Relevant conversations that take you from Surviving to Thriving. Our goal is to encourage and empower you to answer God's call on your life and to be all that He has called you to be. This podcast is all about Faith, Relationships, and Mental Health. We keep it real, practical, & Christ-centered, tune in and be inspired! Host Paul Calcote New episodes every other week.
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In this inspiring episode, we reintroduce the concept of the Winter Arc, a call to embrace the winter season as a time for personal growth and self-improvement. As the days get shorter and colder, we encourage you to set meaningful goals, cultivate healthy habits, and prioritize your well-being to finish the year strong. Join us as we share practical steps to enhance your spirit, body, and mind, from deepening your faith through daily prayer to boosting your fitness and mental health. Don’t wait for January—listen in and discover how to take control this winter, maximize your potential, and walk in purpose as you prepare for a transformative new year.
Welcome and thanks for tuning in to Real People Real Talk. Relevant conversations that take you from surviving to thriving. This is the podcast that goes there. My name is Pum Capu. I'm your host. Now listen. Well, hello, Thriver, and welcome to Real People, Real Talk, the podcast ministry that equips you to thrive spiritually, relationally, and mentally. And today I'm going broader as I'm going to provide some relative and very practical tips for you to thrive in multiple areas of your life. Because I want you to thrive holistically, okay? So I'm going to replay our most downloaded episode of 2024 called The Winter Art that was relevant then and is just as relevant now, if not even more. So in this episode, I will provide a no-nonsense approach to personal development to encourage you to do better and to be better. Enjoy. Today, this message is for you. Winter is upon us. The days are getting shorter. The temperature is falling. Only one quarter, three months, roughly 90 days left in the year, which is known as the winter arc. The winter arc, as it relates to personal development and fitness, is a fascinating concept, trend, um, and challenge that encourages the individual to embrace the unique opportunities that the winter season provides. And here's what I mean by the winter arc: it's all about self-improvement, personal development, and taking the necessary steps right now and today to become the best version of yourself. This is also a time to set goals, to cultivate healthy habits, and to prioritize your well-being. It's time to lock in. Don't wait till January for you to start being better. Don't wait till another Monday for you to start being better. Start today. Because of the holidays, we can be tempted to just meld it in and even end this year in an undisciplined and sloppy way, but not this year. This isn't the time to hibernate. It's the time to be hyper-focused on your goals and God's calling for your life. Please don't allow this season to dictate your mood or to dictate your productivity, but make the choice right now to lock in and to take control and let this winter arc get you right. Now I'm going to be throwing a lot of practical ideas and recommendations your way in this episode. And then it's up to you to customize and personalize this information and get to work and do what's best for you in this season. Step one, the Spirit. Acknowledge Him in prayer, and ask Him to show you what steps you need to take in this season so you can be all that He has called you to be and do all that He has called you to do this season can be a perfect time for you to reconnect with the Lord and to deepen your faith. Consider starting a new Bible study or a new devotional plan or even joining the Bible study to deepen your faith. But one thing I highly recommend, not just for the winter arc, but for the rest of your life, is to make daily prayer and daily Bible reading non-negotiables in your life. Another related goal that I would recommend would be to challenge yourself to read the entire New Testament in the next 90 days. It's possible. You can get on Google or you can go on the Bible app and find a plan and get to it. Because the winter arc, this three-month period, this 90-day period, this last quarter of the year will mean nothing if you don't come out closer to the Lord. Ask yourself what steps you need to take to become closer to the Lord and then take action. Step two the body. You can no longer put your physical health on a back burner and you can't delegate this to anybody else. Once again, a great time for self-reflection. Ask yourself what steps you need to take to improve your health and fitness right now. Make daily movement of some kind a non-negotiable in your life. Maybe a goal for you during this winter arc is 10,000 steps a day. Or maybe you look at what your average is right now and consider, not consider, but go ahead and make the plan and make the goal to add two to three more thousand steps a day, and you can get that done in a 10 or 15 minute walk. Maybe for you is drinking one more glass of water each day, increasing your protein intake, increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables that you eat. One step in the right direction, a very simple step, could be to join a gym or sign up for a fitness class. During this time, decrease and limit the sugar intake. Yes, we have Thanksgiving, and I'm going to be eating some sweet potato pie, and we got Christmas. We get all of that, but don't overindulge and don't overdo it. But for the majority of this time, this 90 days, this quarter, this winter arc, decrease and limit the sugar intake. Make a pledge to exercise four to five times a day. You may say that's a lot. Do what's best for you and you know what your best is. All right. And another thing to do for your body is to prioritize sleep. So a little bit on the spirit, a little bit on the body, now for the mind. What steps do you need to take right now to improve your mental health? Is it going to therapy? Is it seeking counseling? I would encourage you and I would recommend that you practice daily gratitude. Maybe first thing you do when you get up or right before you go to bed, you can verbalize or write down this. You just say, Today I am grateful for, or God, I thank you for, and you fill in the blank. This practice can have a super positive impact on your mood and your overall mental and emotional health and well-being. Another thing that you can do for your mind and do for your mental health is to set and enforce boundaries. Don't be a doormat, don't be a people pleaser, be a God pleaser, be a God chaser. I would highly recommend for you to create a self-care routine. Because during this time, depression can creep in. During this time, some people deal with seasonal affective disorders and so much more. So create a self-care routine and prioritize your mental and emotional health. And I want you to check the show notes because I dedicated an entire episode to all things self-care. Now, other areas that are worth taking action in and improving could be your finances, it could be your relationships and also personal development. You can say, what steps do you need to take right now to get your money right? It could be to make a budget and then stick with that budget. It could be to eat in more so you're not spending so much money eating out. What steps do you need to take to improve your marriage? Maybe you need to exercise forgiveness. Maybe you need to incorporate a weekly date night. Maybe you need to incorporate a weekly time where you grab your spouse and you get together and pray and read God's word. What steps do you need to take to improve in the area of personal development? You can read more books, you can have a small goal of reading five or ten pages a day, listen to more podcasts, you can learn a new skill, take a class in whatever areas that you want to really focus on, because I don't want you to try to focus on 10 different areas because you know may end up overwhelming yourself and doing too much. In whatever areas that you really want to focus on, I would encourage you to find scripture about it, as well as books and podcasts, so you can feed your mind, so you can equip yourself to really zoom in, focus, and improve in these areas. The winter arc is more than just a TikTok trend, but this could be a holistic approach for you to nurture your body, your mind, and spirit by embracing this season, not to meld it in, not to end the year in a sloppy, unmotivated, undisciplined way. By embracing this season as an opportunity for growth, you can emerge stronger and more focused as the new year arrives, as opposed to coming into January, overweight, in dead, and all out of whack. The key is to find balance, seek community, and keep faith at the forefront of this journey. So you may say, Paul, why should I participate in this winter arc? Um and I would say, why not? But I'll go farther with you. Here's the why, because I don't want you to waste this season. I don't want you to waste your time because when you waste your time, you are wasting your life. I want you to use your time wisely and to maximize this season so you can walk in purpose and ultimately be at your best so you can be in position to be all that God has called you to be. And listen up, if you fall off the wagon, don't stay down. Get back up because in this season is not about perfection, but it's about progress. So I have shared areas for you to focus on and recommended some goals that's worth pursuing. But I really want you to take some time in prayer so you can customize and personalize this information and start a plan that works best for you. I want to keep this episode short. Enough of me talking. Now it's time for us to do. Because I want you to get to work and to plan your personal winter arc. Ask yourself what steps you need to take, what habits you need to form, and then do it and really lock in for this winter arc. Who knows? This season could very well set the tone for the rest of your life and set you up for ultimate success. And before I conclude, I'll share my personal winter arc, what I want to do over these next 90 days. I want to be closer to God than I've ever been. And here's how I'm going to do it. Because failing to plan is planning to fail. And here's my plan. I'm going to read my Bible daily. As a matter of fact, I'm planning to read the entire New Testament between today and New Year's Eve. I'm not missing church. I'm going to church when those doors are open. I'm worshiping him on Sunday and going to Bible study. I'm going to utilize at least one of my commutes to listen to scripture on the Bible app or listen to a sermon or other Christian material. Every day I'm talking to the Lord. Every day I'm reading his word. That's just something that I have to do. It doesn't have to be an hour, two hours, three hours unless the Lord is leading you that way, but at least do something. And I'm aiming to fast at least one to two days each month. That's how I'm going to get closer to the Lord. The second thing is, I want to be in the best shape of my life. And for me, that includes weight training at least three times a week. That includes cardio also at least three times a week. It could be walking, it could be playing basketball. And then one cool thing that I'm going to try to do is to improve my diet. And by only having sweets, whether that's um dessert or whether that's um Dr. Pepper, only on Fridays. All right. I'm not going to just eat sweets all throughout of the week. I am getting control of my flesh, getting control of my appetite, so I can be in the best shape of my life. And then thoroughly and finally is personal development. I have set my mind to read at least one book a month. I have set my mind to listen to at least one podcast episode about personal development each week. So that's my personal big three. That's what I'm focusing on in this last quarter of the year, in this winter arc, doing something for my spirit, doing something for my mind, and doing something for my body. And that's going to do it for today. Winter is coming, and your winter arc is here. What are you going to do? I want you to lock in in this season. Lock in with the Lord. Lock in with your physical health. Lock in with your mental health. Lock in and be better.
