Join me as we discover the path to unwavering joy and mental well-being in this uplifting episode. I'll delve into 8 steps grounded in faith to help transform your perspective and find hope in every situation. Let's begin cultivating joy and gratitude together!
Follow on Instagram & Facebook: @AndyBHoward
Buy the book on Amazon: www.amazon.com/When-Words-Dont-Come-Easy/dp/1955362084
Listen to the first chapter: soundcloud.com/andy-howard-788712319
Learn more at AndyHoward.com!
Join me as we discover the path to unwavering joy and mental well-being in this uplifting episode. I'll delve into 8 steps grounded in faith to help transform your perspective and find hope in every situation. Let's begin cultivating joy and gratitude together!
Follow on Instagram & Facebook: @AndyBHoward
Buy the book on Amazon: www.amazon.com/When-Words-Dont-Come-Easy/dp/1955362084
Listen to the first chapter: soundcloud.com/andy-howard-788712319
Learn more at AndyHoward.com!
Hey, what's up everybody? Today is going to be a fun one. We're going to really stop down and break down the science behind how to find a more grateful life or to find joy in your life. It comes with a mindset shift and it doesn't happen overnight. It comes with being intentional and it takes practice. So my encouragement for you I'm going to give you eight tips. Eight tips on how to apply this to your life and by the end you're going to find it's going to be so much harder to see the negative things in your life when all the positive things are jumping out at you. All that and more is happening right after this. What's up everybody?
Speaker 1:Welcome back to the WinWords Don't Come Easy podcast. My name is Andy Howard and it is such an honor to have you here with me. If this is your first time, welcome here, seriously welcome. Thank you for joining, and maybe you've been around for a while. Can I just say thank you, thank you for showing up. You're the reason why I do this and I'm honored to be on this journey with you. And today is a very special day for me.
Speaker 1:So, for those who were here last week, I'll put you in a little secret. I'm not perfect at this thing. I feel like I'm just not learning. Last week I thought was the 52nd episode, and I even referred to it in the 51st episode on September the 12th, on confidence. Go back and check that out, if not. I love everything that was said on boosting your confidence and why, but today is actually the 52nd episode, on September the 19th. In fact, last year, a year ago, on September the 20th, I did my first ever podcast, and so here's the truth. I'm not perfect at this, as you can tell. I'm not good with numbers. I didn't realize it till I went back and was editing the folder and throwing it into the folder and everything that. Oops, that was actually episode 51 last week, but no one has to know that, so put that out of your mind. Today is episode 52. It's one year in and I am so excited to be here so excited to be here a year, and I touched on that last week. So if you want to hear why I'm excited to still be here after a year, you'll have to go back to last week's, because this week we're moving on.
Speaker 1:But I wanted to talk about finding joy. Finding joy in all things is it truly is a mindset shift that requires practice and conscious effort. If you've been around for any of the other 52, you've probably heard this set a time or two. But anything that you want to do, that you want to get better, doesn't happen by accident. Takes being intentional and it takes focus. So you have to dial in and you have to be intentional about it, and you have to be focused on what you want to get better at. And if you are someone who's coming through depression, like myself, many years ago I came through depression, but it's something that I still have to keep in check on a daily basis, and so now it happens by finding gratitude. And so if I finding joy and finding gratitude, it doesn't happen without being intentional about it. So today I have eight things for you, eight steps to help you find gratitude.
Speaker 1:The first step I would challenge you to do is practice gratitude, practice gratitude. Take time each day to reflect on the things you're grateful for. This can be as simple as appreciating a beautiful sunset or a kind gesture from a friend, or even a delicious meal. We have so many things all around us to be grateful for, but focusing on gratitude helps us shift your perspective towards the positive aspects of life. This is something I was even practicing with one of my daughters. I won't say who, could I get in trouble, but sometimes, when things don't go her way or go the way she hopes for right it all happens to all of us. We tend to focus on the negative things. Oh, I never. The word never draws me nuts, by the way, but I never get this, I never get to do that. But when we start having a mindset of gratitude, when we start focusing on these things, even if it's something as simple as being grateful for a mill after going to Africa and I know I've talked about it a lot lately, please forgive me, but I will never be ungrateful for a mill we are so blessed, we're so blessed here. So start looking for ways where you can be grateful. That's number one. You have to practice gratitude.
Speaker 1:The second thing I would challenge you to do is just be mindful. I know I'm so guilty of this, but so many times if I'm not careful, I can kind of turn into autopilot, like where I'm driving, I know where I'm going, but I don't even focus on the on the trip. It's just like I'm headed to my destination. I, I know I got to do this, this, this today, and I got to get it done in being busy, right, we sometimes wear that as a badge of honor, but we're so busy that we're not mindful. We're just getting things done. And my challenge would be practice. Being fully present, I engage with your senses. Pay attention to the details of your surroundings, the taste of your food we mentioned that. Right, you can tell I love to eat, but the taste of your food, the filling of the sun on your skin, the sound of laughter. Being mindful helps you appreciate the small joys that often go unnoticed, that we can often just breeze on by when we're in autopilot mode. So, number two be mindful.
Speaker 1:Another practice that can help you, uh, find gratitude or find joy in things is is, number three just find joy in simple pleasures. Look for joy in your everyday activities. It could be something as as small as enjoying a double shot espresso that's my love language. It could be something that simple. It doesn't have to be something over the moon, like a trip to Paris or something, right, uh, just find joy in the small things enjoying that cup of coffee in the morning, reading a good book, like, uh, when words don't come easy by Andy Howard. Okay, that's a little free plug, but if you haven't read it, seriously, go get it. Reading a good book, taking a walk, uh, spending quality time with loved ones, embrace these simple pleasures and savor the moments. It's so valuable Again, find joy in simple pleasures.
Speaker 1:So number four and this is one that is just something that's going to take time, uh, something that I'm still practicing at that I'm working on, but it's just like working out. It doesn't happen overnight, it's not like you know, you ever been there, I've been there or you go get that workout on, then you run back to the mirror and you're like what happened, what changed? Doesn't happen overnight, but if you stay consistent at it, if you work hard at it, if you're intentional at it, like I don't know, three months later, six months later, a year from now, you'll look back at old pictures and you're like dude, look at you now or do that? You know, if you're female, whatever. But this is, this is one that takes time, takes work, it's, it's caught to me. So number four caught to me a positive mindset.
Speaker 1:It's not easy, right, it's not easy, but you have to train your mind to focus on the positive aspects of situations Instead of dwelling on what went wrong. Look for lessons learned or the silver linings. Look for the beauty in the broken. I promise you it's out there. So practice reaffirming those negative thoughts into positive ones and choose to see the good in every situation. See, we are born with a desire to find the negative. We're born that way. We're we're, we're created to just look at at the negative. It takes practice to start focusing on the good in your life and being grateful for the positive things. But I promise you, if you would do this, if you will be intentional to start searching for those things, all of a sudden those things will start jumping out at you and it'll actually be harder to find the negative things in your life than the positive. Promise you that's true. Give it a shot.
Speaker 1:Number five surround yourself with positivity. I surround yourself with positive people, uplifting environments, inspiring content. That's why sometimes you just even myself I have to go through, and when something's causing me to be sad or causing me to be angry or mad or not happy, I'm like what is this serving me? There are people I used to follow that I had to unfollow. That's okay. Surround yourself with positive people who are uplifting, who are inspiring you, who are pushing you to be better. That would be my challenge for you.
Speaker 1:Engage in activities that bring you joy, such as listening to uplifting music, watching feel good movies or even again reading motivational books. The more positivity you surround yourself with, the easier it becomes to find joy in all things. But another thing we do for for our home we love to have worship music just playing through the home. Worship music just starts our day right. It's already running. Alexa makes it so easy for us, so she's just playing the worship sets and the worship music. And even our girls wake up for breakfast before we start our day, before we go to school. You know, before I go wherever, before my workout, I've already been hit. Even when I don't even realize it, I've already been hit with with worship, and so it just sets your day, it sets the tone.
Speaker 1:Do that, surround yourself. And even finding a good church. If you're not going to church, you don't realize the the importance of surrounding yourself with good people. Positive people find that church. It's out there. Not all churches are bad. Right Churches get a bad name. These days, people are quick to point out well, this church did this, this church did that. Finding a good church and then be faithful to it and be a positive for that church, be a reason why someone else wants to come to that church because of your smiling face, and not a reason why they don't want to come to that church. I'm going to leave that for another episode Episode, but maybe going to number six. So number six in finding well, eight tips for finding joy in all things.
Speaker 1:Number six is practicing self-care, and I'm going to be honest with you. Self-care is an area that I struggled with for many years because I didn't want to think about myself and I was part of my depression. I was part of the struggle I was in, so I didn't care about myself enough to invest in myself. And it's very important. I'm not saying any one of these are more important than the other, but find you, I was talking to my brother this week and he was telling me and he's a pastor and he has to he told me he used the word I have to take Mondays off and and that is because he will get so burned out and going, going, going, and he's found that he has to take Mondays off to to recharge himself. That's the case and that is so good for all of us. If we don't stop to invest in ourselves, how can we be a blessing to others?
Speaker 1:So practice self-care, take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally. Prioritize activities that bring you joy and recharge your energy. This could include exercise, like working out is so good at prayer, reading the Bible, like you know, good meditation, good prayer time, hobbies, spending time on walks or or pampering yourself. My wife loves a good massage. Anytime I need brownie points not from me, by the way anytime I need brownie points. So if I get her a gift card to her favorite thing, her favorite spa here where we live, I am golden, I'm good. She loves that.
Speaker 1:How? How do you like to to prioritize self-care? It can be different for every person, but do it. Don't neglect yourself. Don't tell yourself that you're not worth it, that you're not worth investing in yourself, and one you're going to find by giving to yourself. You're going to be a better husband for your wife. You're going to be a better father for your kids. You're going to be a better Christian. You're going to be a better I know that that's kind of like an oxymoron being a better Christian, because we're all just followers of Christ and we're at his mercy. We're, we're all in need of his grace. So I don't know that we get better, but we will be better for others. We will have more to give to others when we prioritize taking care of ourselves. So practice self-care.
Speaker 1:The number seven is embrace imperfections. Embrace imperfections. Accept that life is not perfect and that's okay. Embrace imperfections and find the beauty in them. I say it all the time find the beauty in the broken. Learn to let go of the need for control imperfections and instead focus on the joy that can be found in the messy, unpredictable moments of life. It's a beautiful, beautiful journey. Life is a beautiful journey. All of it, man. So many things I went through in my life that I can look back and I'm so grateful for, for all of it. It's made me the man I am today. So I wish I could say I didn't have the bad moments of my life, but then again, without those moments, maybe I wouldn't appreciate the good moments that come my way either. Through all of it, though, I know God's been faithful and he's used all things to bring me to who I am today. So just embrace it. Don't fall in love with those mountaintop experiences. Fall in love with the everyday journey, even the journeys through the valleys, because if you fall in love with what gets you there, to the mountaintops, once you get there, you won't be waiting on those mountaintop experiences to find joy. You will find joy in the day to day. Just embrace it. Embrace it. It's all beautiful life. It's a beautiful life.
Speaker 1:And the very last one of our eight tips for you is spread kindness and joy. Spread kindness and joy, acts of kindness. Not only bring joy to others, but also to yourself. Practice random acts of kindness. Whether it's a smile See, that's free. You might have been thinking I don't have any money, I can't do this or that, or it's so tight right now I can't. This is free. Whether it's a smile, maybe it's a compliment, again, that's free. A small gesture of help hey, I saw you're doing this. What I found? That makes it so much easier. Again, this is free. This doesn't cost any money. Some things could cost money or time. Maybe you invest in and you go most of them.
Speaker 1:I did this as a teenager before, when there was an elderly woman that was our neighbor next door. I was already mowing our yard and looking back. I mean, it was so small it didn't even take me an additional five minutes. Seriously, it was a small house. I just ran through and mowed hers without even asking, just took care of it. So it needed to be done and she was so grateful for a simple, simple act of kindness.
Speaker 1:It happens all the time. You could pay for the next person's Starbucks Something so simple. Maybe is it five bucks, 10 bucks, whatever their order is. You could take care of it. Maybe that's what they need to find that little spark of hope for the day to keep going, whatever it is, but just watch as you create a ripple effect that brings more joy. Remember, it's not for them, it's for you. So as you start doing these little acts of kindness for others, what you think you're doing for others, you're going to find yourself feeling better about yourself and your joy that comes to you. So those are the eight. I can't recap all of them. You have to go back and watch again if you'd like to hear that.
Speaker 1:Remember, finding joy in all things is a journey. It takes practice, it takes being intentional, it takes being focused. So be patient with yourself and make a conscious effort to cultivate joy in your daily life. You have to work hard at it and give yourself grace on day two or three, when you forget and you have a setback. That doesn't mean, okay, I can't do that, I knew it, I knew I couldn't find joy. I just get up and start again. Let it remind you that. Oh yeah, I have to be intentional today, but I promise if you would start working through this list and you would start making an intentional effort towards it, it will become easier and easier to cultivate joy and have this mindset shift of positivity.
Speaker 1:Then the negative stuff that comes. Before long you will have to really really have to start searching for the negative things in your life, because when things come your way, when storms come your way, when, when all these heartaches come your way, you will be so positive people. Dude, that guy's not human, he's just happy all the time Doesn't mean you won't have a bad day. It just means you have somebody with you who you can trust, who will never leave you, he'll never forsake you and he will take every step of the journey with you. So just start putting your hope in him, your trust in him, and apply these tips and see what happens. Thanks so much for your time today. I hope this has been a blessing for you. God bless everybody. I hope that was good for you. I hope you enjoyed that.
Speaker 1:Remember, it doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes being intentional, it takes drive, it takes focus and in fact, the enemy, the. You know. As John 1010 says, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. But I've come that you can have life and have it to the full. And God wants you to have a full life. God wants you to be encouraged, he wants you to find the joy in life. But the devil would love nothing more than for you to find all the negative things that are going on in your life and all the heartaches and all the wounds. And it doesn't mean all those things are going to go away. It simply means that as you apply these things and as you get intentional about it and as you work hard on working out to fix these things, it will begin to get harder and harder to find the negative things in your life, because it is a mindset shift.
Speaker 1:So these are eight tips that I hope will be a blessing to you and if they were, will you please share these with a friend. If the Lord has laid someone on your heart who could use this episode, use these eight tips to find joy in their life. Please pass this on and, as always, I would love if you would leave a five star review, not for my sake, but what it does is it helps get this podcast out to more people, and that's my goal is to share this hope with the world. So please leave your five star review. Share this episode with somebody who it'll be a blessing to.
Speaker 1:If you haven't got the book yet, when Words Don't Come Easy is available at AndyHowardcom. In fact, you can find out more about where I will be, where I'll be speaking, at my website at AndyHowardcom. If you're a pastor or if you would like for me to come to your church, I will even send out a book and a press kit to you or to your pastor, because I would be honored to come and share my story, our story. So, thank you, guys, so much again. And it's also available on Audible and it's available on Kindle as well. God bless you, guys, and we will connect soon. Thanks so much for tuning in. If this episode helped you in any way, it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review and share it with somebody else. Thanks so much. I'll catch you next time.