Stefanie (00:00.431)
Hello, friend, and welcome to the Life Changing Manifestations podcast. I'm your host, Stephanie Edwards, and I'm so excited to bring you this special bonus episode. And the reason I'm doing this is because I wanted to bring you a special bonus to kick off our very first mini-series here on the podcast. And I'm going to talk tomorrow a little bit more about why I decided to create a mini-series and what it's going to be about and how it's going to benefit you.
Today, I want to use this episode to set the stage to prepare your heart and mind for what is coming. And so this episode in and of itself is so good. It's a little bit longer than I have traditionally done episodes, but I also think that's a part of expanding the message and getting clearer on who we are, we as women, we as Christian women, and we as Christian women facing middle age.
I've gotten clearer on just speaking in to that stage of life. I'm in it myself and I'm relating to it and I'm feeling things very differently. I'm approaching life very differently. Not only because I've learned how to take control of my thoughts, which is a big part of what this whole miniseries is about, but because I've come to a stage of my life where I realize my time is limited. I watch all the time with my children how they can so flippantly
waste time. They don't value it and it really triggers me because I'm just thinking in my head all the different things that I would like to be doing but I have other stuff that I'm working on and I want to get to this and I want to get to that. Like you know I recently bought a house and so there's things I'm painting and projects I'm working on and I have to set them aside when I go to do my work activities and I'm like but I really want to go paint but I'm choosing intentionally to manage my time.
and to make the best use and the best structure of what I'm doing so I'm not flaking out on my responsibilities and I'm staying on target with what I have set for myself. But kids don't think that. And I don't even know that I thought that very heavily in my 20s. Even though I was pretty focused and I did have a job and I had a house and I was married and all these things very early on, but I still think about how much time I've wasted.
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how many hours of television I would watch each evening. And it's just like things like this that now that I'm in my 40s and about to hit 45 this year, I've come to realize I'm gonna play differently in life. And notice I said play because this is my only experience going through as a human and I've lived so strictly, so rigidly, and I would also say with so much apprehension and fear, caution, if you will.
playing it safe until I die. And it's the attitude that we have how we are living our lives. I don't want to just live, I'm going to thrive. And I don't want to just live like, ho hum until I die and I've just had this average basic existence. That matters to me as well. And so if you're jamming with that, hang with me because we're going to dive into this bonus episode. And a big part of this conversation is about the way
that we are approaching our lives in the way that we are thinking. And then tomorrow we actually kick off episode one of the four part mini series. But now that I've done it, I'm like, ooh, this bonus episode is so juicy and has so much value in and of itself. I really should call it a five parter. anyhow, that is my a little bit longer introduction, but I'm just so excited and ready to share this with you. So without further ado, let's dive in. Right here, right now.
whatever kind of state that you find yourself in and what kind of change that you are driving to seek. This episode is for you because you are at a stage of life now where you have enough adulting, enough experience behind you, enough that you have gone through that we can look back and we can say those decisions that I made back in my 20s, do they still apply? Do I still want to be that person? Those decisions I made five years ago, 10 years ago.
those decisions I made a month ago. Because friend, free yourself up from thinking that there's a certain age or a certain timeframe, a certain limitation on how long you have to continue to stay in something. But what I want to do is I want to read you just a short portion of the start of chapter two. And this message speaks so pointedly to the conversation we're going to have today. So here we go. People are increasingly saying, I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up.
Stefanie (04:44.008)
And this is not coming only from 20 year olds, but from those in their 40s and 50s as well. People often say this with embarrassment, but the search for clear meaning should be a continued one for each of us. If you are still living your life based on decisions you made when you were 18, you should be concerned. Things have changed and you have changed. The first time I read this book in my mid 20s and I used it,
to help me get contract clients and I used it to help me get a job. And then years later when I was a college professor, I used this book. I kept recommending it to students to help them position themselves to get a job. So what is this amazing book that I reference? It is 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller, who has now passed away. But I actually had an opportunity to meet Dan and lo and behold, do you see where he signed it to me? So this is my autograph copy.
Is there still time for me to make my life count? Recently, I met a 27 year old who asked me this very question. Please tell me, he continued, that just because I started as an attorney doesn't mean my life will be filed away. Encourage me to find a motivating desire once more. I think I've lost it. Is it too late for this misdirected 27 year old? When do we reach the point of no return and have to settle for the life we have chosen?
or that has been chosen for us? Ooh, those isn't powerful words. Have you felt that? Like your life has been chosen for you. Maybe you were directed down a certain path and you kept taking it step by step, believing that this is the way that it should go. This is what you had to do. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I've even coached so many college students when I was a professor who had this and were like, I would love to be able to do this, that or the other.
but my parents say I need to do this. And so they start going down that path and that trajectory and they're going to take those jobs and they're going to do those careers because they're trying to live what somebody else is telling them to or they're doing what they think they should do. Yes. So here you are now at a stage in life where you get to really evaluate for yourself. Have you gotten to where you want to be because this is the path you chose for yourself or was this something maybe you
Stefanie (07:01.998)
18 year old you, 24 year old you, even 30 something year old you chose. Even friend, the version of you that was a year ago can choose differently today. Do you understand that? You can choose change at any stage of the game that you want. Age, experience, expectations of other people, none of that matters. You get to choose which direction your life is going to go. But now let's bring this back to the message of you.
What I did here is I got to thinking, I'm not too old to make a change. I'm in the right place to make a change because I've done the things that I sought out to do. I've accomplished and spent, 20 years in this realm, about 10 to 12 as a professor and 20 plus doing marketing design work. And so I knew that I had gotten to a place where I could say, OK, I've done it. And I can decide.
with confidence and with security of choice of knowing I gave it my all. I've put in enough time to know if this is where I want to stay. But are you making decisions sometimes where you're like, there's no point changing now or at my age, can I really implement the change? Maybe I should just stay where I'm at. There's a level of security, there's a level of comfort here. And you've got to do what's right for you. But what I'm challenging you to do is to think about the thoughts that you have and what it is that you're doing.
And are you doing it because you really want to be there or are you just doing it because that's the quo? That's what's known. That's what's familiar. That's maybe where you feel comfortable. That's where you have your retirement plan. Whatever it is that you think that you need. Because, friend, we don't know how many days are promised to us. So I can't say that just because I'm in my 40s that I have another 20 or 40 years left of life to go. But all that I do know is that the time that I have, I need to be doing to my fullest, living in to my
potential that God has gifted me with. And one of the gifts that he has given me is the gift to teach. And teaching doesn't just mean in the classroom. To university students, teaching can be this. Right here, right now, this engaging conversation that we're having, as I challenge you to think about your thoughts. And we are going to open up an entire conversation about what it means to think beyond the age of 40. Because things you can see now,
Stefanie (09:30.186)
One, we've got to go back and look at how we've been programmed already to reassess does this still service? And two, we are able to think at a deeper, more mature level than what we could in our twenties. And so we want to look at now in our forties, how are we thinking? How are we approaching our thoughts? And this, friend, is what I've created in a four part series. So this episode right here, right now, it's coming to you on the podcast as a little special bonus, because it's a prelude to two things. One,
the big changes that are coming in my mission with life changing manifestations. And I'm even friends playing around with the idea of changing the name because I want to be so clear that this is for women who are in this mid stage of life, okay, who are 40 plus, who are seeking to reevaluate, not because we hate the lives that we have, but because we see the potential in going from good to great.
And friend, I know that there are a lot of spots in life that can be very hard. So please don't take what I'm about to say as a misinterpretation and insensitivity of hardship that people go through. But there is a difference between somebody who has hit rock bottom and looks at life and goes, okay, I have nothing left to lose. I'm going to just pivot now and make the change and somebody who has it pretty good.
who has a comfortable status quo in their job, in their life, in whatever situation they're at in life, which is potentially where you're at, who has it good and goes, if I make a change now, if I pivot now, is that going to shake up what I've already built? Would I be walking away from something that's good? Do I have the bravery? Do I have the initiative and confidence to go and do something that could start me over? That could...
I could plummet for a period of time. I mean, I walked away from income. I walked away from benefits to go do something entirely on my own where there was nothing there. And I had people saying, okay, well, yeah, but how much money did you make this month? Zero. I made zero dollars this month because I'm starting over and that's okay because I acknowledge that what I'm going to build is going to be great. And it's not going to be staying where I was that was good and good enough because good enough friend.
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is what we are not going to accept for the rest of our lives. However long that is going to be, we know that the trajectory that we want to build is going to be better than what we've had. Because we are women who are going to be bold in Christ, that we can stand to the power that God gives us, that we can move forward with the mission that he has for us to glorify God in what we are doing by activating our lives to the fullest potential. That we're not going to stay in the mediocre. We're not going to stay in the average. We're going to stay in the status quo just because it's good.
just because it feels safe. There's no such thing, by the way. It's just a matter of your thinking. It's a matter of your perspective and thinking that you have security in a particular job or a particular way of life. Things can change at any point in time. And so it's time for you to take a look at your own thinking and the way that you are operating to say, it time to change? So are you ready to go from good to great? And that begins by changing the way that you think. It always begins with you and always begins internally by looking at the way that you are thinking.
So that is why I am launching a mini series here on the podcast. It's going to be four parts and it's going to be diving in to the way that you are thinking and how the way that you are thinking is keeping you stuck and what we can do to be able to break free. Okay. That's the promise of this mini series and great news. The first episode drops tomorrow right on time for a normally scheduled date on a Friday. And that's why I'm doing this bonus episode here today on Thursday.
because I want to be able to rev you up, get you excited, and then go ahead and drop the first episode of this four-part series. And I'm so excited about it because this is the foundation. Five years ago, right before COVID hit, I undertook a deep dive, an extensive year-long process of getting trained on my thinking. And it was a life coach training program, but it was so much. It was a really deeply rooted program that I really respect and honor.
And I feel like there was more that I got out of that than my master's program and like in education. so, but what I learned in this is what I have been developing and continuing to exercise. And I've done a leadership training and I've mindset work and I've done understanding how our breath, how our emotional regulation, how we have inherited emotions from parents and generations. Like I've done so much that this initial training that I took at the start of 2020, what this did was open the doors for me.
Stefanie (14:14.19)
And I've continued to be the product of my own education, of my own learning, implementing, applying it, doing these changes in my life, because I'm not satisfied to stay with where I was in 2020 when I turned 40. And so, yes, this is the year I'm going to turn 45. And I'm like, let's light it up. Let's keep changing even more, keep evolving, keep stepping into my fullest version of my potential. And that's what I'm going to encourage you to do, is to step into the fullest version of your potential.
and who you can be, what you can accomplish. And we're all going to do it together for God's glory. We're going to give praise and honor and respect to God so that people can see what he is doing, not because we're going to be up in their face and telling them about it, because you see those people who jump online, right? And especially in the comment threads and feel they need to defend and protect God. He's the God of the universe. He doesn't need our defense. He doesn't need us to only speak up when we're riled up. He needs us to speak up, to show up, to be.
to do right now, every single day, to live our lives in a bigger and bolder way so that people can look at us and go, okay, there's something different about this way this person lives. Now I'm curious. Now I'm interested. And they're giving all the praise to God. Who is this God? How can I find out more about him? That's what I'm lit up to do. And that's why I involve scripture in what I am teaching and sharing with you. So it's life coaching principles, it's mindset work, yes, but it's also
bringing in the scripture because the scripture is the root of it all, the truth of it all, and God has all the answers and they're already there. And friend, inside this mini-series, I'm going to be including so many different scriptures, especially when we get to that final episode. That final episode is our deep dive through scripture because there's so much that God has to say about the way that we think. It's already in the Bible and so many of us have missed it, have ignored it, and have not been thinking the way that God wants us to think.
So that is all coming so very, very soon. Starting tomorrow, this all kicks off and I'm so excited to share this with you. So before we finish up this episode, I want to get back to this idea of what are you thinking about the way that you can start to take action? And so if you are having any kind of these thoughts about your age, about your status, about who you've become and thinking that there's a limitation to what you can do, what you can accomplish, how you can shift and pivot at this point in your life,
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I just want to bust that bubble. Like, can I just come right here and pop and bust that bubble for you? Because it's just a limiting belief. It's just a way of thinking that can change and you can open up new possibilities. Bottom line, nothing is impossible with God. And so we're going to step into a new abundance, a new way of living. When we involve our lives, connect it with the purpose that God has for us. We're going to talk way more about that continuing on the podcast.
So be sure to like and subscribe and stay with me as we have these bigger conversations as we're evolving in your life. One of the first legacy stories that we have comes in the book of Genesis. So if you're familiar with the Bible, you know the first book in the Bible is Genesis. So God is literally opening up the Bible with this element. Abraham is called back when he's Abram and he is called. And do know when he's called? Like when God speaks to him and tells him to leave his land.
his people, his family and friends and everything that he knows to go in and become a new nation. Do you know when God calls him? 75 friend, not 55 where we're pushing and looking towards in the future. No, he was called at 75. So there is no such thing as too late. All right, let's just trust in that. That God knows when we are well suited to take the action to move into something. So what I want to encourage you
is that if you were feeling a nudge, one, you are here, you're listening to this for a reason. Find out why. What curiosity is coming up for you? What things am I saying that are intriguing you to keep on listening and find that keep fleshing that out. That is your nudge that there is something that you would like to change. You want something to be different. You are feeling it that you're ready to step in your purpose. calling. Maybe you're finally feeling bold enough. That's me.
I can do this without being so way down, like take deep side breaths and freak it out that I would publish something. I would put something out there and people would judge me and people have and people have said some really horrible things when I ran some ads. And I was like, are you kidding me right now? Like who even thought to say this? But this is a part of being willing to put your message out there as you get out in front of people and not everybody is going to agree with what you have to say. And there's a big part of me that
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could not have done this in my 20s. I was still figuring out who I was in my 30s. I was becoming a mother and figuring out once again, who am I? And it's only now here in my 40s that I feel connected enough to be able to stand in God's power. Once again, not mine, but in God's power and to feel confident in Him that He is providing, He is directing and going to lead the way that I can go out there and I can proclaim and share this message without the crumbling fear. Do I still get rattled? Yes.
But the amends fear that I couldn't have moved forward in back in my 20s. You see, there's something that's different now. And so the nudges that you're feeling, don't ignore them, lean into them. What are you feeling guided to do? What is inspiring you to take action? Because maybe you're having direct calling and you're questioning, am I too old? Can I really do this? Let go of that doubt. Let go and let God embrace what could be. That's what I want to keep inspiring you with.
Because faith, friend, isn't just believing. We've talked about this on the podcast. I wrote an entire book about it called Stop Living Within Your Millions. And I have a Bible study training that dives into Hebrews chapter 11 that talks about this in my living in your faith. Is faith is belief that's been activated. Faith is what pleases God. Hebrews chapter 11 talks about that, that it is impossible for us to please God without faith.
So we've got to be activated to live into faith. We've got to figure that out for ourselves. And we've got to start doing these things. So this is the nudge you feel. This is moving from good to great. This is moving from average and mediocre where the only people who going to remember you when you're gone are your family and your friends to moving into who could I be? What could I create to leave an impact in the world? Maybe you're not going to be famous or far reaching spectrum like say Billy Graham's of the world, but you can have your circle.
of influence and you can create your impact for God's glory because if you're feeling it, it's possible. And the limitations that are coming up, they're just in your thoughts. And that's why it's so important for us to learn how to take control of our thoughts and how to create intentional thoughts that are going to guide us forward into the right action. Because friend, the limitation, the doubts and the fears that keep you stuck, those aren't from God.
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It's in first Corinthians chapter 10, I believe, where it says, no temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will provide a way out. I think I'm doing that from memory. And that's the NIV version that I originally learned it in. But what that means is that there's nothing that can take hold of you that isn't already common, isn't already happening to other people.
So you just like, I can't take it anymore. And you just surrender. I think you just have to stay where you're at and feel stuck. Friend, that is not what God is saying. God is saying that there is no temptation that has seized you. There's no pressure that's coming upon you. There's nothing that you can't rise above. See, the grace that God gives us is sufficient for each and every day that we go through the challenges that you're going to face, the things that you're going to rise up to do. So don't let the fear keep holding you back.
because God is going to provide what it is that you need when you are trusting Him. That is faith. So please, if you haven't already, dive in and at least on your own read Hebrews chapter 11 if you want help going through that and examining the word and how you feel lit up to be encouraged by the legacy leaders who have gone before us, who walked by faith, who were considered too good for this world. Get the Bible study that I put together on that. It's all video training so that you can engage and it's in like an hour study.
It's short bites and pieces. It's called living by faith. Go through that Bible study, at least for yourself, get into Hebrews chapter 11 and start building up the faith that you're gonna need to keep rising above. Because as we start to change our thoughts, you want to be programming with what God is speaking to you and what he says in his word, because there's so much to say about the way that we should be thinking inside of scripture. And we're gonna unpack that. So friend, what does God say about your next season? Let's think of our life in that way.
We have the chapters that have come before and now we are getting ready to write the chapter that's coming ahead. What is going to go into this chapter? What pivot do you want to see happen? What do you want to create moving forward? What is the rest of your story? You are the main character. Are you one, living as the main character in your story? And two, are you the author? Are you allowing
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co-creating with God, so to speak, but not with others. Not letting other people write your story, but are you standing in this to write your story? This is huge! Do this inner reflection. Start to notice this for yourself. And then you're going to be ready to dive in tomorrow as we start to think about where our thoughts are taking us. Because friend, you are not meant to sit on the sidelines. The rest of your life is not just about sitting back.
and watching your children or your grandchildren or other people go and do, know this is your time to do. And you are not meant to shrink back in fear and to shrivel up and just live safely until you die. We're not gonna go just keeping it meek and keeping it weak until we die. We're gonna rise up and really live until we have to go. This is what it's gonna happen. This is who we're going to be.
to live into the full abundance that God has for us. He didn't call us just to coast into death. He called us to take action. And that is living in abundance. That's not living in meekness and fear, hesitation and doubt. It's letting all that go that's behind you. And what can you rise up and live into? Because you are not made to live smaller, you're made to live bigger and to glorify God. And how can you do that? Unless you are going to rise up.
unless you're gonna do things differently. And the scripture has so much to say about how we can do that and to live into abundance that way. So don't let age or societal trends or the economy or your doubts and fears or other people and their expectations and their comments get in your way. Let's rise up for God, for his kingdom and what we as Christian women here in 2025 and beyond can do.
We are in a time and a place in history where we have those capabilities as women to do more, to be more, to realize our potential that generations past couldn't. I know I've said it before and I'll continue to say it because I'm really excited and really blessed that I get to be one of these women and so do you at this time in history. And this is exactly why I created Life Changing Manifestations and whether or not I changed the name of the podcast and if you have thoughts on that.
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Please drop them in the comments, please message me and let me know. But because I'm trying to make sure that the message that I communicate is as clear as possible, that this is for you, the woman who is in the middle stage of life and how we are going to rise up in God's power to create, to live into abundance, to glorify God by what we do in our lives so that we can live out our fullest potential. We're not going and coasting into death. We're not settling down for the rest of our lives. We're not living into mediocre or meekness.
We are rising up in full abundance. So it's about connecting deeply with why God made you, living into your purpose. And that's in the Bible. You can find your purpose for why you exist in the Bible. This is about the personal breakthroughs that you're gonna have so that you can even allow yourself to realize your full potential moving forward, to write the next chapter differently than how you've read in them in the past. This is to manifest amazing results for His glory and to show people what is possible, to be an example of what is possible
by living out your best life. And that's all transformation, friend. This is transformation that is realistic for you and for me that we can live out and we can do together. So that's why we're here. That's what I'm thinking when I say life changing manifestations. We're going to literally change your life. Go with me, friend. Be sure to like and subscribe and stay with me and dive in as we kick off the series tomorrow so that you can realize and start to step in to everything that God has for you. Join me back here.
for tomorrow's episode as we kick off that mini series and get started on making sure that your thoughts are working for you and not against you. I'll talk to you soon.
