What builds an extraordinary life?

Today we'll look at four more practices in the "Stop the Splatter" series which are building blocks of "extraordinary." The "big" events and actions reveal extraordinary faith, character, and abilities, but they don't build these. Rather, extraordinary is built by faithfully completing the "ordinary."

I address four specific practices:

Writing -- to remember God's faithfulness and goodness; to show appreciation; to deal with thoughts and emotions instead of being drug around by them.

Whistling -- a positive mindset, a joyful heart, a whistle-while-you-work is one of the hallmarks of extraordinary people

Words -- whether spoken to yourself or others, all words will build up or tear down; speak death or life.

Worship -- nothing will reorient your perspective and how you show up more than worship.

Combine these practices with the five from Episodes 196 & 197: Word, Walk, With, Withdrawal, and 40 Winks. You can build an extraordinary life and avoid splattering yours by faithfully and intentionally practicing these nine actions.

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Holy Week in the Christian faith is a microcosm of life. One day everything is filled with sunshine and joy. Then things get a little “weird.” Then everything falls apart. We can draw strength knowing God is still always with us.

When life is filled with joy, we don’t need to live in fear wondering when the “other shoe is going to drop.” These times are also ordained by God. When things get weird, we can examine whether we are focusing on God or others. When all falls apart, we can know resurrection follows death. Perhaps not in the way we imagine, but it will come if we remain faithful.

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#holyweek

The "ordinary" wrecks more lives than the "extraordinary."

The "ordinary" builds more lives than the "extraordinary."

Seldom does a big, transformative conversation, event, or opportunity come out of nowhere. Usually there is a trail of ordinary actions repeated through ordinary days that lead to success -- whether in relationships, health, or careers.

Conversely, ordinary actions which aren't taken lead to failure.

Continuing last week's series on "Stop the Splatter," we look today at the importance of With, Withdrawal, and Winks.

We need to be with people; we need to withdrawal and experience solitude with God; we need sleep, aka 40 winks. We are not merely brains and hearts boxed into an inert container. Our bodies are as much part of God's design as our minds and hearts.

Be reminded and encouraged about the importance of sustained "ordinary" practices to keep from drifting into dangerous waters or out to sea where you're lost. Keep living with intentionality. Your immeasurable, eternal, and irreplaceable impact depends on it.

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Nobody wakes up one day and says, "Today's the day I begin the journey to ruining my career, marriage, reputation, finances, kids, friendships, ___." Instead, small steps always precede big splatters. Always.

Whether it's allowing small grudges to fester, inviting inappropriate flirtations, or justifying "losing it," small wrong steps eventually lead to terrible outcomes.

The great news is small steps also lead to great outcomes! Today we focus on two simple steps within most people's ability in normal circumstances. Getting into the Word and getting out for a walk. Don't let the familiar fool you. It's not knowing what to do that matters; it's doing it.

(Preaching to the choir here, folks.)

Join me for a mini-series on the Ten W's that can save you from cleaning up a lot of splatter!

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Using the 1944 film Gaslight as a launching point, we explore the difference between interrogating a story and talking yourself out of one. Sorting this out often requires outside help, however, don’t confuse someone stockpiling evidence to support a conclusion they’ve already reached with someone gathering data to reach a conclusion. The first is confirmation bias in action. The second is what genuine help looks like.

We expand the four-step framework to five and the importance of facing true stories -- whether they are happy or not.

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#gaslighting

This episode tackles one of the trickiest territories in the story series: the stories we tell ourselves about other people’s motives. When someone doesn’t respond to a text on our schedule, doesn’t mention a couples’ event, or shows up with flowers after an argument, a story begins. This week we learn how to interrogate those stories — and what to do once we have.

We unpack a familiar scenario in marriages to show how our storytelling plays out in real life. Learn the practical four-step process for handling stories about someone else’s motives — especially in close relationships.

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What you tell yourself about your spouse, children, family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors will make or break your relationships. These stories carry the most emotional weight and, often, have the most at stake.

One of the most important reminders in this episode is intensity of emotion is not an accurate measurement of how true or false a story is. We tend to be far more emotionally invested in — and defensive about — our up-close personal stories than our impersonal ones. This applies to both the negative and the positive stories we tell. And it’s especially true when it comes to our children.

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Where does racism, sexism, and classism begin? With a story. The habits we build at the micro-story level directly shape how we think at the macro level.

Macro stories tend to come in two varieties:

1. Up close and personal — Stories about people and groups we interact with directly.
2. Far away and impersonal — Stories about people and groups we’ve never met. Paradoxically, we can be more emotionally attached to these stories, precisely because they’re harder for anyone to challenge.

The micro-stories we’ve been tracking don’t just exist in isolation. They accumulate. Over time, they reveal and reshape our character, our mindset, and our expectations of others and ourselves. And many macro stories — the big ones — begin as a single micro story that grew.

Visit Stephanie Presents for resources, to book speaking engagements, and get the weekly newsletter, Hi(Impact)!

Click here to order your copy of The Great Brain Remodel of Adolescence or purchase from Amazon

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