Sunday Thinking

“You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”

October 01, 2023

The weekly Sunday Thinking newsletter is quick-hit content that aims to provide a booster shot to your thought process as you end and start your week.

"You are being presented with a choice: evolve or remain. If you choose to remain unchanged, you will be presented with the same challenges, the same routine, the same storms, the same situations, until you learn from them, until you love yourself enough to say “no more,” until you choose change. If you choose to evolve, you will connect with the strength within you, you will explore what lies outside the comfort zone, you will awaken to love, you will become, you will be. You have everything you need. Choose to evolve. Choose love."

― Craig Crippen, Writer

Image by Elena Klimova

I. Do It Scared

Sometimes you gotta do it scared.

  • Set goals that are worth the risks.

  • Walk out of your comfort zone and into your calling.

  • Be the catalyst that you've been waiting for.

It's not easy, but it's simple — decide that even though you'll experience fear, it won't overpower your faith.

Source: Michell C. Clark, Keep It 100

II. Leveling Up

Top leaders share similar behavioral patterns. Here are nine behavior patterns we can learn and apply:

  1. Identify your hidden desires, dreams and potential.

  2. Don’t accept negativity. Direct your energy toward actions that trigger hope.

  3. Consider the future implications of your actions.

  4. Work to improve difficult situations, even when they are not your responsibility.

  5. Achieve your biggest dreams through a series of incremental steps.

  6. What you hate helps shape your character as a leader, so choose wisely.

  7. Forget fairness; give back more than you receive.

  8. Stop telling self-aggrandizing stories; practice humility instead.

  9. Don’t let your fear of others’ reactions control you.

Source: Henry Cloud, 9 Things a Leader Must Do

III. Show Me, I’m Ready

I used to see my past as a hindrance:

  • All of the mistakes I have made

  • All of the failed relationships

  • All of the pain I was given

  • That I never wanted to carry.

At first I wanted to forget these memories to scratch them out of the book of my life. But now I see that even though my story started heavy, that did not stop me from finding my inner light:

  • My sadness was a motivator

  • My pain became my teacher

If you listen closely to your hurt, it will say "there is a better way than this" and all you have to do is respond "show me, I'm ready."

Source: Yung Pueblo, The Way Forward

IV. Question

How much stress have you caused yourself?

V. This Week, I Will

  1. Prioritize love over fear.

  2. Prioritize listening over reacting.

  3. Prioritize solutions over placing blame.

  4. Prioritize understanding over judgement.

  5. Prioritize vulnerability over pridefulness.

The Last Words…

“I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

― Diane Ackerman, Writer