The Thought Download
The power of a blank piece of paper-the thought download
When I wake up, I take a look at a blank piece of paper. It is a powerful tool for me to take what is in my mind, all the stuff, and put it down on paper. I need this. I have so much going on that I am unaware of some detrimental thoughts that are unknowingly pulling me away from who I want to be, who God is wooing me to be.
It is in the process of filling the blank piece of paper with my thoughts that I am able to have awareness. I write things down that I didn’t even know I was thinking. I write and write and write. Sometimes I will set a timer and just go for as long as I have time for. This has been a practice that I have been doing for about a year and when I do it, I am so glad I did. I feel known. I feel like I see me.
I am able to give myself the time and space that I offer so many others throughout my day. I love asking friends, “Hi… how are you, what have you been thinking about lately?” So, to stop and give myself my own time and attention and say, “Hi, how are you, what have you been thinking about lately?” And then to truly listen and become aware of it. It is like GOLD.
I feel myself relax into being seen and known and then I am able to spend time with God without the jumble in my head. I am clear and open and in touch with my thoughts. For far too long I was not even AWARE of me. I was continually pushing myself down and trying to cram God over it. I knew there were things that I was dealing with I just didn’t know what.
Now I see where I am, and I am able to see the thoughts that are creating negativity, unnecessary suffering, and the actions that I am taking that is creating a me, that I don’t want to be.
God is so good to meet me, all of me. My thoughts and concerns. My questions and my dreams. My struggles and my victories. Yet, I need to have an awareness of myself so I can fully come to Him with all of me. He longs to transform my mind (Romans 12) and that takes me doing the work of unpacking what is truly there.
So, grab a piece of blank paper, and dump it all out. If the idea of a blank piece of paper is too hard I created a downloadable thought prompter. Check it out here:
Single Ladies Summer Thrive Guide
The Single Ladies Summer Thrive Guide:
There are many things that come up during the summer that can affect single ladies in a way that can be defeating. I want to tackle some of those with you. I talk about swimsuits, weddings, family vacations, evenings spent alone, and goals. I give you a new way to think about things, and some great questions to ask yourself.
Get this free guide today, and start implementing these practical tips.
Your future self will thank you!
What is a Life Coach anyway?
I have started telling people that I am a certified life coach and immediately the next question is… what is a life coach? That is a great question, most commonly, Life Coaches work with people who want to go from one place in their life to the next. It is different than therapy, but I would say it is very much future focused.
Where do you want to go? What areas in your life are points of pain that we can work through and move you forward. I will try, and explain it with a metaphor for clarity.
If you wanted to learn to play volleyball and you really had no idea how to play, you might take a class or lesson to learn the basics. Once you got pretty good, if you really wanted to pursue volleyball seriously you might hire a coach to work with you more closely one on one and help you really take things to the next level. That coach would be me. Except the sport isn’t volleyball, it is life.
Every aspect of our life can be complicated; from relationships, to our health. And let me tell you something… it ALL BEGINS IN YOUR MIND. Everything in your life is coming from your thoughts. So, as your life coach I really help you investigate your thoughts. I give you very basic and simple tools that you can practice on your own; and when we get together we dive deep to uncover thoughts that maybe you didn’t even know were there, or were keeping you stuck. Sometimes this can seem overwhelming, but once my clients see what they are creating in their mind, they are able to have tremendous growth as they take ownership of every aspect of their life.
With Steward your Story, I’m working with single women who love Jesus. They are women who are just like you, or your close friends. Ordinary women who are going through life being human, and doing the best they can. They come to me because they recognize that they need someone to help them on their journey. They need someone who has been in their shoes, and can relate; but can push, challenge, and walk with them through their growth.
How does it work?
I do all my coaching over Zoom, or the phone. Almost all of my clients don’t live close enough to meet up in person. I have been amazed at what seeing someone on Zoom does, because we connect all over the world. As my clients’ experience breakthroughs, I see it in their whole demeanor, or if on the phone, I hear a shift in their voice. It’s as if they moved a notch on the compass of their life, and the trajectory has shifted. I have started sessions with someone in tears and totally downcast, and left with their head up, confident to implement some empowering tools that week.
I have a 12-week group coaching program called Steward your Story—Starting this September. Everyone starts out learning the tools that are critical if you want to feel better, be more effective, and/or start focusing on what you want in the future. The 12-week program, consisting of one group coaching session per week, will change you. Permanently. I like to tell people that once they know these tools, they can’t un-know them and it will truly change the way you view your life, your relationships, and your day-to-day activities. I also offer one-on-one coaching for those looking for a more personal deep dive.
My goal is to empower women to experience God in a different way; as they see, hear, and even encounter His Word differently. They can do this after they have learned to take their thoughts captive and have tools to renew their mind.
What made you choose to do this and what did you have to do in order to get started?
The short version is that I was coached, and didn’t really know it. A year, or so after that experience my heart kept returning to the memory of my life before being coached, and my life after. It was a huge turning point for me. It was the day I stopped living at the effect of my life and I started to own it, or steward my story. I was curious about life coaching, and what it took to become certified. Then began my journey with the podcast: The Life Coaching School and Brooke Castillo.
As I listened to the podcast, and began implementing the tools into my daily life, change was happening. I was learning to self-coach, and was thinking differently over all. As I began to research other options for certification, I felt a pull to this one because of the self-coaching model, and the reality that I can use it as I coach people and then really teach my clients how to use it in their own life. I knew that it was possible because I was doing it in my life, and getting results. My life was changing and for the better.
I was beginning to see God changing me, and revealing to me areas of my life that needed some help. I got coached by a certified coach from the Life Coach School and that experience solidified it for me. I wanted to become a coach and I wanted to have the skills the Life Coach School taught. It was just a matter of when I could get certified.
Through my certification, and much dialogue with God, my eyes were opened to how He was using these tools to reinforce everything He was teaching me. Each week God was planting nuggets of truth throughout what I was learning from Scripture, devotions, bible reading & church, and life coach certification. God was allowing me to see how He had led me to this point, and how together He and I can bring this to others.
Needless to say, since passing my certification at the school I have felt on fire about sharing these tools with others. I chose to focus my business on single women who love Jesus because I wish I had these tools during those chapters of my story. When I was single, I was in full-time ministry, and though everything was “good,” and I was “fine” in that season; I thought true happiness was on the other side of marriage and kiddos. Once I did have marriage, and kids, there was a wake-up call for me. I was not happy at all, actually I was pretty miserable. Now I can see that loving the story God has given me was available to me during my single chapters just as much as it is now in the chapters with a husband, and kiddos.
I want to help single women understand how to love whatever season they are in.
Also, I love single women. Every time I meet someone in their 20s/30s, and I find out they are single—my heart leaps. I almost always say girl, “I know where you are, I was there too.” I have so many things to say to them; but really, I want to say, “I SEE YOU!”
So, what is the ultimate way to see someone—build an entire business around them. Make them your people, and serve them every way the Lord leads you to. That is where I am and I am beyond excited to do this. I want to be your life coach. I want to guide you as you Steward your Story.
With you,
Angie Woods
