Discover the elusive peace you've been searching for as an artist, not by chasing the mythical beast of 'balance,' but by harnessing the power of boundaries. As your host, Matt Tommey, I'm taking you on a journey that will challenge the notion of having it all and instead, guide you towards creating a life brimming with artistic fulfillment and divine purpose.
This episode isn't just about shattering misconceptions; it's a road map to living the life God intended for you as a thriving Christian artist. We're going deep into why setting firm, clear boundaries can be the secret sauce to not just your creative practice, but to every aspect of your life. Say goodbye to the scatterbrain syndrome and hello to focus, mastery, and maybe even turning that burning passion into a lucrative career. Join me as we explore how to craft these guardrails for freedom and discover the peace that's been waiting for you all along.
Join us at http://www.matttommeymentoring.com/artmentor if you're ready to get serious about pursuing God's plan for your life and art, setting boundaries and growing your art business.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Thriving Christian Artist, the podcast where we hope you connect with God to bus through the roadblocks that have held you back for years, create the work you love and really live the life you know. God created you to live as an artist in His kingdom. I'm Matt Tomah, your host. Let's get started. Why am I a friend, is Matt? Welcome to another edition of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast. Really glad that you are here.
Speaker 1:
You know, I am constantly reminded in working with artists of this real, huge desire that most artists have to have what they call balance in their life. Time management seems to be a real, real struggle for so many creatives. I don't know if you can relate to that or not. It's something, honestly, that I've struggled with as well in my own life until I sort of learned how to make things work. But you know, we all kind of have this dream of everything working together magically in this magic word called balance and all that. And I just want to kind of burst your bubble a little bit today and let you know that the word balance really is sort of a pipe dream. It really is one of those words that's kind of nebulous. It's sort of elusive and kind of squishy that can't really get your hands around it. You hope that you could have it, but it just kind of feels like a dream. You know balance and that word, that sort of dream of balance, promises you know that you can have everything at once. Right, it's kind of like you know you can have your cake and eat it too. You can do all the stuff and yet still feel completely relaxed and effective and get everything you want to get done in the day. And reality is we all only have seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and we have to make choices. We have to choose the things that we're going to do Now. I can hear you now because you're like oh my gosh, my man, I'm a creative, I like to just kind of go with the flow, I like to do lots of different things. We say things like I love to have variety in my life. I can't just do one thing. Listen, we can all still have variety, but also still have boundaries.
Speaker 1:
Boundaries as opposed to balance. Boundaries are clear and decisive and firm. They help you make specific choices about specific outcomes in your life, and that's really why boundaries are so much better than balance. See, boundaries create sort of the you know I'm trying to think of the word maybe like a fence, if you will, around your life. They allow you to have complete freedom within this fence and yet, at the same time, keep you from running all over trying to do everything all at once and being a mile wide and an inch deep. Most artists that do that never, ever, ever, see their art turn into income. They never see their art have the impact that it could have. They never really developed mastery in their skill. They never really are able to develop that unique voice that God has for them, which is key in being able to develop their art into a business and, ultimately, into an income.
Speaker 1:
Constantly desiring balance in your life really keeps your hand in every pot right. It keeps you doing everything all at once, whereas choosing boundaries helps you to determine which pots are no longer needed and which pots are appropriate for this season and not for the next season. Interestingly enough, too, when you choose boundaries, you actually find the piece that you've been looking for, when you say you wanted balance the whole time. See, balance is ultimately about wanting peace. Balance is ultimately about wanting that inner subtleness that says I don't have to be overwhelmed, I don't have to be stressed, I don't have to be frustrated all the time. Well, you're never going to get that just looking for balance. But you're going to find that when you begin to choose boundaries why do you set boundaries? How do you begin to choose the boundaries that you're going to set? Well, god gives us a way to do that right. He gives us the way to do that through vision. In fact, the Bible says without vision, you're going to find that balance is not just about balance or that word actually means prophetic revelation.
Speaker 1:
Without vision, the people perish or people cast off restraint. See, casting off restraint and just kind of running willy nilly around your life. That's what happens when you don't have boundaries. That's what happens when you don't have vision. That's what happens when you don't have clear revelation of who you are in Christ, what God's created you for, what, the season of life that you're in and what are the things that you need to be focused on in order to be happy and effective and at peace. Listen, if you are in that struggle of like, I just gotta find balance. I'm just overwhelmed with everything.
Speaker 1:
I guarantee you the number one way to get boundaries and get peace in your life and to find the fruit of balance is vision. Get with Jesus. Begin to ask him to renew his calling on your life, to refresh your heart again, to allow you to see with him the things that he has for you. Ask him to begin to shine his light and reveal through the Holy Spirit. Ask him to begin to reveal the things that are for you now, in this season, and begin to do the practical things, like looking at where you're seeing favor and where you're not. What are the things that are working, what are not, what are the things that you're passionate about right now and what are not, and begin to draw conclusions with him about the season of life that you're in. My friend, I promise you, when you do that and then you begin to make choices accordingly, that's when you're gonna begin to feel all the overwhelm go away. That's when you're gonna begin to feel peace and momentum in your life, because you're actually choosing to create boundaries around and in alignment with the vision that God's given for you in the season of life that you're in.
Speaker 1:
Listen, if I could brag on, one of the things that we do best inside of the Creative to Thrive Artist Mentoring Program is that we help people get definitively clear on who God's called them to be and what he's called them to do in the season of life they're in, and then create a pathway for you to follow in order to achieve those things in your life. And we don't do it just through a PDF or three tips for thriving. No, we do it through weekly live Q and A, weekly opportunities to ask me and my team of experts questions, weekly opportunities to be involved in our community and get support and encouragement from artists that are doing the same things that you're doing loving Jesus and trying to fulfill everything that he's got for your life as an artist in the kingdom, trying to grow their business and develop and increase their income so that they can have the time and freedom and resources to do everything that God's called them to do. My friend, if you're ready to get out of the balance camp and get into the boundaries camp and start actually making progress toward the dreams that God's put on your life, I wanna encourage you become a part of Creative Thrive. Today you can click the link that's right here in the show notes. You can start for just $14 and we would love to help you start getting clear about who God's called you to be. Create boundaries in your life, start choosing your calling, choosing your design and seeing momentum and excitement show up in your life again.
Speaker 1:
I love you, my friend. I hope you'll join me inside a creative thrive and I hope you'll join me again here on the Thriving Christian Artist. I love you, my friend. Talk to you soon. Bye, hey, thanks so much for spending a few minutes with me today on the podcast Listen. I hope it's been a huge encouragement to you on your journey as an artist. Hey, also, before you leave, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss any of the other episodes of the Thriving Christian Artist podcast, and also be sure to connect with me on Facebook, instagram or at my website, which is matttommymentoringcom. Until next time, remember you were created to thrive. Bye, bye.