Myers-Briggs Type Preferences (MBTI®) test is familiar to most of us. Do you remember if you are a Perceiver or a Judger? The MBTI measures certain metaprograms that you use. A metaprogram is your default style of responding to what is happening around you. If you want to get things done, to have influence, to be impactful, then you need to deal effectively with other people. You need to know how to communicate with them. To motivate them. To inspire them. Flexibility in your communication lets you be the person with the most influence in the conversation. Everyone has preferences for how they like to work, to process information, to get things done, and to organize their lives; in other words, everyone has certain preferred styles for dealing with their lives and the people around them. When you’re not “connecting” with someone, it’s time to change your style of communication to see what does connect with them. Doubling down on your own preferred way of looking at things is not a very good strategy and is likely to merely frustrate everyone.

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Metaprograms are high-level patterns we run in certain situations. Introverts and extrovert are examples of different metaprograms. Sensing vs. Intuiting. Big picture vs details! There are many many metaprograms. We discuss several of them and it’s helpful to realize when you are interacting with someone who’s on the opposite page as you are. There’s an even bigger takeaway, however: we tend to judge people that are running the opposite program. For example, if you’re a big picture person, you are likely frustrated with detail-oriented people and call them names, like “nit-picker.” If you learn to recognize when others are running a different metaprogram than you, then you can tailor how you approach them to get better results. What can be tricky is that metaprograms just seem like “the way it is” to us. Sometimes we are getting annoyed instead of learning how to communicate flexibly.

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How about a little affirmation? It might be easy to forget to tell people in your life what you like about them or what they are doing well. It’s so easy to focus on the negative! Or to be self-absorbed. Or simply to lose sight of pointing out what’s good. Compliments are great and telling somebody how much you love or appreciate them has an important place in the relationship. The kinds of affirmations we are talking about are more specific. Specificity helps the affirmation land with the listener, meaning it’s easy for them to internalize something that’s specific. A specific affirmation speaks for itself and sinks in because it’s pretty obviously true. We give some examples and more tips to make your affirmations on-point, easy, and joy filled to make your relationships stronger and deeper.

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Empowered listening will build your relationships. Any and all relationships are better with better listening. You can take the initiative to make this happen: you are empowered to listen well. There’s a few habits to practice and cultivate to become a great listener. Here’s one hint: build habits that set the stage for a pure and simply curiosity to cultivate your conversations.

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Have you ever been talking to someone and realized that they aren’t listening to what you have to say, or they don’t care what you say because they just want to tell YOU something? Instead of THAT, what if every conversation you had brought a positive and deeper connection to the person you spoke to? This episode provides a critical skill for having a better conversation, a conversation that promotes connection and communication. It’s central to getting other people to listen to you! You want to use this skill with your kids (young or adult), your family members, your friends, and people you meet anywhere.

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Happy Ash Wednesday! Woo-hoo, right? Let’s keep talking about hope because the POINT of Lent is to prepare us for EASTER. St. Paul did some talking to the folks in Corinth in his letter to the Corinithians. In chapter 15, he’s talking about being resurrected. Apparently, Paul is getting questions from those early Christians, something like: How does this resurrection thing work? What does it look like? Are we pumped up about this? As Paul explains how this might work, he fills his listeners with hope! He inspires them. We are inspired. Go to our website and look for our leadership weekend in April 2025 and join us for more encouragement in-person.

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Let’s keep talking about hope! Karen works on your imagination by sharing multiple images of what the kingdom of heaven looks like. These are all images used by Paul in scripture. Marriage. Brides and bridegrooms. Citizens, like Roman citizens. Birth. There’s hope to be had when you enter into the kingdom mindset that is central to the New Testament.

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Romans chapter 8 compares being in this present age to the pangs of labor. Men comparing something to giving birth is risky but we’ll give St. Paul a pass this time. It’s as if the present age is giving birth to the new creation. It’s one of the themes we mentioned in Episode 115 on hope. We’ve been talking about our personal hope, you, my hope for me, myself, and my loved one. Yet we are invited to be a part of God’s plan for his creation, the plan that He’s been putting into action ever since Genesis, in Jesus’ work in history and his work now, which he will complete upon his return. Giving birth is not easy (to say the least). This new creation is being “born” now and we are a part of that process! There’s a role for us here. Being a part of the new creation is “what it’s all about.” We are doing a lot more than waiting for heaven. We have purpose and hope for all.

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