About those New Year's resolutions...

How are those New Year's resolutions treating you? Not so good. Don't fret. Let's review and apply a few new principles.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello. I know it's been quite a while.
I don't even want to look athow long it has been. I've
been wanting to do a podcast andtalk to you guys, but there's just
been so much going on. Andthen in preparation for How to Make Glitter

(00:25):
of the book, I'm just overextended, as I'm sure most entrepreneurs are.
And then with a project like howto Make Glitter, oftentimes I have to
force myself to meet certain creative deadlines, when quite honestly, I just want

(00:47):
to live in the moment and livein the authentic inspiration that comes and the
things that I need to share withyou all the things that I need to
get off my chest. And rightnow is one of those times. I
had shotted some notes down months agoin preparation for the new year, and

(01:08):
just hadn't fully articulated or or allowedthe thoughts to manifest properly where I could
have some notes where I could properlyshare with you all. But I just
have just been so full of thingsand energy that I did want to share

(01:29):
with you all that I decided thatthere's no time like the present and to
continue to put it off as adisservice for both myself and for you.
So here I am. You know, every new year, in preparation for

(01:49):
a new year, new beginning,traditionally we jot down or put a course
work together of a New Year's resolution. And I think, honestly, it's
beginning to diminish a little bit.I think people are realizing that they're not

(02:15):
able to stick to them, andor they're too lofty, or that it
sets them up for failure. AndI don't necessarily think that New Year's resolutions
should do any of those things perse. And at this point we are
almost at the end of the firstquarter of twenty sixteen, and I just

(02:40):
wanted to share with you some thingsthat are on my mind as far as
propelling you through to twenty sixteen andhopefully changing your trajectory so that you can
act in purpose and really fall inline with whatever your God's will is for

(03:08):
your life, especially as it relatesto be an entrepreneur and pushing your vision
and your dream and your passions forward. I think that with New Year's resolutions,
I don't do them anymore, justbecause I find that for me it

(03:29):
just doesn't work. I have thingsabout myself and about maybe my business practices
or you know, myself in generalthat I may want to work on and
let that be at the helm ofof my year and helping me decide how

(03:51):
I will act with an integrity tomake those things come to fruition. And
I think that's kind of what's moreimportant. And a list of things that
you're going to do differently or thatyou're going to accomplish goals are important,
but I think it should be adaily resolution of how you can better yourself,

(04:14):
how you can take yourself or yourbusiness to the next level, and
or both, and how to bestparticipate in the manifestation of your dreams,
of your visions, of your passions. What does that look like. So

(04:35):
I have like a twenty sixteen prepbecause at this point you may have set
resolutions and looking at the list.I'm very lists oriented. So when you're
looking at the list every day,then kind of seeing where you are with
that and just kind of comparing andcontrasting against what I'm about to give you

(05:01):
as far as how we actually createthese lists in our minds and how that
affects how we relate to others,how we position ourselves in this world,
and how we maneuver through business andthrough growth, professionally, personally, spiritually,

(05:26):
mentally, all of those things.So the first thing that I think
is very important and very key excuseme is to check your motives. I
find that sometimes what motivates us aren'tthings that aren't necessarily genuine and authentic to

(05:46):
who we are and quite honestly whatwe want. Sometimes, especially the materialistic
things that motivate us don't don't reallyserve us. And I think it's important
to identify what your motives are andmaking sure that they really align with the

(06:13):
person that you want to be.So, for example, if what motivates
you is seeing someone that you maynot necessarily necessarily care for and feeling like
you need to match their success oror you just want to do better than
them for whatever reasons, that motivationisn't going to carry you through to the

(06:39):
next level because it's it's ill gotten. You can't allow the negative influence to
be a part of your motives becauseit's going to be unfounded, it's rooted
and evil, and it's not goingto ultimately serve you. You know,
our main goal is to propel ourselvesand to position ourselves and our purposes and

(07:04):
in our passions. If you aredoing that with a motive that isn't positive,
then how can you reach that goal? How can you enjoy those goals?
How do you how can you enjoythe manifestation of that Because if you
are a conscious individual, you willalways have that at the back of your
mind, and then industry, everydaylife, you will still have that that

(07:26):
covetedness behavior or um that snarl fromthat situation, and that's not okay,
And again that's not going to serveyou until you we have to really relinquish
some of those hurts um, someof that energy that is not going to

(07:48):
position you towards your passion, towardsyour promises and towards your purpose. We
have to keep it positive. Wehave to make sure even from materialistic things
like with social media, we're alwayssaying so many things. Everybody's always showing
what they have and what they gotand what's gifted to them. And you
begin to go down your timeline andyou begin to play a narrative in your

(08:13):
mind that these are the things thatyou want to acquire, and then you
realize, like, I don't evenlike that, I don't even like that
brand, that's not something I wouldnormally like, but we just had this
spirit of wanting all the time.And I think sometimes it's important to get
clear about what your goals are andget clear about what truly motivates you and

(08:35):
checking those motivations againts whether they're positiveor negative, and if it's really something
that's going to help take you tothe next level. The second thing is
to be happy for others. Andthat's a hard thing to do, especially
if you feel like a part ofyour life is lacking. For some of
the single entrepreneurs out there, youknow, we we push and we push

(09:01):
and we push, and we goand we go and we go, and
then oftentimes we see different things inother people's lives, friends or foes,
um that maybe something that we want. And we have to remember that no
good thing is going to be keptfrom us, and we are exactly where

(09:22):
God would have us to be.So keeping that in mind, you those
things will not manifest in your lifeuntil you can, in fact be happy
for other people, to watch theirsuccesses, to celebrate with them, to
honor that, to honor it,and understand that it doesn't take anything from

(09:46):
you. It isn't It does notdiminish any part of you. Until you
can do that, your growth willbe stagnant, and the things that are
positive, that are are meant tomanifest in your life, they will not
happen because you're not ready to receivethem. You're not ready to receive them
openly. You'll have to make someroom and an experience and sharing the joys

(10:11):
of other people so that you canenjoy it even more when it comes to
you. This is something that's sometimeshard for me as a woman, as
a female, as someone who isvery goal and oriented and you know,
wants certain things to happen at acertain rate in a certain time. Oftentimes

(10:31):
you you can, you know,again, look through like a Facebook's timeline
and it seems like everybody's life ismoving in certain directions. But it's also
important that you remember that you've madedifferent choices, different sacrifices, and you
have different successes, and that Godknows the desires of your heart, so
nothing will be kept from you,and whatever is given to you you can't

(10:52):
push away. The third thing isto sew into something that's greater than you.
So often we try to help others. I feel like entrepreneurs, we
are natural born helpers and fixers,So we want to fix problems, we
want to help people, we wantto make people better, we want to
share in our triumphs, and youknow, bring people up with us.

(11:16):
Ideally that should be the goal.But it's important that you sew into something
that is greater than you, becauseonly if you sew into something that's greater
than you, then you can eatfrom those fruits. There's sometimes that we
are sowing into people or sewing intosituations that will never bear fruit. And

(11:41):
if you continue to put energies intosituations that will not improve, they are
not going to help you, andyou're doing a disservance, disservice to both
you and the person or situation thatyou are trying to help. I always
say, what's in the cuppass forme, what'spose over for you? If
I'm not full, I can't helpyou. And if you can't help a

(12:07):
situation, you may need to stepback from me for a little bit.
But also finding bigger situations, findingbigger influencers, finding people who know more
than you, and really taking advantageof a friendship or a mentorship or an
experience to really allow to put someenergies into some things that are going to

(12:28):
sew into you. If it's notbigger than you, it's not going to
be able to help you. Numberfour is to get a prayer plan on
Facebook. I've mentioned several times,I think on Instagram as well that months
ago now I started a having prayerat five am religiously every day of the

(12:56):
week. And I also did apost about hitting this news button where I
found myself getting up at five amand then going back to sleep, and
I'm like, why am I doingthat? Like God woke me up?
I could. I should just beable to push through the day. So
if you haven't checked that out,please do. But I think a prayer
plan is important one. It willestablish some discipline, which is very important.

(13:22):
As a business owner or someone whois pursuing a passion or dream,
you have to get disciplined. That'sone thing about fasting. Fasting not only
helps you rely upon God, butit also helps you to establish discipline.
So with a prayer plan, doinga five am prayer for me, it's

(13:45):
pivotal because I am not a morningperson. I have never been a morning
person. I probably never will bea morning person. I don't like to
get up in the mornings. Sofor me, it was about discipline and
sacrifice just so that God will honormy faith and to also have some uninterrupted
time with Him. I know thatif you or anything like me, as

(14:07):
soon as you wake up and you'rea full mind and sometimes half a mind,
you're checking your emails, replying toemails, looking at your task lists,
looking at your calendar for the day, scrolling through Instagram, scrolling through
Facebook, seeing what's happened the nightbefore, and before you know it,
you're totally consumed with data and informationin sometimes quite honestly foolishness, before you

(14:33):
even got out of your bed.So what I have experienced with my five
am prayer is it's such a quiettime just in space that my thoughts I'm
not distracted at that time. Andthen I also know that I'm getting up
with a purpose. I'm getting upfor my appointment with Christ and again just

(14:54):
establishing that discipline and that diligence sothat I know that I have this uninterrupted
time that I can count on thatI need to change my day. I've
also for the last maybe two months, I got a prayer partner, and

(15:16):
she and I used to do businesstogether she was a publicist in the industry.
She's not even any longer, butwe've been friends and she's a believer,
and just over the years we've alwaysjust shared different scriptures or sermons or
what have you, the things thatimpact us differently, and we both came

(15:39):
to a point where we were alsopraying for this relationship to happen, and
it just quite naturally just from aphone conversations like, hey, I need
a prayer partner, Hey, Ineed one to and again with the discipline
and the diligence of establishing an uninterruptedprayer time with another person, and I'm

(16:02):
gonna be honest with you, ithas not necessarily been easy because we're both
too very busy individuals and we meetat seven pm at night, which for
me, I usually tried to inthe first leg of my work day at
six pm and I try to kindof get my mind together for our seven
pm call, but sometimes it runsover, or you know, we made

(16:26):
either one of us may be intransit during fashion week. It was horrible
to try to keep this call,and you know, we were a little
bit disappointed in ourselves for not havingthe discipline that we needed to have that
time. To have that innecessary prayerwith one another, because because quite honestly,
you sometimes you need somebody else topray for you, You need somebody

(16:49):
to share your praise reports with orto help encourage you, or you need
to encourage someone else. So Iit is very important that you get a
prayer plan together, intact, somethingthat you can honor, something that you
can commit to and watch God work. For me, the five Am prayer

(17:11):
has been absolutely incredible, and withme having a prayer partner, I have
found that it has just had tremendousbenefits of encouraging me just in time when
I'm feeling down, or allowing myprayer partner and myself to share in our
experiences and to bounce ideas off oneanother and just to quite honestly fellowship.

(17:40):
Like that's so important to kind oftake a moment from your busy, busy
day to have that time and reallytrying to keep God as the focal point
of your life and honoring Him andletting him know that Lord, you are
important. I need you to getthrough my day. I need you to
get through this next meeting. Ineed you to get through this proposal.

(18:00):
I need you to get through whateverit is that you need to get through,
it's nice to have that time.You will see benefits from that time.
It will help you again with disciplineand practices that you can just apply
to everyday life. And then againto know that you have that uninterrupted meeting

(18:23):
appointment, I promise you, it'san amazing feeling. The last thing is
to love, which is such anastounding principle, however extremely rewarding, and

(18:47):
when you study the effects of love, it's quite honestly an amazing experience,
and it will also take the jobof life. When you can unequivocally act
in love, and that means whenyou're mentoring, when you are creating a

(19:15):
proposal with integrity, when you arecoaching your team, when you have to
give bad news, when you haveto communicate good loop good news, to
absolutely act in love. And it'squite honestly, not for anyone else but

(19:36):
for you, because what the energiesthat you put out will absolutely be returned.
And if we could just learn howto treat one another better, then
we would be living in such adifferent world, I think, which we
all know. But act in love. It is difficult because of course,

(20:02):
as an entrepreneur, as a businessowner, as a manager, you don't
always want to do that. Youdon't always have the time to take a
second and say, okay, letme let you throw this, Okay,
let me try to find the lovein this. And I get it,
and that's real. I'm as humanand there's nothing wrong with that. It's

(20:22):
it's a practice, you know,it's something that you should be conscious about.
And it also provides a divine protectionfor you when you're operating in Christ
and it will ensure you're covering.So yeah, as we continue on to

(20:48):
the first quarter of twenty sixteen,I hope it has been amazing for you
if you have made your New Year'sresolutions. I hope that you check your
motives. I hope that you arehappy for others. I hope that you're
so into something that is greater thanyou. I hope that you get and

(21:08):
establish a prayer plan, and Ihope that you unequivocally in everything you do,
act in love. I'm working reallyhard to get how to make Glitter
finish, trying to finish the firstedit so we can finish some into print.

(21:29):
And it's a labor of love,and I hope you guys enjoy it.
I hope it blesses you. Ihope it inspires you. If there's
something that you want me to commenton or make opinion on, let me
know. I just launched the Instagrampage at how to Make Glitter, and

(21:51):
then on Facebook you can find thebusiness page of Janelle Langford and then please
check back on the website for theblog post. I'm really trying to do
a better job of adding more businesstips on there, but again, how
to Make Litter is my love letterto Christian entrepreneurs and how we marry business

(22:15):
principles with our faith and what thatlooks like for us. So I love
you guys so much. Thank you. I hope you're blessed. I hope
you're inspired. I hope you gotsomething from it, and I hope to
hear from your comments, and Ihope to talk to you again very very
soon. Thank you again for whoyou are and what you do, and

(22:40):
until next time, continue to makea litter.