July 22, 2025 • 20 mins
Description:
What if your exhaustion isn't because you're lazy… but because you're misaligned?
In this raw and eye-opening episode, Jim Burgoon challenges the productivity-obsessed mindset so many faith-driven leaders carry—and offers a better way. Through Scripture, real talk, and lived experience, Jim unpacks the 3 types of misalignment that keep Christian creators burned out, unfocused, and disconnected from God’s rhythm.
Whether you feel like you're failing your calling, falling behind, or just plain tired… this episode is your permission to pause—and recalibrate with God.
🔑 Key Insights:
- Why tying your worth to productivity is destroying your peace
- The spiritual cost of operating in the wrong season
- The silent burden of misaligned expectations
- How Jesus offers rest—not hustle—in Matthew 11
- The real definition of discipline for faith-driven creators
📖 Faith Connection:
Jim unpacks Matthew 11:28–30 (MSG) to reframe rest, work, and calling through the lens of grace—not grind. God's way isn’t hustle culture—it’s alignment culture.
🎯 For the Multipassionate:
This is a must-listen if you:
- Feel guilty for not doing more
- Can’t tell if you need to push or pause
- Struggle with clarity, energy, or focus in your business
- Want to build your business with peace, not pressure
🛠️ Practical Tools:
- 3 Misalignment Types: Values, Seasons, Expectations
- Reflection questions to reset your rhythm
- Biblical and psychological insight into why you’re exhausted
- How to choose Spirit-led discipline over cultural hustle
✍️ Reflect + Reset:
- What feels heavy now that used to feel light?
- What are you saying “yes” to that’s draining you?
- If Jesus walked in right now, what would He say needs to go?
🔗 Resources & Links:
- 💌 Join the newsletter for deeper reflections: https://www.leadwithjim.com/nl
- 🎁 Get your free guide: https://www.leadwithjim.com
📣 Connect & Engage
- Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | iHeartRadio
- Leave a review on Apple Podcasts
- Share this episode with a friend
- Subscribe, like, and comment on YouTube
- Join our newsletter → www.leadwithjim.com
🎙️ Got a question? Leave a voice message at leadwithjim.com/ask
Thanks for listening!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Have you ever looked at yourto do list and suddenly felt the
life drain from you?
The energy is gone, and thenyou're thinking, what is wrong with
me?
Well, we're going to coverthat today because you may be feeling
lazy or you may be feelinglike you lack purpose, but we're
going to tell you it's not alack of purpose.
It's not that you're lazy.
It's just that you're misaligned.
(00:22):
And in today's episode, we'regoing to unpack what that looks like,
what we're feeling, and maybesome tips on how to get over it.
Welcome to Online Business forChristian Creatives, the show that
helps you build a businessthat honors God, fuels your creativity,
and actually pays the bills.
I'm your host, Jim Burgoon,leadership coach, Faith first, entrepreneur,
(00:46):
and a guy who's made justabout every mistake so you don't
have to.
Let's get into it as we jumpin, we need to name the lie now.
Have you ever said, I need toget more done, I need to push harder?
I feel so weak.
I feel useless, I'm slacking.
(01:07):
If you've ever said that, thenyou are probably a great candidate,
that your value is tied toyour productivity.
And if you tie your value toyour productivity, when you're low
on productivity, you're low on surfboards.
Self worth, you're low on value.
When your productivity ishigh, your value and your self worth
(01:27):
is higher.
And the lie is, is that youactually believe, as I once believe,
that we are what we do andthat if we can produce things of
high quality, then people willlove us, people will respect us,
people will see us for who wereally are.
And my friend, that isabsolutely living in a place of imposter
(01:47):
syndrome.
And not in the sense of likeimposter syndrome of, oh, my gosh,
they're going to find me outone day.
No, the imposter syndromecomes back to, I'm going to act this
way to get love and respectbecause I'm tying productivity and
value together.
And I'm not going to actuallybe and show up who I'm supposed to
be, who God made me to be,because I'm misaligned.
(02:10):
And I've told myself this lieover and over and over.
But here's what the Bibletalks about.
Bible doesn't reward, youknow, in the Bible, it doesn't reward
productivity.
It rewards how obedient we areto God's word.
It rewards how aligned we areto God's purposes.
It doesn't Reward us for justdoing more.
I mean we see that in Matthew7, Matthew 7, the all these people
(02:32):
came up and said, hey, have wenot prophesied in your name and done
all these signs and miraclesin your name?
And Jesus says, hey, get awayfrom me.
I never knew you.
Why is that?
Because they were beingproductive without building relationship,
they were being productivewithout obedience, they were being
productive without alignment.
And alignment in the Bible isalways first and foremost coming
(02:53):
into relationship with God andthen learning how to be obedient
through the Holy Spirit in the Word.
And you and I, if we have toat some point divorce ourselves from
the lie that we are gettingour value from productivity, that's
not true.
And if you can lean in with mea little bit because, and you've
heard this said, I'm sure ifthe devil can't disrail you or destroy
(03:17):
you, he'll distract you.
And how does he distract you?
By getting you to be tied toyour productivity.
So he uses your trauma, heuses what you've been through, your
lack of self worth, yourinsecurities, these things that when
you and I were growing up thatsaid if I do this, maybe they'll
love me, maybe they'll notice me.
(03:37):
And then he supersizes thatand gives you a to do list with a
bunch of things to do with aninsecurity and a self worth tied
to getting those things done.
So that you are not walking inobedience or alignment with God and
his purposes, but you'rewalking in value centered or ego
centered value.
Which means if I'm valued, I'm productive.
(03:59):
If I'm not productive, I'm not valued.
And my friends, that's notwhat God has for you or I.
So, so if we're identifyingthe lie, we have to now diagnose
the misalignment, right?
The first thing we have tolook into is are our values misaligned?
Now for you, in yourconversations with God, what are
your values?
What are the first things thatyou're supposed to be focused on?
(04:21):
Family, faith, health, purpose.
And then what are you nowfocusing on?
Now, is it your business?
But here's the deal.
Are you putting everythingthat isn't aligned with the values
God has for you in life?
Are you putting that first?
Or are you putting the valuesthat God has given you put on your
heart, has made you, you know,hyper aware about the Holy Spirit
(04:45):
has told you and said, hey,these are where your values are and
are you putting things aheadof them?
Like for instance, my valuenumber one value is family.
And If I focus more on mybusiness, I'm not saying don't focus
on your business, but if mybusiness becomes the number one priority
where that gets all of mytime, then my family takes a back
seat.
(05:05):
So I'm now misaligned in my values.
Because here's the idea thatall that, all misalignment feels
like failure, but it'sactually a signal that we're not
in proper alignment.
We've got to get back into alignment.
So do you feel like a failureto your family?
Do you feel like a failure,like your faith is not growing?
Do you feel like you're not,your health is diminishing?
(05:25):
And when you look at that,have you put the alignment correctly
in the values that you hold?
The second thing is, is ourseasons misaligned?
Now we.
And you know, if you're aChristian, you've been listening
to Christianity for a long time.
We talk about seasons andseason shifts and how God operates
in seasons.
And it's just like the fourseasons that every year the seasons
(05:47):
change.
Summer, winter, spring and fall.
Unless you're in Florida, I'min Florida.
And so we have hot and reallyhot and then surface of the sun.
So that's a little different.
But with that being said, isyour season different than your intensity
currently?
Let's talk about this for a second.
Are you working at theintensity of a previous season when
(06:09):
God told you to rest?
Because if you're working at ahigh intensity in a rest season,
you're out of alignment.
Or if you're trying to rest ina high intensity season, you're out
of alignment.
This is why it has to be soimportant that we focus on learning
how to hear and speak with Godon an everyday basis to find, okay,
what is the season we're in?
(06:30):
Has it shifted?
Is it about to shift?
God will reveal all of that ifwe ask him and talk to Him.
But we have to make sure thatif we're feeling like failures, if
we're having our energy stolenfrom us, we have to get.
Not only do we have the valuesthing, we have to get into the seasonal
thing.
God works in rhythms.
We work best in rhythms.
And we call rhythms routines.
(06:52):
And, and, and we have to shiftroutines every season.
So maybe you're getting up atfive o' clock in the morning and
you're working out for anhour, then you're coming home and
journaling and doing all these things.
But then you have a seasonal shift.
And your seasonal shift eithercauses you to have to work out and
do your journaling.
Earlier or later based ondifferent needs of the season.
(07:12):
Now what we do is say we get rigid.
We're like, I will not beflexible and change this.
This is what it is.
And then we wonder why we'renot walking in higher levels of alignment.
We have to evaluate with everyseasonal shift.
So maybe you have to shiftcertain priorities, certain disciplines,
not that you stop them, butthey may need to change or shift.
(07:33):
Because remember, if we're atan intensity that is different in
the season that we're at,they're going to be misalignment
and you're going to findyourself feeling like a failure.
So let's make sure that we'reconstantly evaluating with through
the Holy Spirit are the seasonis the season we're in and the intensity
of that season both matching.
(07:54):
If they don't match, where amI off?
Am I too intense for thisseason or am I not intense enough
for this season?
And then also, what season is it?
Is it a season of rest?
Is it a season of pushing?
Is it a season of building?
Is it a season of just maintaining?
Figure those things out withthe Holy Spirit and then get into
alignment and trust that it'sall going to work out.
(08:15):
The last thing we're going tocome into is expectation misalignment.
Now this is a huge one becausewe're carrying burdens that God never
asked us to carry.
And as somebody who is arecovering people pleaser, yes, I
always say that I'm recoveringpeople pleaser because God has really
delivered me from a lot of that.
But I still have some residue.
I have a tendency to want tocarry everybody's burdens around
(08:37):
me while ignoring my own.
I have a tendency to want tolift you up and not accept anything
from you to lift me up.
And that comes back to thatresidue or that recovering people
pleasing thing that I wentthrough or thing that I'm going through
because my expectations ofmyself was a lot different and maybe
even almost unsustainably highcompared to what an expectation I
(09:01):
would have on you.
Which means I may say, youdon't owe me or do anything.
I, I owe you everything.
And then if you were to reallyask and say, oh, Holy Spirit, what
would you say in this matter?
He may be saying to you, whotold you it had to look like that?
Who told you you needed tocarry that?
Who told you that you weresupposed to pick up that burden?
(09:24):
See, we want to get into theseplaces where we pick up this stuff,
carry this stuff, do these things.
And we've never checked withthe author of it.
We've never checked with theauthor of our faith.
We never checked with the guide.
And so we're picking upburdens we were never meant to pick
up.
We're chasing directions wewere never meant to chase, to chase.
And we're pushing ourselves inplaces we were never meant to do.
(09:48):
So.
So, for instance, if we're ourexpectations, like I'm a podcaster,
and so one of thoseexpectations is I have to do it this
way, because the mostsuccessful people do it this way.
And then it comes back to, whotold you that it has to look like
that?
Who told you that you have todo your blog and your podcast the
exact same way that so and sodoes it.
(10:09):
And this is where we get intothe misalignment of expectations.
Because there's a point wherewe expect that in order to be successful,
we have to look like so and so.
And that's not the case.
If it's going to besuccessful, we have to follow the
plan of God that he has for.
And so we have to get ourexpectations and alignment with God's
expectations and constantlycheck into them and just say, hey,
(10:32):
God, what do you think about this?
What do you want about this?
What are we going on about this?
And then move in alignmentwith him and letting our expectations
be his expectations.
Like, we're just grafting themon us so we can look at Matthew like
11, 28, 30.
And I did, and I pulled thisout of the message because I thought
this was really cool.
(10:52):
And it goes into the, thethree things we were just talking
about.
And it says this.
Are you tired?
Worn out, burnt out on religion?
Is that.
Some of you guys, let me knowin the comments if you're watching
this on YouTube or hit me upin the email jim leadwith jim.com
and just let me know, is that,does that describe you?
Are you tired?
Are you worn out?
Are you burnt out on religion?
(11:13):
I mean, what a way to open thescripture in the message version
of Matthew 11.
And so it goes on.
Come to me, get away with meand you'll recover your life.
I'll show you how to take areal rest.
Walk with me and work with me.
Watch how I do it.
(11:35):
Learn.
And the unforced rhythms of grace.
Now, now hear that One more.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
I won't lay anything heavy onor ill fitting on you.
We just talked about misalignment.
So if we.
And under the message versionhere, God's not gonna, you know,
whatever yoke he's gonna puton us will not be ill fitting.
(11:57):
And he says, keep company withme and you'll learn to live freely
and lightly.
That was powerful.
Keep company with me andyou'll learn to live freely and lightly.
If you're tired, if you'reworn out, the alignment comes when
we follow after what Christhas done for us.
We follow after the model,what he's saying, what he's showing
(12:20):
us.
Because it's not going to beout of alignment, it's going to fit
us perfectly.
Now will it be easy?
Absolutely not.
Life is not easy.
Get that out of your head.
If you've been told badtheology that a moment you follow
Christ, life is easy.
Just talk to John the Baptist,he was beheaded.
Talk to all the disciples whowere murdered and killed because
of their faith.
(12:40):
They that is not what this is about.
This is about being in perfectalignment, doing imper.
Doing perfect things, youknow, what God calls us to in an
imperfect way and living thatfulfilled and impactful life.
Because now we're in line withwhat God's doing, which brings us
into this place of we have toreally redefine what discipline looks
(13:01):
like.
Now you have all the gurus outthere and all the, all the people
out there.
You need to wake up at 6 o'clock in the morning every day and
do 6,16,000 push ups and drink4 gallons of water by 8 o' clock
so that you can start your day.
And then you're going to work10 hours that may work for them,
but they may not work for you.
And we need to stop listeningto people and all these voices and
(13:22):
ask the Lord to really, let'sredefine what discipline looks like
for us believers.
Because we're not going to dothe same things the same ways that
everybody else can.
We learn from them?
Absolutely.
We're going to learn from themin a way that's healthy to us, not
as we're just going to graftin what they're doing because we
think that was what makes us successful.
No, my friend, what makes ussuccessful is following the Holy
(13:43):
Spirit.
What makes us successful isGod's anointing on what's going on.
And we're just going to jumpin and just take part with it.
And so discipline isn'tforcing yourself to do things that
drain you.
It's choosing what aligns withyou and what's God's doing.
So it may be hard, but it'sgoing to be impactful.
It may be like you still maybe tired, but you're going to be
(14:04):
Fulfilled, there are trade offs.
So we gotta make sure thatwe're choosing what aligns with God
and what God's doing in you,while simultaneously not forcing
ourselves to do all thesethings that just aren't meant for
you and I.
Because discipline does notequal hustle.
And I think so many times weput the hustle over the discipline.
(14:24):
And if you read Proverbs,discipline is doing something over
a long period of time tocreate massive results.
Hustling is do it as fast aspossible to get those same results.
And I'm going to promise you,hustlers burn themselves out.
People of discipline lastlong, they have longevity.
You're going to see people inbusiness for 10, 20, 30, 40 years
(14:47):
because they were disciplined.
Not so much hustlers, becausespirit led.
Discipline is about focus.
It's about boundaries, it'sabout obedience, and it's about being
like Christ and doingeverything you can to develop the
fruit of the Spirit in yourlife so that you can get out there
and be like Christ and be theletter that God has written in your
(15:08):
life to the people of thisworld and allow your business to
be a conduit for God's grace.
So if I was going to reframethis, I would say this.
You're not lacking hustle.
Obviously, the hustle you'vebeen doing has caused you to be tired.
It's caused you to be burnt out.
So you're not lacking hustle,you're just lacking clarity.
You're lacking discipline.
(15:29):
Because here's one of thethings you, you and I have to understand.
And this goes back to, youknow, the devil can't destroy you.
He'll make you distracted.
The problem we're having a lotof times when we're misaligned is
we have too many options andwe don't have enough clarity, which
means we have, we are way andI chronic overthinker here working
on that.
So we're here trying tooverthink and be like, well, what
(15:50):
if we did this and what if wedid that and what if we did this
and what if we did that andhow about this?
And how does this go into whatif we did this?
And the reality of it is wehaven't taken action on any of it.
And we're, we're gripped bythe paralysis of the analysis.
And so we're gripped inindecision and we're gripped in this
place of burnout because toomany options are looming, too many
(16:12):
voices and not enough actionand not enough us going to the Holy
Spirit to say hey, HolySpirit, 10 options.
Help me get one.
And really, that's where wegot to come back to.
And so if you, if you listento this podcast long enough, you'll
hear me come back to that overand over again.
Get in prayer and ask God for direction.
Stop trying to do it on your own.
(16:33):
Stop trying to be the hero inthe story.
God is the hero in a story.
We're just grateful to be partof the story.
And we understand that beingpart of the story means we're going
to have an incredible impact.
And that's what you reallywant, is to impact people and have
their lives changed.
So this means we come to ourfinal segment, which really comes
into recalibrating with Godand recalibrating a God.
(16:55):
We have to be encouraged topause, not push.
Pause, not push.
Because here's what it is.
Pausing doesn't mean you and Istop an activity.
It doesn't mean that wecompletely stop everything we're
doing that.
That we're not.
We're not going to do another thing.
That's not what this is saying.
Because obviously you're notgoing to stop your business.
(17:15):
You're not going to stopwhatever you're doing completely
to wait.
That's not how this works in context.
Because we want to pause andnot push.
Because pushing is more akinto striving.
It's more akin of desperatelymoving forward to try to make something
work, to get what we think we want.
(17:36):
And if we're constantlystriving, Psalms at 46, 10, be still
and know that I'm God and thatscripture hole comes in, quit striving
and know that I am God, right?
So that striving that quick,pushing that quick, wrestling that
quick, trying to be sofearfully desperate that you need
something to work, needsomething to happen, that you're
going to burn yourself outbecause hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle,
(17:58):
hustle, and then call it God's blessing.
That's not what it is.
We've got to pause.
And what pausing means isunderstanding that in the moments,
a collection of moments, notone moment, but.
But a collection of moments,we're stopping, recalibrating, and
asking God, hey, is this thedirection I'm supposed to be in?
(18:19):
Is this the place you want me?
Is this where I'm.
I'm supposed to be focused onand just do what you feel he is saying.
So here's some reflectionquestions you and I could be asking.
Journaling, I highly recommendJournaling is what feels heavy right
now.
That used to feel light thatcould be an indication that your
season is shifting has shifted.
What feels heavy that use tofeel light.
(18:42):
Number two, what are yousaying yes to that is draining you
now?
I just I'm gonna do a wholething on on the power of no.
But if you're saying yes toeverything and no to nothing, you're
already losing you.
Your nos have to be more thanyour yeses because we have to be
very poignant in what we'resaying yes to.
So what are you saying yes tothat's draining you?
(19:02):
And the last one, if Jesuswalked into the room right now would
what would he say needs to gofrom your life?
Just sit back and think about that.
Take your rest moment.
If Jesus walked right into theroom right with you right now, looked
at you in the eye and saidthis needs to go, what would be that
thing?
So I just want to thank youguys for hanging out with me for
today's episode.
If this hit home with you andyou're feeling burnt out and you're
(19:26):
feeling like the energy drainand all these things, I just would
love to have you and I havefurther the conversation by jumping
on the newsletter.
I go deeper on the newsletterand sometimes I put tools out there
in order to help you through it.
Things you won't find in the episode.
And you'll find that atwww.leadwithjim.comnl for newsletter
(19:48):
I'll put all this in the show notes.
Would love to have you there.
This way we can have acontinued conversation going back
and forth because there's alot of times I'll ask for replies
from people who are on thenewsletter because I do enjoy talking
with you all and I do enjoyhaving banter and the questions you
ask will show up on episodesand if they ever show up on an episode
(20:08):
I will shout you out and sayhey, so and so asked this a brilliant
question.
Let's talk about it with thatall being said.
Www.leadwithjim.comnl Join theConversation on the newsletter and
if you found a lot of value inthis episode, share it with a friend.
Do the thing that on theplatform you are subscribe like follow
(20:29):
comment all the things youknow what to do and I will see you
next week.
Have you ever looked at yourto do list and suddenly felt the
life drain from you?
The energy is gone, and thenyou're thinking, what is wrong with
me?
Well, we're going to coverthat today because you may be feeling
lazy or you may be feelinglike you lack purpose, but we're
going to tell you it's not alack of purpose.
It's not that you're lazy.
It's just that you're misaligned.
(00:22):
And in today's episode, we'regoing to unpack what that looks like,
what we're feeling, and maybesome tips on how to get over it.
Welcome to Online Business forChristian Creatives, the show that
helps you build a businessthat honors God, fuels your creativity,
and actually pays the bills.
I'm your host, Jim Burgoon,leadership coach, Faith first, entrepreneur,
(00:46):
and a guy who's made justabout every mistake so you don't
have to.
Let's get into it as we jumpin, we need to name the lie now.
Have you ever said, I need toget more done, I need to push harder?
I feel so weak.
I feel useless, I'm slacking.
(01:07):
If you've ever said that, thenyou are probably a great candidate,
that your value is tied toyour productivity.
And if you tie your value toyour productivity, when you're low
on productivity, you're low on surfboards.
Self worth, you're low on value.
When your productivity ishigh, your value and your self worth
(01:27):
is higher.
And the lie is, is that youactually believe, as I once believe,
that we are what we do andthat if we can produce things of
high quality, then people willlove us, people will respect us,
people will see us for who wereally are.
And my friend, that isabsolutely living in a place of imposter
(01:47):
syndrome.
And not in the sense of likeimposter syndrome of, oh, my gosh,
they're going to find me outone day.
No, the imposter syndromecomes back to, I'm going to act this
way to get love and respectbecause I'm tying productivity and
value together.
And I'm not going to actuallybe and show up who I'm supposed to
be, who God made me to be,because I'm misaligned.
(02:10):
And I've told myself this lieover and over and over.
But here's what the Bibletalks about.
Bible doesn't reward, youknow, in the Bible, it doesn't reward
productivity.
It rewards how obedient we areto God's word.
It rewards how aligned we areto God's purposes.
It doesn't Reward us for justdoing more.
I mean we see that in Matthew7, Matthew 7, the all these people
(02:32):
came up and said, hey, have wenot prophesied in your name and done
all these signs and miraclesin your name?
And Jesus says, hey, get awayfrom me.
I never knew you.
Why is that?
Because they were beingproductive without building relationship,
they were being productivewithout obedience, they were being
productive without alignment.
And alignment in the Bible isalways first and foremost coming
(02:53):
into relationship with God andthen learning how to be obedient
through the Holy Spirit in the Word.
And you and I, if we have toat some point divorce ourselves from
the lie that we are gettingour value from productivity, that's
not true.
And if you can lean in with mea little bit because, and you've
heard this said, I'm sure ifthe devil can't disrail you or destroy
(03:17):
you, he'll distract you.
And how does he distract you?
By getting you to be tied toyour productivity.
So he uses your trauma, heuses what you've been through, your
lack of self worth, yourinsecurities, these things that when
you and I were growing up thatsaid if I do this, maybe they'll
love me, maybe they'll notice me.
(03:37):
And then he supersizes thatand gives you a to do list with a
bunch of things to do with aninsecurity and a self worth tied
to getting those things done.
So that you are not walking inobedience or alignment with God and
his purposes, but you'rewalking in value centered or ego
centered value.
Which means if I'm valued, I'm productive.
(03:59):
If I'm not productive, I'm not valued.
And my friends, that's notwhat God has for you or I.
So, so if we're identifyingthe lie, we have to now diagnose
the misalignment, right?
The first thing we have tolook into is are our values misaligned?
Now for you, in yourconversations with God, what are
your values?
What are the first things thatyou're supposed to be focused on?
(04:21):
Family, faith, health, purpose.
And then what are you nowfocusing on?
Now, is it your business?
But here's the deal.
Are you putting everythingthat isn't aligned with the values
God has for you in life?
Are you putting that first?
Or are you putting the valuesthat God has given you put on your
heart, has made you, you know,hyper aware about the Holy Spirit
(04:45):
has told you and said, hey,these are where your values are and
are you putting things aheadof them?
Like for instance, my valuenumber one value is family.
And If I focus more on mybusiness, I'm not saying don't focus
on your business, but if mybusiness becomes the number one priority
where that gets all of mytime, then my family takes a back
seat.
(05:05):
So I'm now misaligned in my values.
Because here's the idea thatall that, all misalignment feels
like failure, but it'sactually a signal that we're not
in proper alignment.
We've got to get back into alignment.
So do you feel like a failureto your family?
Do you feel like a failure,like your faith is not growing?
Do you feel like you're not,your health is diminishing?
(05:25):
And when you look at that,have you put the alignment correctly
in the values that you hold?
The second thing is, is ourseasons misaligned?
Now we.
And you know, if you're aChristian, you've been listening
to Christianity for a long time.
We talk about seasons andseason shifts and how God operates
in seasons.
And it's just like the fourseasons that every year the seasons
(05:47):
change.
Summer, winter, spring and fall.
Unless you're in Florida, I'min Florida.
And so we have hot and reallyhot and then surface of the sun.
So that's a little different.
But with that being said, isyour season different than your intensity
currently?
Let's talk about this for a second.
Are you working at theintensity of a previous season when
(06:09):
God told you to rest?
Because if you're working at ahigh intensity in a rest season,
you're out of alignment.
Or if you're trying to rest ina high intensity season, you're out
of alignment.
This is why it has to be soimportant that we focus on learning
how to hear and speak with Godon an everyday basis to find, okay,
what is the season we're in?
(06:30):
Has it shifted?
Is it about to shift?
God will reveal all of that ifwe ask him and talk to Him.
But we have to make sure thatif we're feeling like failures, if
we're having our energy stolenfrom us, we have to get.
Not only do we have the valuesthing, we have to get into the seasonal
thing.
God works in rhythms.
We work best in rhythms.
And we call rhythms routines.
(06:52):
And, and, and we have to shiftroutines every season.
So maybe you're getting up atfive o' clock in the morning and
you're working out for anhour, then you're coming home and
journaling and doing all these things.
But then you have a seasonal shift.
And your seasonal shift eithercauses you to have to work out and
do your journaling.
Earlier or later based ondifferent needs of the season.
(07:12):
Now what we do is say we get rigid.
We're like, I will not beflexible and change this.
This is what it is.
And then we wonder why we'renot walking in higher levels of alignment.
We have to evaluate with everyseasonal shift.
So maybe you have to shiftcertain priorities, certain disciplines,
not that you stop them, butthey may need to change or shift.
(07:33):
Because remember, if we're atan intensity that is different in
the season that we're at,they're going to be misalignment
and you're going to findyourself feeling like a failure.
So let's make sure that we'reconstantly evaluating with through
the Holy Spirit are the seasonis the season we're in and the intensity
of that season both matching.
(07:54):
If they don't match, where amI off?
Am I too intense for thisseason or am I not intense enough
for this season?
And then also, what season is it?
Is it a season of rest?
Is it a season of pushing?
Is it a season of building?
Is it a season of just maintaining?
Figure those things out withthe Holy Spirit and then get into
alignment and trust that it'sall going to work out.
(08:15):
The last thing we're going tocome into is expectation misalignment.
Now this is a huge one becausewe're carrying burdens that God never
asked us to carry.
And as somebody who is arecovering people pleaser, yes, I
always say that I'm recoveringpeople pleaser because God has really
delivered me from a lot of that.
But I still have some residue.
I have a tendency to want tocarry everybody's burdens around
(08:37):
me while ignoring my own.
I have a tendency to want tolift you up and not accept anything
from you to lift me up.
And that comes back to thatresidue or that recovering people
pleasing thing that I wentthrough or thing that I'm going through
because my expectations ofmyself was a lot different and maybe
even almost unsustainably highcompared to what an expectation I
(09:01):
would have on you.
Which means I may say, youdon't owe me or do anything.
I, I owe you everything.
And then if you were to reallyask and say, oh, Holy Spirit, what
would you say in this matter?
He may be saying to you, whotold you it had to look like that?
Who told you you needed tocarry that?
Who told you that you weresupposed to pick up that burden?
(09:24):
See, we want to get into theseplaces where we pick up this stuff,
carry this stuff, do these things.
And we've never checked withthe author of it.
We've never checked with theauthor of our faith.
We never checked with the guide.
And so we're picking upburdens we were never meant to pick
up.
We're chasing directions wewere never meant to chase, to chase.
And we're pushing ourselves inplaces we were never meant to do.
(09:48):
So.
So, for instance, if we're ourexpectations, like I'm a podcaster,
and so one of thoseexpectations is I have to do it this
way, because the mostsuccessful people do it this way.
And then it comes back to, whotold you that it has to look like
that?
Who told you that you have todo your blog and your podcast the
exact same way that so and sodoes it.
(10:09):
And this is where we get intothe misalignment of expectations.
Because there's a point wherewe expect that in order to be successful,
we have to look like so and so.
And that's not the case.
If it's going to besuccessful, we have to follow the
plan of God that he has for.
And so we have to get ourexpectations and alignment with God's
expectations and constantlycheck into them and just say, hey,
(10:32):
God, what do you think about this?
What do you want about this?
What are we going on about this?
And then move in alignmentwith him and letting our expectations
be his expectations.
Like, we're just grafting themon us so we can look at Matthew like
11, 28, 30.
And I did, and I pulled thisout of the message because I thought
this was really cool.
(10:52):
And it goes into the, thethree things we were just talking
about.
And it says this.
Are you tired?
Worn out, burnt out on religion?
Is that.
Some of you guys, let me knowin the comments if you're watching
this on YouTube or hit me upin the email jim leadwith jim.com
and just let me know, is that,does that describe you?
Are you tired?
Are you worn out?
Are you burnt out on religion?
(11:13):
I mean, what a way to open thescripture in the message version
of Matthew 11.
And so it goes on.
Come to me, get away with meand you'll recover your life.
I'll show you how to take areal rest.
Walk with me and work with me.
Watch how I do it.
(11:35):
Learn.
And the unforced rhythms of grace.
Now, now hear that One more.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
I won't lay anything heavy onor ill fitting on you.
We just talked about misalignment.
So if we.
And under the message versionhere, God's not gonna, you know,
whatever yoke he's gonna puton us will not be ill fitting.
(11:57):
And he says, keep company withme and you'll learn to live freely
and lightly.
That was powerful.
Keep company with me andyou'll learn to live freely and lightly.
If you're tired, if you'reworn out, the alignment comes when
we follow after what Christhas done for us.
We follow after the model,what he's saying, what he's showing
(12:20):
us.
Because it's not going to beout of alignment, it's going to fit
us perfectly.
Now will it be easy?
Absolutely not.
Life is not easy.
Get that out of your head.
If you've been told badtheology that a moment you follow
Christ, life is easy.
Just talk to John the Baptist,he was beheaded.
Talk to all the disciples whowere murdered and killed because
of their faith.
(12:40):
They that is not what this is about.
This is about being in perfectalignment, doing imper.
Doing perfect things, youknow, what God calls us to in an
imperfect way and living thatfulfilled and impactful life.
Because now we're in line withwhat God's doing, which brings us
into this place of we have toreally redefine what discipline looks
(13:01):
like.
Now you have all the gurus outthere and all the, all the people
out there.
You need to wake up at 6 o'clock in the morning every day and
do 6,16,000 push ups and drink4 gallons of water by 8 o' clock
so that you can start your day.
And then you're going to work10 hours that may work for them,
but they may not work for you.
And we need to stop listeningto people and all these voices and
(13:22):
ask the Lord to really, let'sredefine what discipline looks like
for us believers.
Because we're not going to dothe same things the same ways that
everybody else can.
We learn from them?
Absolutely.
We're going to learn from themin a way that's healthy to us, not
as we're just going to graftin what they're doing because we
think that was what makes us successful.
No, my friend, what makes ussuccessful is following the Holy
(13:43):
Spirit.
What makes us successful isGod's anointing on what's going on.
And we're just going to jumpin and just take part with it.
And so discipline isn'tforcing yourself to do things that
drain you.
It's choosing what aligns withyou and what's God's doing.
So it may be hard, but it'sgoing to be impactful.
It may be like you still maybe tired, but you're going to be
(14:04):
Fulfilled, there are trade offs.
So we gotta make sure thatwe're choosing what aligns with God
and what God's doing in you,while simultaneously not forcing
ourselves to do all thesethings that just aren't meant for
you and I.
Because discipline does notequal hustle.
And I think so many times weput the hustle over the discipline.
(14:24):
And if you read Proverbs,discipline is doing something over
a long period of time tocreate massive results.
Hustling is do it as fast aspossible to get those same results.
And I'm going to promise you,hustlers burn themselves out.
People of discipline lastlong, they have longevity.
You're going to see people inbusiness for 10, 20, 30, 40 years
(14:47):
because they were disciplined.
Not so much hustlers, becausespirit led.
Discipline is about focus.
It's about boundaries, it'sabout obedience, and it's about being
like Christ and doingeverything you can to develop the
fruit of the Spirit in yourlife so that you can get out there
and be like Christ and be theletter that God has written in your
(15:08):
life to the people of thisworld and allow your business to
be a conduit for God's grace.
So if I was going to reframethis, I would say this.
You're not lacking hustle.
Obviously, the hustle you'vebeen doing has caused you to be tired.
It's caused you to be burnt out.
So you're not lacking hustle,you're just lacking clarity.
You're lacking discipline.
(15:29):
Because here's one of thethings you, you and I have to understand.
And this goes back to, youknow, the devil can't destroy you.
He'll make you distracted.
The problem we're having a lotof times when we're misaligned is
we have too many options andwe don't have enough clarity, which
means we have, we are way andI chronic overthinker here working
on that.
So we're here trying tooverthink and be like, well, what
(15:50):
if we did this and what if wedid that and what if we did this
and what if we did that andhow about this?
And how does this go into whatif we did this?
And the reality of it is wehaven't taken action on any of it.
And we're, we're gripped bythe paralysis of the analysis.
And so we're gripped inindecision and we're gripped in this
place of burnout because toomany options are looming, too many
(16:12):
voices and not enough actionand not enough us going to the Holy
Spirit to say hey, HolySpirit, 10 options.
Help me get one.
And really, that's where wegot to come back to.
And so if you, if you listento this podcast long enough, you'll
hear me come back to that overand over again.
Get in prayer and ask God for direction.
Stop trying to do it on your own.
(16:33):
Stop trying to be the hero inthe story.
God is the hero in a story.
We're just grateful to be partof the story.
And we understand that beingpart of the story means we're going
to have an incredible impact.
And that's what you reallywant, is to impact people and have
their lives changed.
So this means we come to ourfinal segment, which really comes
into recalibrating with Godand recalibrating a God.
(16:55):
We have to be encouraged topause, not push.
Pause, not push.
Because here's what it is.
Pausing doesn't mean you and Istop an activity.
It doesn't mean that wecompletely stop everything we're
doing that.
That we're not.
We're not going to do another thing.
That's not what this is saying.
Because obviously you're notgoing to stop your business.
(17:15):
You're not going to stopwhatever you're doing completely
to wait.
That's not how this works in context.
Because we want to pause andnot push.
Because pushing is more akinto striving.
It's more akin of desperatelymoving forward to try to make something
work, to get what we think we want.
(17:36):
And if we're constantlystriving, Psalms at 46, 10, be still
and know that I'm God and thatscripture hole comes in, quit striving
and know that I am God, right?
So that striving that quick,pushing that quick, wrestling that
quick, trying to be sofearfully desperate that you need
something to work, needsomething to happen, that you're
going to burn yourself outbecause hustle, hustle, hustle, hustle,
(17:58):
hustle, and then call it God's blessing.
That's not what it is.
We've got to pause.
And what pausing means isunderstanding that in the moments,
a collection of moments, notone moment, but.
But a collection of moments,we're stopping, recalibrating, and
asking God, hey, is this thedirection I'm supposed to be in?
(18:19):
Is this the place you want me?
Is this where I'm.
I'm supposed to be focused onand just do what you feel he is saying.
So here's some reflectionquestions you and I could be asking.
Journaling, I highly recommendJournaling is what feels heavy right
now.
That used to feel light thatcould be an indication that your
season is shifting has shifted.
What feels heavy that use tofeel light.
(18:42):
Number two, what are yousaying yes to that is draining you
now?
I just I'm gonna do a wholething on on the power of no.
But if you're saying yes toeverything and no to nothing, you're
already losing you.
Your nos have to be more thanyour yeses because we have to be
very poignant in what we'resaying yes to.
So what are you saying yes tothat's draining you?
(19:02):
And the last one, if Jesuswalked into the room right now would
what would he say needs to gofrom your life?
Just sit back and think about that.
Take your rest moment.
If Jesus walked right into theroom right with you right now, looked
at you in the eye and saidthis needs to go, what would be that
thing?
So I just want to thank youguys for hanging out with me for
today's episode.
If this hit home with you andyou're feeling burnt out and you're
(19:26):
feeling like the energy drainand all these things, I just would
love to have you and I havefurther the conversation by jumping
on the newsletter.
I go deeper on the newsletterand sometimes I put tools out there
in order to help you through it.
Things you won't find in the episode.
And you'll find that atwww.leadwithjim.comnl for newsletter
(19:48):
I'll put all this in the show notes.
Would love to have you there.
This way we can have acontinued conversation going back
and forth because there's alot of times I'll ask for replies
from people who are on thenewsletter because I do enjoy talking
with you all and I do enjoyhaving banter and the questions you
ask will show up on episodesand if they ever show up on an episode
(20:08):
I will shout you out and sayhey, so and so asked this a brilliant
question.
Let's talk about it with thatall being said.
Www.leadwithjim.comnl Join theConversation on the newsletter and
if you found a lot of value inthis episode, share it with a friend.
Do the thing that on theplatform you are subscribe like follow
(20:29):
comment all the things youknow what to do and I will see you
next week.
Host
Jim Burgoon
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