Speaker #0What's going on, everybody? This is your host, Chris Briggs. Welcome back to another episode of the Growth Gym Podcast, where growth is a journey and not a destination. Hey, I need you to like, share, subscribe. and make sure that you share this with somebody and we're stepping into a new season in our lives and spring is more than just a change in weather. It's a call to renewal. It's a call to a fresh start and a call to grow. But here's the truth. You can't grow in what you refuse to clean. And so today I want us to make sure we get our pen and paper out so we can grow. And we can become what we are intended to become on this journey. All right. So let's really be honest. Clutter is just not in our homes. But we have to understand that clutter shows up in other areas of our lives and our thoughts, our relationships and habits and even in commitment. Because some of us carrying things that no longer fit where... where life is trying to take us. And you're trying to grow, but you're surrounded by what's weighing you down. And here's the real problem. What you don't release, you will continue to rehearse. Did you get that? What you don't release, you will continue to rehearse. And so it's very important that we understand the truth of about us being on this growth journey, making sure that we understand that many of us have become hoarders. We are hoarding things that is not of yesterday. We are hoarding things of failure. We are hoarding things of mistakes we have made or past relationships. We are hoarding things that we need to get rid of. And just like the seasons change, we are now in the spring. I'm looking towards the summer. The seasons change and just like it changes in the world, it changes in your life. That things that you and it's sad to say that a lot of things that are seasonal, we have made them lifetime. Things that were only good and only purposeful for that season, we have now made them permanent. We have to understand. that we have to realize the clutter that is in our life. You can't go where life tends for you to go while holding on to yesterday, while holding on to the mistakes of yesterday and holding on to the past failures. But then why spring cleaning matters so much for our growth? Because spring cleaning is about making room. You don't cling just to throw things away, you cling to create space. Did you catch that? You don't cling just to throw things away, you cling to create space. And I want to challenge you to create space for new opportunities, for clear thinking, for emotional peace, for spiritual sensitivity. Because sometimes we ask for more. But making room is what we, but we got to make room for what we already, what I've already prepared. So we got to make, we're asking for more, but are we really making room for what's already been prepared for us? And that's a good statement that we have, a good thing that we have to really understand. Because I'm creating space, but am I creating space to hoarder more of yesterday? Or am I making space to accept what is to come of tomorrow? And I think that's what we fail to really, really grabs as we become. as we continue to grow on this growth journey. We are making space, but we're making more space to hoarder things that are not profitable to where we're needing to go. So it's important, friends, to always understand that if I want to be where, if I'm trying to get a certain place, get to a certain destination and try to become a certain person, I got to make space, but I'm making space for newness. I'm making space for the things of new. I'm making space for the things that are going to be profitable to me. I'm going to make space for those things that sometimes may not seem like it's working out for my good. But you got to make space, friends, for those things that are very important in your life. But also make space for new opportunities. You got to make clear thinking. And sometimes we have turned. A lot of times we have turned our minds into cemeteries. We have turned our minds into embalming rooms instead of birthing rooms. Because many times we think thoughts of failure, thoughts of rejection, thoughts of we're not good enough, thoughts of all the thoughts, evil thoughts, when it is intended for us not to think things of old. but to think things of new. There was a new way and a new way of thinking that is designed for you. There's a new way of thinking that is intended for you and I, friends, but we will never reach that place if we continue to always think about yesterday. There is a newness that must come over us and we must experience when we are doing some cleaning. We're creating space. but we're creating space for something new. All right. I got five growth gems. I'm going to drop on you. I got five growth gems. I hope you got your pen and paper. Here go five growth gems for your spring cleaning in your life. The first growth gem is you got to identify what no longer serves you, which means I got to take inventory. I got to take inventory. I got to take inventory over my life, over those things that are not profitable to me. You got to ask yourself these three questions. Are you ready for them? Here go the three questions you got to ask yourself if you take inventory. What am I holding on to out of habit instead of purpose? What am I holding on to out of habit instead of purpose? What relationships? drain me more than they develop me? That's a good question. Because I think a lot of times we hold on to relationships because we don't want to offend the person because, oh, they've been there. And I think we hold on to that. Oh, they have been there for me. They have been there for me. So I'm just going to hold on to them. But it's not developing you, it's draining you. And a lot of times you hold on to past relationships because you don't want to hurt their feelings and because of loyalty and because they feel like, you know, hey, they've been they've been my friend when nobody else was there. That's good. But are they really developing you or are they are they draining you? Then here goes the third question. You got to ask yourself, what thoughts keep me stuck? What thoughts really keep me stuck? Because you can't release what you refuse to recognize. You cannot release what you refuse to recognize. You've been ignoring it like it's never there, but you can't ignore it. You can't ignore that stuff. It's ever present. It's ever present, friends. We cannot ignore it like it's not there, but it's always there. And you got to recognize it and you can't refuse to recognize it, but you got to recognize it so you can release it. Release that relationship, release those thoughts, release those habits that are keeping you stuck in where you're trying to go and where life is trying to take you in this season. Can I tell you something that may challenge you, but we all want to be challenged on this growth journey? Can I tell you, the season is prepared for you, but you're just not prepared for the season. The season is prepared for you, but you ain't prepared for it because you got too much, you got too many irons in the fire. You're doing too much and you're not accomplishing anything. You got all this going on, this is happening, that is happening. But you hadn't made room for new because you're still stuck on last year and what you hadn't accomplished the year before and last month and yesterday. You got to let that stuff go. So you got to take inventory. Who, what, where is an event in my life? Is it my childhood? Is it past relationships? Is it my spending habits? My habits? What is it that's keeping me stuck? So I got to identify what no longer serves me. But then also, friends, you got to let go without guilt. Here goes a big one. You got to let go without guilt because everything you release isn't bad. It's just no longer necessary. Because some people were seasonal. Some habits were survival mechanics. But growth requires transition. And you have to be careful of people who are not understandable. They don't understand where you're trying to go. And you're trying to explain to seasonal people a long-term goal, long-term place you're trying to go. You're trying to explain it to them, and they try to make you feel bad. Well, I was there when your family wasn't there. I was there. I was there when nobody was there with you. I stood right beside you. And when everybody else left you, I was there with you. They try to make you feel bad. But don't allow seasonal people make you feel bad. You can't allow seasonal people make you feel bad. Because if you're not careful, they will. Seasonal people will make you feel like you're doing something wrong. But don't feel guilty for outgrowing what life has used temporarily. You can't become discouraged. You can't become derailed. You can't lose your focus because people will make you feel guilty. And that is sad, but it's a true reality that people make you feel guilty about your choices. But they don't understand the path that you're trying to take. They don't understand the road that you're on. They don't understand your endeavors. They don't understand what you got going on. So people who don't understand will always cause a misunderstanding. That is good. Did you write that down? Because people who don't understand will always cause a misunderstanding. If they don't understand it, they're going to cause a misunderstanding because they're trying to understand it. It's not intended for them to understand. It's not intended for them to know. It's not intended for them to try to figure it out and ponder and try to say, okay, how are you doing this? It is not meant for them. So You can't be feeling guilty because you let go. My season is up. When your season is up, you just got to release it and release it with confidence that you're making the right decision, that you're doing the right thing. Now, it's one thing to release, to leave a season and leave a place and leave it with regret. But when you really leave a place, you got to learn how to leave it with no regret, with no hesitation, with no second guessing yourself that I've made the right decision, I've done the right thing. No, you got to make sure that when you leave a place, you leave it with confidence that, hey, I made the right decision and can nobody make me change my mind and make me feel guilty for what I've done. Because what I've done is not for my right now. But what I've done is for my later on. That was good. What I'm doing now, what I'm doing now in my life is not for my right now. What I'm doing now in my life is pushing me for my later on. So which means that I'm not making mud steps in my life in this moment. I'm making concrete steps and everybody can go with me. Everybody can't hang with me. Everybody can't be with me in those moments. Everybody can't be, we can't have partnership relationship. Some habits can't go. And guess what? I'm not going to feel bad about it because I know where I'm trying to go. You can't feel bad. Don't let people make you feel bad because of decisions you're making now. You're making concrete decisions. And everybody ain't going to understand that. All right. Here go the next growth gem, y'all. Here go the next one. Clean your mind first. Before you clean your environment, clean your mind. That's good. Before you clean your environment, clean your mind. Clean your thinking. Because negative thoughts are like clutter. They take up space and block clarity. And what you have to do, you got to clear your mind of those things that, because your mind is either a storage unit or a strategy room. You got it because you got to replace those things in your mind. You got to replace doubt with faith. You got to replace fear with focus and confidence with truth. Clean your mind first. This is why it isn't important to clean your mind first. Because a lot of times why you keep ending up in the same place that you are in and you keep going through a revolving door is because you are changing environment without changing your mindset first. That is why you keep falling back into familiarity. That's why you keep repeating patterns. and you keep continuing habits, it's because you are trying to take old mindsets into new seasons. And you have to change your mind first before you change your environment. So that's why, and once I change my mind, then my mind changes my actions, right? So I have to change my mentality. before I change geographically, before I move to a place, I have to change the way I think of myself, the way I think about myself, the way I look at myself, the way I view life, the way I view my season, the way I view how things, I have to change that. Because if I don't, I'm going to end back up in the same place that I just left because I hadn't changed my mind. And here goes what happens is that when you change your mind, what happens is you start outgrowing the environment that you are currently in. And so people, so what happens is when your mindset change, you start feeling uncomfortable. You start feeling uneased in places that were comfortable to you. Those places because you had mentality of those who are around you and those who are around you will start saying that you are arrogant, that you are egotistical, that you think you are better than them. No, it's that my mindset has changed. And when your mindset has changed, you start outgrowing people. Even though we're in the same environment, here you go. Even though we're in the same environment, our mindsets are different. And that's what makes the difference. In your season. That's what makes the difference in your season. And the fact of your mindset has changed. You don't think the way you used to. All right. Here go to fourth growth gym, y'all. You got to set boundaries as maintenance. Because cleaning is just not a one-time event. It's a lifestyle. You don't set boundaries. If you don't set boundaries, clutter will return. You got to learn how to say no to what drains you. You got to know how to say yes to what grows you because boundaries protects the life you're building. So, and I want to say to you, you don't have to get arrogant. You don't have to get like, you know, you all better than everybody, but you ought to set boundaries. Because if you don't, if you don't set boundaries, what will happen, friends? What will happen is people from the outside, from yesterday, from last season, will try to filter over into your new season. And guess what? They do it in a way. That they would do it in a way that try to manipulate. They were doing a way to try to grab on and try to become, oh, this is girl, we doing our thing. Man, this is us. We doing our thing. No, it ain't us. Quit trying to include people in your season that ain't supposed to be. You got to set boundaries because boundaries is going to protect what you are building. Notice, anytime you see a construction, anytime you see construction going on, there is a fence. What is the fence around? The fence is around because it blocks off the construction that's taking place, what's being built. And if you don't have a hard hat, if you don't have the right equipment, if you don't have steel-toed shoes on, you're not able to come into that. work zone. You're not able to come into that construction zone. And can I say something to us? We ought to have that same mindset that if you don't have the same mindset as me, if you're not going in the same direction as me, if you're not have the same endeavors and the same passion, the same drive as I have, you're not able to come into this construction zone. You're not able to come in the area of what I'm building because you have to be careful of people who will come in the area. a building and try to take credit for what you have built. They have tried to take credit. Oh, man, look what we done did. No, we hadn't done anything. I put the sweat and tears in. I've put the work in. And so you have to be careful of people who try to take the credit for, oh, man, look at what we have accomplished. And it's not about us. So you got to set boundaries. You got to set boundaries for people. who are trying to come in and re-clutter your life, right? But here go the last growth gem, y'all. You got to fill the space that you have now become empty with purpose. Just don't empty your life, refill it with intentionality. Let me say that again. Don't just empty your life, but refill it with intentionality. You got to replace old habits with prayer, discipline, learning. and growth routines. Because here it goes, because empty space without direction will always attract distractions. Let me say that again. I know y'all can rewind it, but I think I need to rewind this and say it one more time for myself, because that was good. Empty spaces without direction will always attract distractions, right? So if I feel my life, I've given... I've gotten rid of that clutter. Now I got to fill my life with things that are purposeful, things that are intentional, things that are going to be beneficial to my life. That's going to push me to where I'm trying to go. All right. So here's where it gets real. Spring cleaning is just not physical, but it's a spiritual, emotional. It's in all aspects of your life that you got to make sure that you do this cleaning in. So if you want new growth, you got to be willing to release old patterns. You got to get rid of those old ways, those old things that keep, the things that just, man, keep doing too much. Right. You know what I'm saying? Just doing too much. All right. Y'all, this is your season. And I want to say this to you. When it's your season, you don't have to force it. You just walk in it. Because you have made room. Quit trying to go in rooms that were not intended for you and create your own space, create your own room, create your own place. But this is your season. This is your season to reset, your season to refocus, and your season to release. Don't just clean up your house, clean up your heart. Don't just organize your space, organize your life. Because what God is about to do in your life requires room. It requires room, friends. And so I want to challenge you. Take 15 minutes and identify one thing, just one, that you need to release and let go. I want you to release it. I want you to let it go. Don't hold it. Don't miss your season because you're trying to hold on to something that was not intended for you. to hold on to. All right. If this episode has blessed you, has been a help to you, and has blessed you on this growth journey, make sure you like, share, and subscribe. And always remember, growth don't happen by accident. It happens on purpose. But if I'm going to reach my purpose, I got to do some spring cleaning. I got to get some things out the way. Hey, this has been your host, Chris Briggs. And this has been another episode of the Growth Gym Podcast, where growth is a journey and not a destination. Thank you.
