291: Turning Inward to Make Outward Changes This Year
It is the time of year when everyone is goal-setting and focusing on outward achievements – but what if God is calling you to embrace emotional replenishment first? Join me today as I talk about the impact of going inward and how not every season of life is about outward production. It might be the time to step back, focus inward, and start waiting on God to bring replenishment.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:
- [01:16] What if Turning Inward For Replenishment is What You Need For The Big Changes You Desire in Life?
- [04:32] Just Like Nature, We Each Experience Seasons of Rest and Growth
- [07:27] “There is Hidden Wisdom in a Tree's Annual Dormancy”
- [09:39] We Need to be Replenished to Show Up Well For Others
- [12:52] What Does The Process of Replenishment Look Like?
- [15:56] Have You Bought The Lie That Progress Only Looks Like Achievement?
- [17:51] Finding Emotional Strength and Replenishment to Prepare Ourselves For Different Situations
- [21:08] Do You Need Emotional Replenishment? Book a Free 15-Minute Call With Me to Discuss The Next Steps in Your Emotional Management Journey!
[01:16] What if Turning Inward For Replenishment is What You Need For The Big Changes You Desire in Life?
At this time of year it’s natural to want things to change, and we are surrounded by this idea of self-improvement and fresh starts at New Year’s.
But this has me wondering, especially right now at this point in our culture, if we are going about the new year in the wrong direction. I wonder if it is less about going outward and more about turning inward for replenishment. This is much deeper than rest, it is about starting the new year ready for what God has planned for you.
I have always associated growth with looking ahead, setting goals, and trying to be perfect. But I have realized that if the devil cannot convince me to sin or to believe that God does not love me, then he can tempt me to stay so busy, even with good things, that I become emotionally and spiritually depleted to the point where I self implode. He does not need to do anything but just keep me on that wheel of continuing forward without that replenishment.
I cannot tell you how important it is for us as Christians to be able to identify when we need replenishment and then do something about it. So many of us know in our hearts that we need to look inward, see what is going on, and make some changes. This is not from the sense of trying harder – but instead soaking, receiving, and being in God's presence to let Him fill us back up. This could be doing the repair work of healing from trauma or just filling up our reserves from an emotional season. Sometimes we are so busy running forward that we forget we need to stop, go inward, and be replenished to accomplish the things He has for us. Many of us are afraid of our feelings, others' opinions, and the future.
[04:32] Just Like Nature, We Each Experience Seasons of Rest and Growth
As Henry Newman says in Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas, “Fearful people have a hard time waiting because when we are afraid, we want to get away from where we are. The more afraid we are, the harder waiting becomes.” He is talking about waiting on the Lord but I really think the lesson applies to all of those who are running from the inner work, inner replenishment, and inner trust. For the Lord to heal us, we must not be afraid to turn inward and wait for God in these winter seasons.
We have seasons in nature as symbols of what can happen when we take a moment to slow down. It is not always about spring and summer or producing and going outward. It is not always time to push and try to meet all of our goals and dreams. We are afraid of missing out and some of us are used to approaching a new year in the pattern that we have learned to set a goal and move towards it. Although this is important, what often happens is we take off toward that goal and wonder why we are crashing and burning by the end of January.
Then apathy sets in and we feel helpless the next year because we tried last year and did not change. So what if we had a different approach this year? What if the answer is not to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and plow ahead, but instead to stop moving, listen to those inner whispers, and stop running from everything that is holding us back and address the root problem instead of just trimming the leaves?
[07:27] “There is Hidden Wisdom in a Tree's Annual Dormancy”
As I began thinking about this concept, the Lord brought to my attention the idea of a tree. I started wondering why certain trees rest during winter. If a tree’s goal is to get bigger and bigger, why does it stop producing?
As I wondered this, I realized there is such hidden wisdom in a tree's annual dormancy. A tree could expend its energy in getting bigger and growing more leaves to catch the light for energy. Yet the tree has been designed with rhythms and patterns and aligns itself with the seasons. It echoes what is going on around it and does not fight against it but works with it.
I was reading online about this and came across this quote, “While a tree seems dormant above ground, the underground system of roots is busy at work, growing, searching and retaining nutrients to survive the winter and to prepare for the outward growth of spring. Trees bulk up on the soil's nutrients and water during the winter months so they will have enough energy to grow buds for new leaves and flowers in the spring.” A tree cannot produce buds, leaves, and flowers in spring without this time of deep replenishment.
[09:39] We Need to be Replenished to Show Up Well For Others
I have a lot of exciting things in my heart that I desire for God to work through me just like you friend. In 2025 I am blessed to be able to do these things:
-Continue to share about my book, Emotional Confidence.
-I have created a membership community around the book, called the Emotional Confidence Club. Together, we talk about how to implement what we talk about in Emotional Confidence into everyday life. We talk about what it looks like to manage emotions, using science and scripture in everyday ways. I have to be able to show up for those ladies, not just to hold space for the community itself, but to be able to pour into them the wisdom that they need about this topic that God has allowed me to speak about. It is a powerful community.
-I am also planning a Christian women’s retreat in Italy in September 2025. I have been thinking about this trip for a year and a half and God is giving me insight into what it will look like. I know that I need to be nourished so that I show up with excellence.
-I also have some changes in my physical health that I know God wants me to address. I need to start dealing with some of these things in my body that are changing in a new way. Life is changing and I need to be able to be strong to work through some of these things and approach things in a new light.
And of course, there are all of these unexpected things that we do not even know about that will come up. And so we must be prepared and replenished.
[12:52] What Does The Process of Replenishment Look Like?
Some of us might wonder, “What does it even mean to be replenished?” Others might think, “Well, that’s a nice idea, but I still have to go to work, take care of my child, or handle the responsibilities of my family. I can’t just stop everything.” I get that. Every person’s version of replenishment will look different because our lives and circumstances are different.
But even so, I believe there is no excuse for any of us to completely neglect it. Replenishment is not about stepping away from everything, but it is about finding ways to refuel within the life we are living.
I am speaking to the part of me 10-20 years ago who was a young mom who pushed beyond her limits and ended up in the hospital. If you want to know what happened, read Chapter One of Emotional Confidence (you can read it for free here). I truly believe that rhythms of Sabbath and replenishment in God are not only necessary – they are biblical.
Replenishment is also going to look different from person to person and season to season. It is about knowing what is going on inside and waiting because we cannot fix ourselves. Like the roots of the tree, our replenishment needs that nourishment a little bit at a time. We need to allow ourselves to absorb it because we can only take so much at once. As much as we want to have instant replenishment, this is not possible.
I think our mentality is that forward movement is the highest goal and that outward manifestation of change is the only valuable change happening. Trees show us that what looks like inactivity is actually strengthening. What looks like not trying to grow or living without purpose is actually living with excellence and going for your dreams by choosing to be equipped enough to step into them.
[15:56] Have You Bought The Lie That Progress Only Looks Like Achievement?
I wonder if we have bought into the lie that progress only counts when it looks like box-checking, achievements, or tangible evidence of work. What if we could relabel New Year’s resolutions, not as tasks to conquer, but as opportunities for strengthening? What if the plans we make and the changes we desire are not meant to fully manifest by January? What if this season is about preparation, about laying the foundation for the transformation to come?
A lot of us might hear this and think, “Okay, well that is great I am just kind of furthering the inevitable.” And if God has been speaking to you about exercising more, being in His word more, or issues in your marriage – you need to address those. I am talking to the person who says “It is a new year, I am just going to pull up my bootstraps, and whip myself into shape because I have to be my best self. I only have one life.” I am talking to the person who is stuck in this mantra and does not know what they are running towards. Who needs these times of deep emotional replenishment to keep his or her emotions at a steady pace and to recover from these taxing emotional seasons.
[17:51] Finding Emotional Strength and Replenishment to Prepare Ourselves For Different Situations
What have you experienced in the past six months, year, or five years that has given you emotional stress? Whether it is positive emotional stress with excitement. Or it could be challenging like loss of a loved one, a breakup, or finanical stress. All of these things need time to be replenished. So what does that look like for you?
This is something only you can explore for yourself and is the topic we are covering in the Emotional Confidence Club in January 2025. Our focus will be on finding emotional strength and replenishment as a foundation for addressing the other areas of our lives. Before we can tackle the challenges ahead, we need to prepare ourselves and restore what has been drained. If you have already been through taxing emotional seasons, it is time to reflect, replenish, and rebuild.
In the community this month, we will start by identifying how we have been emotionally depleted. Many of us do not even know what true emotional replenishment looks like, let alone how to find it. So, we will talk about what it is, what it could look like in your life, and the obstacles that keep us from experiencing it. Trust me, there are plenty of those and I know because I run from them all of the time. God has been teaching me this deeply, especially since the life-changing accident I experienced in 2017 – a moment that forced me to confront the years I spent running from my emotions.
I had thought about putting this episode out in mid-December before we all got entangled in our New Year’s resolutions, but then I realized I am taking a month off for my own spiritual and emotional replenishment during this time and want you to be able to reach me for support. I am also fighting this replenishment time but I am doing it as an act of obedience because He told me too and I want to show up strong and excellent for you.
[21:08] Do You Need Emotional Replenishment? Book a Free 15-Minute Call With Me to Discuss The Next Steps in Your Emotional Management Journey!
I want to give you the opportunity to talk with me about where you are at and what kind of emotional replenishment you may need. There are many different options and ways that I can perhaps help you or partner with you and come alongside on that. One of them is the Emotional Confidence Club. This club is great if you want to be in a community to learn specific tools to help you through emotions you have been running from.
You might need to work on some of the soundtracks that are inside that are keeping you stuck in perfectionism and people-pleasing. It is not enough to say “I am going to be different, try harder, and not listen to what other people say about me.” You might need to go inward and do some work around that, and I can help you with that through coaching or the Christian Mindset Makeover. In the makeover, we do brain priming which is designed to bring healing and renewal, helping you break free and experience true replenishment.
Every person is going to be a little different but I want to be able to give you the opportunity to have that call with me. I really want to help you, even if it is not through one of my programs. What might you need in order to be strong enough to step into the callings that God has for your life? We want Him to use us for His glory and His purposes. Jesus took time to be replenished so you and I need to make this a priority.
Before you dive into setting incredible goals for 2025 like losing weight, making more money, building stronger relationships, or becoming a better parent – I encourage you to pause and ask God a simple but powerful question:
– Lord, what do I need to be replenished with? In what ways do I need Your replenishment?
Not just spiritually, though that is always a great place to start, but emotionally as well. Creating space for soaking and replenishment can open the door to fresh ideas and clarity. So take the time, make it a priority, and if I can support you in this journey, I would be honored to help.
RESOURCES:
Tired of up-and-down feelings stealing your peace, sabotaging your relationships, and filling your mind with self-defeating thoughts? If so, make sure to get my new book, “Emotional Confidence: 3 Simple Steps to Manage Emotions with Science and Scripture”.
Want to see what Emotional Confidence is about? Download the first chapter for FREE!
Book a Free 15-Minute Call to discuss the next steps on your emotional management journey.
Ready to know how to manage emotions for more calm, stronger relationships, and a closer walk with God? Want to implement the concepts discussed in my book “Emotional Confidence”? Then join the Emotional Confidence Club!
Ready to refresh your mind, body, and spirit as you explore one of the world's most beloved regions? Join Alicia in September 2025 for a life-changing travel retreat to Italy!
Imagine if you could use brain science and the Bible together to rewire those inner lies that keep you from believing God's truth about your identity–those limiting beliefs, perfectionistic ideals, unresolved fears, and more! Join the hundreds of women who have found renewed confidence + freedom in the Christian Mindset Makeover!
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