after like almost three days, in the same conditions and just realizing like, oh, our brains are actually like God wired our brains to not be overwhelmed and those different wavelengths that only happen when we're not overwhelmed with input and not just screens.
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: But it was literally the overwhelm with input and some of it was around silence and quiet.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: Silence and quiet.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, our brains are actually designed to have this reset that if we're constantly putting headphones in to listen to that thing or the stillness that is meant to be restorative, actually, even if it's good, it taxes and takes from us in a way.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: So again, it's not all or nothing.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: I have never said don't listen, and I won't probably say that to myself unless the voice of the Lord came through.
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: And I'm not telling you to do that, but just assess your relationship and could you actually use a little more down still time.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: Like I rarely now put on something instantly, I might make some phone calls to my mom and dad a little quicker in the phone or in the car, because that's helpful, but I'm just not quick to fill my silence or space as I used to be.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I'm just not quick to fill my silence or space as I used to be because I realized, oh, my brain actually needs to reset in a way that I'm not giving it a chance because I'm looking for entertainment, but this is, yeah, the silence is just more uncomfortable and kind of more boring sometimes.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: So that would be one with podcasts.
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: I just have a few that I listen to.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: I actually unsubscribe to a ton and people will send them to me and sometimes I listen.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: I'm not again, it's not religious, it's not hard or fast.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: I just notice it kind of reminds me of people who have, like, dairy intolerance.
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: It doesn't mean they never have dairy.
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: They probably have some workarounds when they do eat dairy.
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: They probably do have it sometimes because it's worth it.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: But if they constantly have it, knowing they're going to live in a level of discomfort that's not worth the cost.
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: That's what I feel like I'm at with limiting my input, with info and resources and learning Like, oh, I actually want to make space for the implement, I don't want to just be overwhelmed.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: And then the last thing that I was going to say with limiting my input would be music, which is crazy.
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: Again, if you had told 30-year-old Jenna that she would be predominantly only listening to Christian music, I would have been like, oh, she sounds terrible.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: She sounds so religious.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: I bet she's so judgmental.
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: I would be judging my future self, judging my past self.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure how that works out, but anyways, but the beautiful thing.
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: So I just want to give you the history of how I got to the spot where I used to listen to all kinds like when I was 1920, did not, I think to what I did.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: I would say that this when I was 1920, like at the height of my religiousness internally I it was a lot of the things I heard at youth conferences, like they would play the lyrics of the songs, and they're not wrong.
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: As a mom, I'm still and I'm like oh, those are terrible lyrics, lyrics, which is hilarious, cause that was like nineties version of terrible versus.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: What's out there now is actually really terrible, but my point is they.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: I remember in those youth group moments they'd be like this you can't listen to this cause it's to make you want to have sex and drink, and I was like, okay, yeah, I shouldn't listen to that.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: I don't know, actually, that I ever well, I didn't have sex and I did not drink because of any songs ever, so I think then I was like, oh, as I became a little more lukewarm and had babies and got busier, what I noticed is I lost my.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: I was like I don't have to.
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: These are not off limits.
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: I'm still like grace and losing my religion.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: I swung to the other extreme and was listening to a lot of stuff, and I thought it was cool that I could listen to that and love Jesus, and I'm not saying you can't for sure.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: Where I've come now, though, is probably two years ago, when I was training for one of my races, cause I listened to things while I'm running.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: Often I do for a certain time when I'm running or biking.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: If it's longer, if it's around 30 minutes, I'll turn off my headphones at least for 15 minutes to go for the silence and the talking and the listening versus just input, and to just be present with myself.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: Because what I found is it's hard to go be just straight present with my kids if I'm constantly multitasking too.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: So my kids benefit from this as well.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: But with the music it's also funny.
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: I realized that what I sing or what I listen to, it'll get stuck in my head, which is not terrible.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: I've never killed someone.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: I popped a cap in anyone's booty because of listening to a song or I'm trying to think of any other lyrics.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: That would be crazy.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: So it hasn't like brainwashed me in that sense.
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: What shifted for me was knowing, as a mom and having all this information in my head, I have such a limited space even how our brains work with what we're processing.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: There's so much limited space for what I can hold top of mind.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: I actually only want the things that are going to be helpful to get that high ticket real estate.
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: Truly, it's so funny.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: But there is not a religious bone in why I listen to so much less secular.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: So it's funny because I want to tell that 30-year-old who was like everything goes, being like totally, but everything's not actually really helpful because you don't have a lot of space in your brain, you can't remember your middle name a lot of times, so reciting that random lyrics for four days, let's take it up really valuable real estate.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: Do we want that to be taking up the most valuable real estate?
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: Is it even?
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: It's maybe neutral, maybe it's not harmful, but it's neutral.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: What if you actually need something helpful in that space?
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: So then, shifting to, I have gosh and I would never listen to songs very much and I always love new when I go on the hunt and just realizing how much space or time energy it took to be, it almost is the same like mindset or spirit, not spirit cause that makes it sound spiritual, but like ego part of me with music that would be feeding my wanting to like rip through a lot of books, cause it was like impressive.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: I was like I want to be cutting edge and I'm going to find the songs, people to know about it.
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: And now I'm like I actually don't need that.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: No part of me needs that as my identity.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: So I've kind of like healed past that.
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: But then cause I like it.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: And I think the interesting part is really all of these things are just assessing.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: None of these are bad or sins or evil, but assessing like, are they as helpful for the person I'm becoming?
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: Do I actually want to give my limited time and capacity and energy to that?
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: Or would it be better spent for the list of four things that I always have that I'm waiting to find time?
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: I'm probably not going to find time.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: I'm going to have to take it back from something like this that's good to give it to something excellent.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: So I think that's the shift.
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: So just purposely listening to Christian music If I'm going to have something looping in my head, I'd rather it be something that almost like to continue the metaphor has like vitamins in it.
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: That's actually nourishing, building, doing something for me rather than just is, if that makes sense, and it's been such a game changer.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: And then one step further not constantly collecting new stuff or going on the hunt, actually re-listening to a lot of like four or five playlists that I'll tag.
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: I have a morning Jesus playlist that is not profound, but I listened to it so much of um with habits.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: The success and consistency is eliminating decision fatigue, which is kind of the bigger span of what I'm talking about.
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: And this is how input, actually a lot of input, a lot of consuming resources and information and learning, can overwhelm your like, can add to the decision fatigue which feels so counterintuitive.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: You know you're like I'm doing something good, like totally there are too much.
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: Good can have other effects too.
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: Or even just again, reallocating some of the real estate in your life to go give it somewhere else.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: But what was I saying about music?
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: Oh, so I just I used to like not want to listen to the same thing, but now I'm like, hey, actually this is plug and play and I'll re-listen to stuff and not have this need to be on the cutting edge or new way more often.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: And that helps me actually worship a ton more, because I wasted so much time trying to find the song that felt like it fit and I was like nope, I just know I'm going to think through these lyrics and they're super helpful.
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: I almost feel like songs now have become like sung liturgy to me.
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: I don't actually like the really complicated, most of the complicated songs, because I feel like I can't keep up and it feels again.
• 37:32
  Speaker 1: It almost feels like the same thing as plowing through a bunch of books.
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: It feels like information overload where the really simple ones that I can meditate on or get stuck in me or I'm thinking about are what seem the most helpful, or get stuck in me or I'm thinking about are what seem the most helpful, like the most bang for my buck.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: It was interesting.
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: I actually listened to a ton of so repeating music that is a way, and not listening to secular stuff, like this summer I had a little playlist and I was just like meh.
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: I think it's something shifted in me where I'm like I no longer actually need to be entertained.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: I used to.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: Well, I guess I'm still dealing with that in some food choice areas, but with my media I don't need to be entertained.
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: My kids, my life, I have a lot of other options where the media doesn't need to do that for me.
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: So I think just asking yourself too, are you at a spot where, like how much of this is, I mean maybe ego, that sounds so harsh, but with, like the learning thing, that was a little ego for me.
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: Or being cutting edge for music, that was a little ego for me, but then how much of it is based like, could you be using that energy somewhere else, in that you would see a twofold ROI return on your investment.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: And maybe it's not that it's bad that you're editing it in your life, but it's just because you could then the margin you take back from it.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: You could go invest somewhere else.
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: That would be such a dramatic shift.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: Like that's.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: All these little areas have been that for me, not all or nothing, just slight edits that.
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: Then I'm going investing the margin somewhere else.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh gosh, I needed that over there.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: Like that is that's where.
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: That's where I really needed some attention.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: And there's the cost to shift and to edit and scale back a bit.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: But then when you experience the fruit, when you're investing the margin you got back over there, you're like, oh, totally worth the cost.
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: So for music for me, I actually listen to a lot of.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: I have playlists on YouTube.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: I'll link those too.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: Again, they're not profound.
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: I have one that's like God meditation and it's usually like prayer room based because, like I said, when they're like a frigging novel of a worship song, my brain's like it does the same thing.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: I'm like information overload, but they're simple and repetitive.
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: It's almost like marinating in that and it reframes, and it's like that's what I think of renewing my my mind.
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: It's really renewed my mind, and it's cool because, again, with the exercise piece, I listened to a lot, and when I was really stressed, I told you guys that I had some um when I was doing the open water swim for my triathlon.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: That's scary for me.
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: I don't know about you guys.
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: I even grew up in the ocean, so I was like no problem swimming.
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: I'm a great swimmer, I can swim in waves the lake has no waves, this won't be a problem, but the psychological thing of being out in the middle of the water, oh my gosh.
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: I had to overcome a ton of fear the last couple of years, as I've done two little mini triathlons.
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: But what I was going to say, though, is when I noticed, when it was popped up, and I was trying to not go to fear, manage my breath when I was swimming it's a half mile swim and really center myself, these songs I actually feel a little teary these YouTube songs and really simple prayer room sets popped up intrinsically in my mind, and again I was like oh yeah, this is why I do that, this is why I've stopped listening to secular stuff Because, in the moment, that wouldn't help me.
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: But this me repetitively being in the moment, that wouldn't help me, but this me repetitively being like gosh, I can't think of a song now.
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: But there was one about hope and weight and peace, and it was like exactly what I needed and I sang it for the whole 30 minutes while I was swimming.
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: I did it multiple times, but I was like I didn't choose to.
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: I wasn't doing a religious answer, but because that was in my prefrontal cortex when I needed that resource a helpful vitamin resource was there, versus Taylor's new song or whatever, so that was like a big shift.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: So all of these edits as you're listening to this, please do not hear that I think you should.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: Would you know?
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Like there's no should, there's no religion?
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: All of my little edits were done so slowly over time, and now it's like crazy to me how far I was or how far I've come, but it's just been 1% of the time, as I've reassessed.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: Like good things to be like.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: Are you actually the most helpful, though?
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: Is there an edit here that I can slowly wean myself into this direction where that is actually packed full of benefits, versus simply being entertained?
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so that would be my.
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: My cause is just to reflect, pause and reflect and look at some of these areas of your that you, your consuming input, your, you know I can't think of a better word.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: It sounds so abstract.
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: Feel free to DM me and tell me it should have been your podcast episode, should have been called this.
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: But I'm just consuming way less.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: I'm growing a lot more because there's space to implement what I'm learning.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: There's space to meditate on this one song I've been listening to for six months.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: It has actually shaped my life in a way that me hopping along to emotionally connecting to or the newest song would not have Like.
• 42:27
  Speaker 1: Actually I think I have so much more value for like being met, like.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: I think again.
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: I almost think of it like the crockpot analogy versus like getting seared in the pan.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: You know the flavor is like through all of me.
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: Maybe I'm reading a lot less books.
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: Maybe I'm listening to a lot less music.
• 42:43
  Speaker 1: The variety is down.
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: But I've noticed this correlation with when my need for variety was high.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: It was usually because it was entertainment.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: Or if my need for a lot of books or podcasts were high, it was a bit of my ego.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: So just look inside yourself.
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: I can't speak what's in your heart I'm not trying to make up something that's not there but assessing what's motivating your consumption, how quickly you consume.
• 43:06
  Speaker 1: Is it ego, is it entertainment?
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: What would be 1% of a shift that you'd like to start, because my biggest point would be making margin for you to actually implement and grow and decreasing that literal mental fatigue.
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: It's like such a blessing and a curse, the information age that we live in, but like it actually comes at a cost and your brain is overwhelmed.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: Even though it might be overwhelmed with good information, it's still overwhelmed.
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: So stillness and presence and peace actually come from.
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: Almost like taking some things, editing it back to a spot where it's manageable.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: It's almost like a well-groomed garden versus like an overgrown garden, if you will.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: Okay, so I just wanted you to think like what's one area that maybe you want to slow down your input and what would 1% or 10% of a shift be?
• 43:56
  Speaker 1: Would you want to just listen to one podcast a week, or do you want to delete some of your podcast shows, or do you want to?
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: When you finish this book, do you want to reread?
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: Go back and reread one from last year that really meant something.
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: Again, it's not all or nothing, it's not religious, it's not should, it's just.
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: It almost feels like a kindness to yourself to buy back some margins so you can implement rather than just moving on to the next, to the next, to the next.
• 44:21
  Speaker 1: Okay, I just pray that you give yourself grace to grow and that you feel no judgment or shame or heaviness.
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: That you actually see almost like an invite for into lightness is my prayer.
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: I'm closing my eyes.
• 44:35
  Speaker 1: I'm actually kind of praying.
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: I'm the worst at this.
• 44:37
  Speaker 1: I'll start praying and Aaron's like I'll talk, and then it goes into a prayer and he's like, do I close my eyes now?
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: I'm like I'm sorry, and then I'll start talking to him.
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, you can open your eyes now.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: Stream of conscious praying is what I like to call it, anyway.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: So that is my food for thought for you this season.
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: Look at your input, adjust, make adjustments in areas that feel like, oh, yeah, I could probably make some adjustments in a helpful way to buy back some margin so that I'm more present and peaceful and less overwhelmed.
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: Okay, I hope you have a great week, everybody.