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LYH47: 7 Affirmations to Slay your DRAGONS (Part 2) [PODCAST]

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Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/dragons2

Welcome to Part II of Slaying the DRAGONS of Your Dreams.  The DRAGONS’ intention is to throw you off of your path of influence.
In Part I, we outlined the DRAGONS’ nature and the seven lies they tell.  But, here we highlight the KINGDOM as an acrostic that gives a God-centered response to the DRAGONS and the seven truthful affirmation to help you withstand the DRAGONS’ onslaught and ignite your dreams.
Seven Truths to Ignite Your Dreams
  • Truth #1: KNOWLEDGE’s truthful affirmation sounds something like this “You were created in the image of God to do great works. The power that is within you is far greater than the powers against. You already have within you the victory you seek.”
  • Truth #2: INSIGHT’s truthful affirmation sounds like this “I am not defined by that hurt. But, I take power over it to empathize and help someone who is struggling.”
  • Truth #3: NOVELTY’s truthful affirmation against APATHY is “God is doing a new thing in you. He’s renewing your mind. Yes, new levels bring new devils. But, your latter years will be greater than your former ones. So, be strong and courageous.”
  • Truth #4: GRACE’s truthful affirmation sounds like these words from famed holocaust survivor, Corrie Ten Boom, notes ”God takes our sins—past, present, and future, and dumps them in the sea and puts up a sign that say ‘no fishing allowed.“
  • Truth #5: DEFERENCE’s truthful affirmation sounds like this famous quote from inspirational speaker Zig Ziglar “You can get everything you want in life if you help enough others get what they want.”
  • Truth #6: The truthful affirmation of being OTHER-centered sounds like this “You are the answer to a prayer that someone is crying to God right now. As you decrease, God’s ability to use you to touch them increases.”
  • Truth #7: The truthful affirmation of MUCH sounds like this “Everything that you need, God will supply. Everything.”
My prayer is that these seven truthful affirmations arm you with the weapons to slay the DRAGONS and ignite your dreams.
How do you see these truths playing out in your own pursuit of influence? I would love to hear about the easy and challenging parts of your battle.
Shout Out Corner!
Thank You to the following people for the iTunes rating / review. I really appreciate it.
  • Kary Oberbrunner
  • Derevaune
  • DaphneVSmith

Congratulations to Shayna Lear on your wedding announcement!

Check out the blog post HERE to read more about this.

Please do me a huge favor and click HERE to go to iTunes and leave me a rating and review. It will only take 2 minutes of your time. And, it means so much to me. And, just for you, I’ll give you a shout out on the next show.

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Slaying the DRAGONS of Your Dreams (Part 2)

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Welcome to Part 2 of “Slaying the DRAGONS of Your Dreams”. In Part I, we learned about the adversarial nature of the DRAGONS and how they conspire to thwart the purpose and design of your life. The DRAGONS are experts of camouflage, disguising themselves prudence and pragmatism. The reality, however, is that the DRAGONS are liars. Even when they tell you facts, it is not the truth. The DRAGONS’ intention is to throw you off of your path of influence. The good news, however, is that the DRAGONS do not have the last word. You have a choice to listen to their litany of self-limiting beliefs or to tap into a transcendent truth. That truth is that you were built for the KINGDOM.

Many of us, especially those of us of the Christian faith, speak of the kingdom. But, to what exactly does it refer? It is the Kingdom of God. Think of it this way. God created you for a purpose. That purpose is different for each of us. But, ultimately, we all share a common one: to advance the Kingdom of God. We do that by listening and following the directions that God gives us to authentically connect with Him and with other people.

The systems of our world are not predicated on the Kingdom mindset. Our world systems are primarily built upon the DRAGONS’ philosophy of self-centered idolatry.

The Kingdom mindset espouses “we”. The DRAGONS focus on “me”.

The Kingdom mindset encourages giving. The DRAGONS speak of taking.

The Kingdom mindset enlists servants. The DRAGONS draft dictators.

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LYH46: Slaying the DRAGONS of Your Dreams Part I [PODCAST]

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Show Agenda

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/dragons1

Within you is a higher calling or a transcendent purpose. God created that yearning within you.

So, why is it that so many people (most in fact) never reach that lofty perch?

The reason is that there is an adversary to your destiny. There are many names for this “adversary”. Christian tradition calls him “Satan” or “the Devil”. Steven Pressfield in his bestselling book, the War of Art calls it “the Resistance”. I have coined another term to capture this insidious foe. I call it “the DRAGONS”.

Seven Lies to Destroy Your Dreams

DRAGONS is a seven-letter acrostic that captures represents the tools that the enemy of your dreams using to dissuade you from believing in who you were designed to be. Though individual, each one interweaves the other to destabilize your faith in who you are called to become.

  1. [D] DOUBT –  DOUBT’s lie sounds something like this “There is no way you can achieve your dream. That’s a fantasy. You don’t have what it takes.”
  1. [R] REGRET – REGRET’s lie sounds like this “You can never recover from that mistake.”
  1. [A] APATHY – APATHY’s lie sounds like this “So what if you don’t go for it? What difference does it really make?“
  1. [G] GUILT  – GUIILT’s lie sounds like this “You are a hypocrite. If others knew what you did/think they would never listen to you. You better stay in the closet.”
  1. [O] OBSTINANCE – OBSTINANCE’s lie sounds like this “Nobody can tell you what to do or think. They don’t know what you know.”
  1. [N] NARCISSISM – NARCISSISM’s lie sounds like this “You shouldn’t do anything that doesn’t make you happy.“
  1. [S] SCARCITY – SCARCITY’s lie sounds like this “Who are you kidding? You don’t have time to live your dream. That’s just a pipe dream. They just want what they can get out of you anyway.”

There you have the seven DRAGONS. They are legion. You can see the progressive nature of their entrapment. They start their attack on you with a little seed of DOUBT. But, in the end you’re left with a profound sense of emptiness. The DRAGONS will destroy you if you are not sober and alert. Now that you know what their lies sound like, you can recognize their assault for what it is.

I would love to hear your comments about the DRAGONS. Which one(s) resonate most with you? Why do you think they are effective? When you are at your best, how do you keep the DRAGONS out of your head?

Check out the blog post HERE to read more about this.

Please do me a huge favor and click HERE to go to iTunes and leave me a rating and review. It will only take 2 minutes of your time. And, it means so much to me. And, just for you, I’ll give you a shout out on the next show.

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Slaying the DRAGONS of Your Dreams (Part I)

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Take a stroll down the self-help section of any bookstore and you will find plenty of books to help you think and dream bigger. These books (many quite excellent, others not so much) will challenge you to find your purpose—the reason you were born. These titles resonate with us because deep within most of us have that yearning for significance.  We want to feel that our life counts. We long for that sense of belonging and meaning. If you’re like me, you dream of the day when you can spend more time pursuing your passions. To be human is to search for the answers to bring those dreams to fruition. There is only one problem. It is called “the DRAGONS”.

I do agree that there is within each one of us a higher calling or a transcendent purpose. God created that yearning within you. Your purpose is that intersection where God’s will, your personal joy, and your service to people intersect. In an ideal world, it is your destiny.

So, why is it that so many people (most in fact) never reach that lofty perch?

The reason is that there is an adversary to your destiny. In the Bible (1 Peter 5:8), we are told that this enemy’s objective is your destruction. We are given the admonition to “be alert and of sober mind” in order to resist this onslaught.

There are many names for this “adversary”. Christian tradition calls him “Satan” or “the Devil”. Steven Pressfield in his bestselling book, the War of Art calls it “the Resistance”. I have coined another term to capture this insidious foe. I call it “the DRAGONS”.

The DRAGONS primary objective is to keep you from your own pursuit of influence. It is easy to think of the enemy as some mystical force that is difficult to qualify or pinpoint. it is also easy to think of the enemy of our dreams as some external aggressor that impinges upon our aspirations.

I like to think of it as “the DRAGONS” because it helps me understand that the enemy’s power tends to impact us more internally than externally. The enemy does this not by hurling a single stone at us. Rather, the adversary of your dreams uses a full onslaught of siege warfare to derail you from your ordained path. The DRAGONS represent a seven-part collective that is intent on your destruction. That is the tough news.

The good news, however, is that because the DRAGONS’ strategy centers on a foundation of lies, when you embrace the truth you ultimately hold the power over them. In other words, you decide how much destruction, if any, the DRAGONS unleash. In the presence of each of the DRAGONS, there is an alternate reality (which happens to be the truth). That is the great news.

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Heroes of a Darker Hue

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Heroes are those martyred folk,

Putting heritage before

The selfish grumblings of their soul

Thus live forever more…

 

Martin dreamed a little dream

That changed our civil rights

Malcolm stood and shook a fist

Thus lengthening our sights.

 

Harriet used the underground

To set our spirits free

While Jane drank water from the fountain

Shameless for all to see

 

Booker was a scientist

and educator too

Marcus’ “Back to Africa”

Raised consciousness anew.

 

Madame Walker encourage pride

Through beauty tips galore

And, Rosa would not leave her seat

Thus making Black folk lore.