Work and Play with Nancy Ray

It's a Nancy Ray Book Club episode! Once a month I share a book I'm reading and loving, and my three biggest takeaways from that book. You can join in on this book club at any point by heading over to nancyray.com/bookclub.

Now this month's book is Atomic Habits, by James Clear. It has been highly recommended to me for such a long time, and I've got to say, it's lived up to its hype. I really, really enjoyed it. It was hard to narrow down my takeaways, whether we like to admit it or not, we all have habits, good or bad, we all have habits. And sometimes we're aware of these habits, but sometimes they're such a normal part of our lives that we're not even aware that we have this habit.

This book allowed me to take a step back, kind of look at my life and analyze the things that I do, my habits: things I do every day, and more than just that it taught me how to maximize the good habits, even create new good habits and minimize my bad habits--something I think we could all benefit from doing on a regular basis.

One more thing I wanted to add before we jump into this episode is that next month, the whole month of may is May is for Mamas. That's where I dedicate every episode to all the mamas out there listening. I'm really excited for what's to come. I also wanted to give you a heads up that my Legacy Photo System course is going on sale. So make sure you listen to the end of this episode, to get all the details!

For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/112.

Nancy Ray Book Club

The Legacy Photo System

Atomic Habits, by James Clear

For the last six months, I've taken a break from social media and it has been so good. Today, I’m going to give you an update on how I liked it, what I missed, the best lessons I learned and how I'm going to do things differently when I come back. This is a topic I'm passionate about; I strongly believe we can't just let technology into our lives without being extremely thoughtful about it.

Because I want to leave you with my heart and my thoughts from my own experience, along with some practical tips on how to use social media rightly in our lives, and what rhythms did I replace social media—with and all that good practical stuff, I've actually decided to separate this into a two-part series. So this is going to be part one, which is the “heart” part of it—lessons, all about what I've learned and next week is going to be the practical side of it, and I'm going to have a special guest (and I'm really excited about that!).

Now, before I jump into part one, I want to let you know about my special guest and an amazing live webinar that she's teaching on February 17th. Her name is Shanna Skidmore. I admire her SO much. I have learned so much from her and she actually runs her entire business without social media and it's for creative entrepreneurs—in a space that you would really think she should maybe be on social media. And one of the comments I get all the time is, oh, you know, I wish I could take a break from social, but my work depends on it, or I can never take a break from social media because it's directly tied to my income, or I'd leave it if I could, but I can't because my work depends on it.

My friend Shanna has kind of challenged that thought and has been a trailblazer and honestly, such an example to me on how to run a successful business that's profitable without social media, or if you'd rather—with limited social media.

Now, the webinar is called The Art of Six Figures: How to Build a Thriving Business on Your Own Terms. And that's the point! It's building a business that you love, and engaging with your work and with social media on your terms, with healthy boundaries and clarity.

Okay, I could literally talk about this all day because I love her. I've learned so much from her. And I think she answers a question a lot of creatives are wondering, which is how you can do this. So I wanted to share this resource with you! You can sign up right here!

Also—spoiler alert—Shanna and I are going to be teaming up for something really good about this topic and about her webinar. So if you want to be in the know, be sure you're on my email list, and I'll be sure to tell you there or tune in next week and you'll learn a little bit more about it then, as well.

For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/145.

Shanna’s Webinar: The Art of Six Figures

Join my email list

Free Download: A Vision For Your Season

Episode 042 - Book | Switch On Your Brain

The Self-Driven Child, by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson

Nancy Ray Book Club

Episode 135 - An Update On My Social Media Break

Episode 088 - Book | Digital Minimalism

Episode 138 - 3 Habits to Put Social Media in its Place (Ep. 12 Replay)

Affiliate links have been used in this post! I do receive a commission when you choose to purchase through these links, and that helps me keep this podcast up and running—I truly appreciate when you choose to use them!

Now, I truly believe that leadership is a learned skill. I believe that about parenting, too. I believe it about playing the piano, about doing your hair. You have to learn these skills to be good at them, and guess what? If you have influence, you are a leader, right where you are. If you can speak into someone else's life, if you are just a little more advanced than they are in some area, you are a leader. We all find ourselves in leadership positions at some point or another, but it's up to us to see ourselves as leaders and to grow as leaders.

Today, I'm going to share five ways that you can become a leader that people want to follow. They are simple but they've been incredibly helpful to me, and I think they'll be helpful to you, too.

This is also the first episode in which I introduce the Work & Play Cornerstore! It's where I plan to have a little bit of fun and will mostly draw from my personal life and experiences to bring you one book that I'm loving or that I've read, and one thing that I'm loving, and that's it. It might be completely random, funny, serious. The only rule that I want to stick by is that it's something that I personally use or recommend that will make your life better. I'll get a tiny commission from anything bought through these links, which help me to continue to bring this podcast to you every week. Plus, it'll just be plain fun, so I think it's going to be a win-win. So stay tuned to the Work & Play Cornerstore at the end of every episode.

For the full transcript, click here.

The Work & Play Cornerstore

Foundations in Team Building: A Blueprint for the Creative Entrepreneur

FREE Team Resource Vault

Traction, by Gino Wickman

Tribes, by Seth Godin

How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

The E-Myth, by Michael Gerber

Crucial Conversations, by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan & Switzler

Five Dysfunctions of a Team, by Patrick Lencioni

Rocket Fuel, by Gino Wickman

Getting Naked, by Patrick Lencioni

Who Moved My Cheese?, by Dr. Spencer Johnson

The Global Leadership Summit

Back in Episode 18, I shared how I was introduced to the Enneagram, a little bit about my type— I'm a type three. I also gave a glimpse into my life and thoughts and struggles and strengths as an Enneagram type three. But I don't want to assume everybody listening knows what this weird word the Enneagram means. So I kind of want to go back to basics for a minute before jumping into the book, The Sacred Enneagram, so let's start with this. What the heck is the Enneagram?

Basically, the Enneagram is like a personality typing tool. The difference between the Enneagram and other personality tests that you see out there is that the Enneagram sticks with you for life. You're going to figure out what your number is on the Enneagram, what type you are, and that's the same in childhood, and adolescence, and in your adult life, and even as you age, it doesn't change. I've taken other personality tests like Strengths Finders or DISC and I love this kind of stuff. I love it. I think it's so fascinating. With those things, they kind of change. Like, I had different strengths in one season of my life and then different strengths in another season of my life. But this one, if you know your type on the Enneagram, it doesn't change it.

It's based in what motivates you. It's based in your basic fears. It's based in a lot of different things. But one thing I found interesting, most of the Enneagram authors agree that we are all born with a dominant type, so people don't change from one basic type to another. Like I said, your type is your type for life. And there is kind of a mix of I guess nature versus nurture, but they said you're born with a type and then oftentimes your childhood wound or something that you experienced in childhood is also what shapes your type. Anyway, I thought that was pretty interesting, as well. If you don't know what your number is on the Enneagram, there are free tests that you can take online to find out. (Side note, I recommend reading The Road Back to You over taking a test.)

As we kind of transition into the book, The Sacred Enneagram, just know that this is more of a deeper dive for someone who is more familiar with the Enneagram and someone who kind of wants to bridge that gap between, okay, I know my type, what does this mean for my faith walk? What does this mean for my relationship with Jesus? And that is why I wanted to read this book.

Listen in as we jump into The Sacred Enneagram and my three takeaways from this book.

For the full transcript, head to this episode's blog post!

The Sacred Enneagram, by Chris Heuertz

Episode 018 - Life as an Enneagram 3

Enneagram Institute website

The Road Back to You, by Ian Cronn & Suzanne Stabile

Practicing the Presence of God, by Brother Lawrence

Nancy Ray Book Club

*Affiliate links have been used!

For the longest time I was really afraid of becoming a mom. I thought that I should have these longings to be a mother or I really should want to have a baby, but I never did. I was really happy with my marriage and my life before babies. I loved my work, and I was really fearful of what it would do to my life, my body, my sleep, a lot of different things. I remember having a conversation with my friend, Katelyn, about this and was nervous saying it out loud. She looked at me and was like, "Me, too. Me, too. That's crazy. I haven't heard anybody else say that before." We connected on that level because we felt weird or alone or like we were the exception to the rule in women.

Today I am going to interview Katelyn on the podcast. If you follow me or Katelyn, you know that both of us are mothers to three children. I have three young children. She also has three children, one of which is in heaven. The conversation that we have, our hope as we have this conversation, is that you, if you're in the same boat ... if you're afraid of becoming a mom or aren't ready and don't know if you ever will be ... is that our conversation would hopefully make you feel a little bit more normal and not alone.

For the full transcript, click here!

Hi, my name is Katelyn James and I'm a wedding photographer who also teaches others how to be purposeful and profitable wedding photographers. I'm a momma of three.... Evy is two, Graham is three months and Baby James is our sweet boy in heaven that we said goodbye to at 31 weeks. I love the Lord, my family, home decorating and traveling! My life has transitioned so much in the last three years. While I love my business that I have run for over a decade, I'm really loving sharing my time with my role as a momma!

KJ All-Access

Follow Katelyn on Instagram