Author, speaker and CEO Allison Fallon has helped CEOs, Olympic gold medalists, politicians and many others unlock their brains and leadership by learning how to write things down.
Allison has seen leaders get freed from anxiety, depression and past trauma by learning a specific form of writing for just 20 minutes a day, four days in a row. In this interview, she unpacks exactly what that can do for you.
Welcome to Episode 427 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.
Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey shares how to use your summer to restore yourself.
Guest Links
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Website
Episode Links
Medi-Share
Leaders are tired. It’s been crazy navigating the world the past year. They need companies they can trust.
66% of Americans across all income levels say that health insurance is a major financial stressor.
Medi-Share is the best alternative to traditional health insurance that allows Christians to share burdens in the form of medical bills.
Medi-Share is the most trusted health care sharing ministry with over 415K members nationwide. They’re an authentic Christian community that is there for you when you need it most: to pray for you and to encourage you.
The typical family saves on average 50% or more on monthly health care costs when they switch. That equates to an average of $500 per month!
Medi-Share members have access to free TeleHealth and free TeleCounseling, which are both unlimited! You can join at any time and have access to 900K+ providers.
Medi-Share has a proven 27-year track record and has shared more than $4 billion since 1993.
Learn how much you can save, it only takes two minutes, by going to medishare.com/carey.
Generis
“How do we pay for this?”
This question often stands in between your current resources and what your ministry is trying to accomplish.
Generis is familiar with this question because they hear it all too often.
Wouldn’t it be super helpful to have clarity around your current financial standing, know what opportunities for giver engagement exist, and what you can do to begin moving the needle on generosity?
The Team at Generis is offering a FREE opportunity for Church Leaders to do exactly that with a Generosity Pulse Report.
Think of the Generosity Pulse Report as a snapshot of the health of your culture of stewardship and generosity. A Generis Team Member will help interpret your giving data and assess the long-term health of your church’s giving.
Leaders don’t always know what to look at within their giving data, the Generis team will help you gain the clarity you need.
Schedule your FREE Generosity Pulse Report today at generis.com/carey.
Conversation Links
The Power of Writing It Down by Allison Fallon
Packing Light by Allison Fallon
Indestructible by Allison Fallon
Business Made Simple Podcast – How and Why Should You Write Your Story?
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
8 Easy Ways to Blow It in This Next Season of Ministry by Carey Nieuwhof
Get Carey’s Content Straight to Your Inbox
*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Insights From Allison
1. 20 minutes of expressive writing can dramatically improve your life
So many of us have begun to self-medicate and live our lives distracted. Rather than actually sitting in the quiet moments alone with our thoughts, we fill them with noise, food or other distractions.
Allison (along with decades of scientific research) argues that leaning into your feelings, and doing 20 minutes of expressive writing a day for 4 days, brings massive health benefits emotionally, physically and professionally. She does an excellent job explaining the benefits in her book The Power Of Writing It Down.
2. The Western world has wrongly disconnected our emotional feelings from our physical bodies
Somehow, Western society has convinced itself that our emotions and our physical bodies are completely separate. This is a dangerous belief that has caused us to underestimate the damage poor emotional health can do to our physical bodies.
One of the key reasons that writing down your personal story works is that writing unlocks parts of your brain that you don’t normally use. These parts are connected to the rest of your body, so when you begin to heal them and speak truth into the lies they believe, your physical body can heal, as well.
3. The biggest key to overcoming writer’s block is…
To overcome writer’s block, you need a shift of perspective around what writer’s block actually is. It’s not that you don’t know the words to say, it’s that there’s something you want to say that you feel you cannot say out of fear of being judged or losing something/someone.
When you find a way to say the thing that you’re afraid of writing, it will unlock that area of your brain/life. This process turns writer’s block into a diagnostic tool you can use to learn more about yourself and your own internal struggles.
Quotes from Episode 427
The power of writing it down is that it can help us not only understand what we've been through, but what we've overcome. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet Writing will allow you to tell the truth that you would be otherwise unable to admit to yourself. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet Data shows that 20 minutes a day for four days in a row spent expressive writing can dramatically improve your mood and immune system, increase empathy and increase levels of happiness in romantic relationships and jobs. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet If we aren't in touch with our own pain that we've lived through, or our own wounding, then what we end up doing is unconsciously passing on that wound to the people around us. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet The power of writing puts you in touch with that voice inside of you that knows the truth. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet To think that we don't have physical reactions to emotional realities is a bizarre disconnection, but writing has a way of bringing those things back together. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet Writing is a way that, for anybody, you can dip your toe in the water of peeling back the layers of the onion that are you. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet You're most tempted to quit moments before your critical breakthrough. Click To Tweet Without knowledge of God, there's no knowledge of self, but without knowledge of self, there's no knowledge of God. - John Calvin Click To Tweet The most important thing a business leader can do is understand their own story. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet Expressive writing is writing about your deepest thoughts and feelings about a particular topic. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet 30% of people in your congregation will have some sort of violent physical episode in their partnership within the lifetime of the partnership. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet Everyone can benefit from sitting down to write about their personal story. @missallyfallon Click To Tweet If you want to blow it in this next season of leadership, here's what you should do this summer—don't take time off to restore yourself. Click To Tweet Leaders, the more tired you are, the more intentional your plan for recovery should be. Click To Tweet If self-care is important in normal times, it's 10 times more important right now. Click To TweetRead or Download the Transcript for Episode 427
Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?
Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.
Watch Back Episodes of The Podcast on YouTube
Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen.
SUBSCRIBED YET?
Subscribe for free and never miss out on wisdom from world-class leaders like Brian Houston, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Nancy Duarte, Henry Cloud, Patrick Lencioni, Francis Chan, Ann Voskamp, Erwin McManus and many others.
Subscribe using your favorite podcast app via
Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review
Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?
The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.
Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.
Thank you for being so awesome.
Next Episode: David Nurse
Author, speaker and former NBA coach David Nurse talks about what NBA athletes and Fortune 500 CEOs have in common, how to overcome intimidation as a young leader and the best way to handle influence when you’re young.
Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 428.
