the own it podcast

This is one of my favorite subjects to talk about. In my own life, and in the lives of so many women I’ve walked with, I’ve found that when we know what season we’re in, we can discover our assignment and how to engage with it. The Bible is full of farming language because it was written to people who lived by planting and harvest, drought and rain. So when Scripture talks about seasons, it isn’t a pretty metaphor. It’s a picture of how God actually grows us. This week we walk through all four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and fall. Each one carries its own assignment. Instead of asking “how do I get out of this season?”, I want to help you ask the better question: what is this season for? In this episode: Why the Bible talks so much about farming, and why it matters for your faith The difference between a dormant season and a dead one Three core truths to stand on in every season Winter: rest, store, and deal with the weeds Spring: plant on purpose and guard your growth Summer: water, weed, and stay focused Fall: gather, celebrate, and store up for the next winter A first look at the seasons week in my new devotional, The Art of Being Rooted THE ART OF BEING ROOTED: My first book launches Tuesday, November 10! Preorder the Kindle: https://a.co/d/0cVm20gM Take the FREE Rooted quiz and find out where you are in the ecosystem: www.comealivelifecoaching.com/rooted-quiz Free resources for readers: www.comealivelifecoaching.com/rooted Reading with a group? Grab the FREE Small Group & Reflection Guide: https://chantelleenelson.myflodesk.com/rootedsmallgroups HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don’t forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you’re interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!

This episode is a little different, but also very me. I’m not coming to you with a finished lesson or something wrapped up in a pretty bow. Honestly this season just isn't that. I’m a mom of 4, we’re in a postpartum season that isn’t what I wanted, and I’m talking to you from right in the middle of it. Because I think that’s way more helpful than talking from the other side, ven though I know we'll get there.  So here are 4 things this season is teaching me, while I’m still learning them. In this episode: Why I’m talking from the middle and not the other side How 4 kids changed us (and why EVERYTHING in my house has to go right now) Why perfection has been the barrier to presence in my life Learning to be content with little: little money, little time, little resources How my internal world has grown in this hard season Bearing fruit in every season, and the heart behind my book, The Art of Being Rooted If you’re in a season you didn’t choose, maybe it’s not the barrier. Maybe it’s the invitation.  THE ART OF BEING ROOTED: My first book launches November 10! Preorder the Kindle here: https://a.co/d/0cVm20gM Not sure where you are in your own growing season? Take the free Rooted quiz: www.comealivelifecoaching.com/rooted-quiz HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don’t forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you’re interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!

I just turned 38, and the people in my life threw me the most beautiful party. I walked into that room and felt something I haven't always known how to receive: completely loved and celebrated. And sitting with that feeling, I realized I was standing inside something I had spent years learning to build. This week I'm taking you into that room — and then back through the journey that made it possible. We're talking about the Grove, one of the elements in my new book The Art of Being Rooted, the Lone Ranger Lie that keeps so many of us isolated, and what it actually looked like for me to go from doing life alone to being held by real community. If you want community but feel alone right now, this one is for you. I'm going to leave you with one small step, not a to-do list — and an invitation. In this episode: Inside my 38th birthday party — and what being celebrated stirred up in me The Grove: why we were never meant to grow alone The Lone Ranger Lie and how it keeps us isolated My journey from doing life alone to building real community One small step toward connection you can take this week The Art of Being Rooted — Kindle preorder now open, launching November 10 LINKS MENTIONED: Preorder The Art of Being Rooted on Kindle Take the Rooted quiz — which ecosystem element are you? Gild Beauty Bar — $25 off your first service with my referral link HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don't forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you're interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!

We wrote a book. It's real, it's done, and it comes out November 10. I've been sitting on this one for months, and today I finally get to tell you about it. The Art of Being Rooted is a 40-day devotional for the woman who is tired of trying harder. It isn't a book about doing more. It's about growing the way things actually grow: slowly, from the inside. This week I'm sharing the season that birthed it, what's inside, the eleven women from Thrive who wrote it with me, and the foreword from Havilah Cunnington that I still can't quite believe. You're hearing it here first. In this episode: Why we wrote it, and the woman we wrote it for What's inside: 40 days of scripture, a reflection, and one quiet practice The eight parts: Soil & Seeds, Roots, Trunk, Water Source, Branches, Fruit, Seasons, and the Grove Why I didn't write a book by myself The foreword from one of my heroes and mentors, Havilah Cunnington The cover reveal (today, on Instagram) and how to preorder Preorder the Kindle edition now! Paperback and Kindle both launch Tuesday, November 10:  HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don't forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you're interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!

Who are you when you aren't performing and trying to be a version of yourself that's acceptable? Two conversations this week had me really thinking. One was with a newer friend who told me I'm not the loudest person in the room, but I clearly know I have something to say. The other took me all the way back to my early marriage, and the season when Donta had to stop rescuing me from myself. This week we're talking about the different versions of us that people experience, the difference between quiet confidence and insecurity, and what happens when the person who loves you stops carrying what was always yours to carry. It's honest, it's a little jumbled, but I think it's going to meet some of you right where you are. In this episode: Why different people get different versions of you, and when that's healthy Relational flexibility vs. adapting yourself to be accepted Quiet confidence vs. insecurity My early marriage, codependency, and why Donta had to stop rescuing me Support vs. rescue, and how to tell the difference Who you are underneath the adaptations Why confidence is sometimes simply not abandoning yourself HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don't forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you're interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!

Our brains are wired for story: a beginning, a middle and an end. So when we're stuck in a hard chapter and can't see how it resolves, we start writing the ending ourselves. "This isn't going to change." "God isn't moving." "Maybe this is just my life now." This week we're talking about why story matters so much to us, why pain can become such a powerful narrator, and what it looks like to walk out your story with the bigger God story in mind. Because your story is real, but your perspective is limited. In this episode: Five reasons our brains are wired for story, and why not knowing sends us into a spiral How pain becomes the narrator (and why hard seasons feel so sticky) Narrative identity: how the stories we tell shape who we believe we are Why God is the Author, not a supporting actor, in your story Asking "What are You doing in me while I'm here?" instead of "When are You getting me out?" Three reflection questions for the chapter you're in right now HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don't forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you're interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!

We've been in a season of transition for six months now — stepping out of what we'd known in ministry for over ten years and into the complete unknown. This week I'm walking through what transition seasons are actually for: the space between Egypt and the Promised Land, the three things the wilderness is designed to do in us, and why the real question in the middle isn't "why am I here," but "who is God forming me into here."   In this episode: • Why transition is the space between what was and what isn't yet — and why God leads His people through the wilderness instead of straight to the promise • The three purposes of transition: testing, teaching, and transforming • Why manna wasn't given for survival — it was given for protection, and what that teaches about daily dependence • The mindsets a season of transition is designed to strip away, and what it replaces them with • Why entering the promise requires a new kind of faith, not less • Three reflection questions to ask in your own season of transition   HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don't forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you're interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!

Coping is not failure. I want to be really clear about that. Coping is what your nervous system does when it's doing its job. But coping was never designed to be a permanent state — it was designed to be a bridge. And most of us have set up camp on the bridge. This week we're talking about the difference between coping and capacity. What emotional capacity actually is. How to tell which one you've been doing. And the practice I'm going to give you to start expanding your window of tolerance — gradually, safely, with the support that real change actually requires. In this episode: Why coping is not the enemy (but it's not the destination either) What emotional capacity actually is Four questions to tell which one you've been doing Your practice for the week: the Pause and Name Practice HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don't forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you're interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!

Nobody decides one day to become a smaller version of themselves. It happens gradually, in response to messages and experiences that accumulate over years. And then one day you realize you've been performing a version of your life rather than actually living it. This week I'm naming the cost of shrinking — relationally, vocationally, spiritually — and walking through the four things it takes to stop. Because the woman you're becoming is not a future version you have to earn. She is the version of you that emerges when you stop editing, stop managing, stop shrinking. And she is exactly who God made you to be. In this episode: Where shrinking comes from The cost of staying small (relationally, vocationally, spiritually) Why shrinking is not the same as humility Four practices to start showing up as who you actually are HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don't forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you're interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!

We've been told — explicitly or implicitly — that thriving is something that happens after the hard season. After the kids are older. After the finances stabilize. After the grief subsides. And so we keep deferring the life we actually want to be living. This week I'm offering you a different frame, anchored clinically and spiritually. Thriving is not the absence of difficulty. It's a way of being present in your life — with yourself, with God, with others — regardless of your circumstances. We're going to Jeremiah 17, we're going to your nervous system, and we're going to the question that matters most: what would it look like to thrive in the season you're actually in? In this episode: What thriving actually is (and what it isn't) Jeremiah 17 and the tree planted by water Why giving up the performance of okayness is step one The question to carry into your week HOW TO CONNECT WITH ME: Find me on social media @chantelleenelson for more engaging and practical content on how to show up to your life! And don't forget to visit comealivelifecoaching.com for more information on my offers and coaching. If you're interested in joining Thrive, the doors are OPEN so you can join by heading to www.comealivelifecoaching.com/thrive. Use the code THRIVETODAY and get your first month completely free!