Personal Growth | Grit and Grace Life

Unsure of Your Purpose? Discover It With These 5 Steps

“He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.” – Nietzsche The beginning of a new year. New hopes. New dreams. New goals. New resolutions. We start with so much hope, and yet I’ve rung in the New Year enough times now to approach it with a bit more hesitancy. Will my hopes and dreams really become reality? Is it possible to accomplish my goals? How quickly will I flounder in my resolutions? In recent years, I have shifted from writing audacious goals and declaring new resolutions, to reorienting myself around a sense of purpose and meaning. In fact, I recently re-read Victor Frankl’s seminal work Man’s Search for Meaning to help me reconnect with a sense of […]

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5 Life Skills You Can and Should Master to be a Strong Woman

By Jessica Harris / Purpose

I almost titled this article “Single? Here are five things you can do now to make marriage better,” but let’s be honest, it’s not all about marriage. So often, we promote skill sets as if life is a college program. Take these classes, learn these things, and this is how you will use them. We act like marriage, career, and school are all degrees for different women. If you want to get married, you do x, y, z, but if you’re going to be career-minded, you need to do j, k, l. Here’s the catch, though: that’s not how this works. The only thing that separates a great wife from a great woman is the fact that she’s married. Nothing else is

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Facing Broken Dreams and Finding a New One

By Joy Hogben / Purpose

When I moved to the east coast of Canada, I didn’t know a soul. It was a big move during the most difficult time in my life. I was a stay at home mom, doing little things to make ends meet and homeschooling my kids. It wasn’t easy, but slowly we began to make friends. One friend, in particular, owned a home decor store in town. I’ll never forget the day I asked if she would consider hiring me. I was shaking and stumbling over my words as my nerves took over. I could just feel my fair skin explode into a brilliant lobster shade of red which I could not hide. Although I had little confidence in myself at the time,

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Practical Ways Women Can Thrive in the Workplace – 052

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreDid you know that the majority of women in America today are in the workplace? Of course, you did; you’re probably one of them. Something you may not know is, there’s a difference between how the genders approach challenges at work. How can we thrive as women in the workplace? What does it look like when we apply both grit and grace? With these thoughts in mind, Darlene and Julie discuss the common issues we face in our jobs, as well as, how to find the balance between work and home life. They share laughs over their least and most favorite jobs and admit their pitfalls as

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5 Things a Woman Must Do for Success in Life – 040

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreDo you have a purpose in your life? Or avoid the subject because you feel that you don’t? Women who are living this #gritandgracelife can accomplish so many things, but we are often set back by fear or worry, or we compare ourselves to others. In this episode, Julie explores Darlene’s life journey. Sharing five life tips that she followed to get where she is now: having several successful careers, a rich multi-decade marriage, as well as launching two grown daughters into fulfilling lives of their own. If you’re at a crossroads, struggling with your next step, or seeking to discover a passion that is uniquely for

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How to Handle Workplace Criticism with Grit and Grace

By Meaghan Dawson / Work & Money

“Every human being is entitled to courtesy and consideration. Constructive criticism is not only to be expected but sought.” -Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to serve in both houses of US Congress Constructive criticism is one of those things we love to hate. We know that in order to grow and improve we must continually use the lens of those we trust and respect to sharpen us every day. However, when we receive it, that criticism can cut deep into our core and leave us shaken and unsure. But it’s not the criticism that counts, is it? It’s what we do with it. It’s not supposed to just hurt our feelings and then die. The importance is in the work we

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6 Qualities that Make a Female Strong with Leadership Expert Jenni Catron – 030

By Smart Living with Grit and Grace / Podcast

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | TuneIn | RSS | MoreHow can a woman lead in every area of her life? Do you feel like you make an impact? Is leadership only for the workplace? We know that all women have influence in every area of their life, so we brought in Author, Leadership Expert, and CEO Jenni Catron. From the day she got her first job (her boss was none other than your co-host Darlene Brock), Jenni has proven that she has the formula for leadership… Darlene and Julie interview her about the six characteristics you may not even know you have that make you strong. A must-listen episode for strong women, and those who want to be.

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Not Sure How to Answer the Question: “What’s Your Why?”

By Katey Maddux / Faith

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry when I think about it. Years of traveling, working in network marketing, and even starting my own business…the same question always arose, “What’s your why?” I never knew what to say. I didn’t have a hard childhood or rags-to-riches story. I didn’t need to support my family or go through excruciating adversity to get where I am today. So I would ask myself the same question: what is my why? I love to travel. I love to help people and to serve. I like making money…but you can make money doing just about anything. “Dig deeper,” they’d say, “there’s got to be something that’s driving you.” I never knew what, exactly. Until recently. I

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12 Tips on Holding Your Ground with Grit and Grace

By Geinene Carson / Relationships

I used to be a quiet, more reserved person, only sharing my opinion or pleading my case when asked. Perhaps due to age, a shift in personality, being an artist, or advocating for a special needs child, I have become much more vocal. Life provides countless opportunities to practice speaking up for myself and others. No matter the cause—disputing unsatisfactory services, navigating misunderstandings with loved ones, confronting co-workers, or defending deserved rights—I am learning how to be both firm and respectful while pursuing my needs. Here are 12 tips on how to stand your ground firmly and respectfully: 1. Identify the issue. You cannot plead your case while uncertain of the real issue. So many misunderstandings are fueled by ambiguity and sheer emotion.

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Don’t Let Your Failures Become Flounders

By Ashley Johnson / Purpose

I’m a long-time flounderer. In fact, floundering has marked almost every area of my life at some point or another. You know why? Because I’m also a dweller. Yep, I dwell on my mistakes. I dwell on my failures. I dwell on my imperfections and misspoken words. I dwell on the ways that I don’t measure up, the boats I’ve missed, the shoulda, coulda, wouldas… But guess where that has gotten me? Nowhere. Hence, the floundering. Then, in the midst of my floundering, I look at my friends and my co-workers and I see hard-working, top-quality, nose-to-the-grindstone winners and producers. When I do this, I start to feel a little more, well, flounder-y, and then I’m just plain stuck. Next, my husband

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Drop All of the Labels to Unlock Our Full Potential

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture

Whether it’s social media, news outlets, or casual conversation, we find ourselves trapped in names and phrases that are created to depict segments of society. We are divided by age group: Millennials, Gen X, Baby boomers; by the color of our skin: black, white, occasionally brown; and even by political identity, pro-police, anti-police, alt-right, alt-left, populist, nationalist, neo-Nazi, Antifa. Do you ever wonder the “why” of all this division, this need to create categories among the human race? I do realize that we have different life experiences, culturally we are diverse. Our views, attitudes, and opinions are broad, most often based upon our individual life and cultural diversity. Of course, our age dictates much of our perspective simply by volume of experience.

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Does Finding Your Purpose Really Matter?

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

If you’ve been at all tuned in to book trends in the last 15 years, you have heard of (if not read) The Purpose Driven Life. Having sold more than 60 million copies, it landed on nightstands, tabletops, and in the hands of a greatly diverse population throughout the world. The success of this publication was completely unpredicted by the reviewers, booksellers, and industry at large. What they didn’t understand is that there is within every one of us a desire to find our purpose. The Innate Desire to Have a Purpose Who really wants to live this life simply performing the tasks before us? Each day feeling like the last, with the alarm ringing to interrupt the only peaceful time in

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Do You Have to Like Your Job?

By Clare Marlow / Work & Money

So you have a job that you don’t like or don’t find fulfilling. Welcome to the club! Most of us have had more than one job that made us repeatedly lay our heads down on our desks and ask, “Why me?” It takes both grit and grace to endure circumstances like these! But after a series of jobs that occasionally had me question my worth, value, and purpose, I can look back and say with confidence that each one had merit. Each one led to something better. And yours will too, if you keep a positive attitude. It’s kind of like a pyramid, with the first not-so-great job at the top. It’s a small space up there and you might feel confined,

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Overcoming Bitterness When You Don’t Get the Credit You Deserve

By Kelsey Adam / Faith

Have you ever worked so hard on something only to have your effort go unnoticed? Or worse, has someone else taken the credit you deserve? I have, and if you have too then maybe you’ve also struggled with bitterness. Bitterness is one of the most destructive and dangerous human emotions, and if it’s not dealt with it can destroy a person. Bitterness can rob you of your peace and joy. It is an open door for Satan to control your life. It can hurt or destroy your relationship with your family, a friend, or even a coworker. But we want to be recognized. We want credit where credit is due. But God doesn’t call us to get the credit. Let me repeat, God does not call us

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5 Things to Do When You Don’t Recognize Yourself

By Sheena Jeffers / Health & Beauty, Purpose

We occasionally run into moments in our lives where we don’t recognize ourselves. Some days, these times are courageous, daring, bold! You did something you never knew you could do. You realized you have something in you that you never knew before. You found your gumption, your strength, your assertiveness. Some days, these moments are lonely, sad, and confusing and the same rules apply: you did something you never knew you could do. You realized you have something in you that you never knew before. You found your base level, your deep character flaws, your underbelly. What do you do in those moments, good or bad, when you don’t recognize yourself? 1. Take note of the moment. Time is fleeting. It spends itself without us

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3 Reasons You’re Unhappy and How to Make a Change

By Stephanie Ramos / Life & Culture

Although I’m only in my late 20’s, I’ve been around long enough to acquire some toxic mindsets that have tainted my perspective. It’s not something I’m particularly proud to admit, but more often than not I can trace back the root of my unhappiness or discontentment to unhealthy thought patterns I’ve adopted without exercising self-awareness. But here’s the upside: once I take responsibility for my thoughts, I have the opportunity to grow in both grit and grace. Here are 3 of the biggest battles I fight in my quest to be happy, content, and healthy. Maybe they’re stumbling blocks for you, too: 1. Comparison to others. Wow, am I guilty of this. With social media so easily accessible, there’s never a shortage of women

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How to Get Your Dream Job

By Teresa Christian / Work & Money

Do you want to be taken seriously in your career as an up-and-coming professional? Maybe you’ve just graduated college or are entering the workforce after being home with the kiddos for several years. Perhaps other circumstances have landed you here at this point in your life, but regardless of why you’re here, you may be or should be asking, “How do I make the best impression?” First impressions are huge, especially in an interview or at your first meeting for a management position. Here are a few tips from a Human Resources professional that may answer your questions. 1. Dress appropriately! Leggings are not pants, crocs and flip flops are not professional footwear, short skirts/dresses need to be reserved for date night,

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