Work and Play with Nancy Ray

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. Resources from this episode: 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!

Well, it's almost Valentines Day and I just wanted to give you something fun to do. I am giving you 10 fun questions to ask on your next date night. Now, you can use these on Valentine's Day, or maybe you can use these on a date night at home after the kids go to bed, but the point is for you to take a break from normal life discussions and conversations, and just to get to know each other more. I hope you have fun with this! For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/144. Resources from this episode: 10 Questions - Free Download

I'm just going to say, I hit it out of the park with my first book choice of the year. The Nancy Book Club is off to a great start for 2022. If you want to see all the books that I'm reading and join in with me for any of them, or all of them, head to nancyray.com/bookclub to see. But today I'm going to be talking about my first book, The 12 Week Year and why this book was just what I needed to read at the start of this year, between having baby number four and this pandemic. I don't know about you, but it felt so hard to plan and to dream and set goals—but 12 weeks? 12 weeks? I can do that. I can plan the next 12 weeks. This book teaches kind of how to throw out that annualized thinking and truly treat every 12 week group like an entire year. And today I'm going to teach you how to have a 12 week year based on the book, and of course I'll share my three biggest takeaways as well. Resources from this episode: Nancy Ray Book Club The 12 Week Year, by Brian P. Moran

Money is a part of our life. Whether we like it or not, we need it to live and we can choose to either manage it well and let it be a blessing to us and those around us, or if we neglect it, we'll likely end up with not very much of it and it will be a continual point of stress for us. Today I'm excited to share five money mindsets that Will and I have embraced throughout our marriage that have been such a blessing to us and have kind of been the foundation of how we handle our money. This episode will be full of practical advice, but all of that practical how-to is going to stem from these money mindsets, and I hope that they're a blessing to you. For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/142. Resources from this episode: Episode 124 - We're Debt Free Again! Dave Ramsey God and Money Simple Wealth, Inevitable Wealth Psychology of Money Nancy Ray Book Club

The key to success is contentment. I mean, think about it—if you can find a way to truly be content, to be happy in every circumstance, wouldn't it be awesome? Every day it would be incredible. I mean, we'd wake up so grateful and so happy because we're content! This episode is about fighting for contentment with simple habits in our lives. Habits that can help us pause and realize just how good we have it. Habits that help us to live at ease and to live content. Now, for those of you who just started the Contentment Challenge, you can do this! I hope this is going to be encouraging to you. And if you're listening and have no idea what I'm talking about, it's a challenge I host every year to give up shopping for things for three months, it's saying a temporary goodbye to Amazon Prime and Target and instead, focusing on the things that bring true contentment and fulfillment. It started January 10th, but the beauty about the Contentment Challenge is you can do it any time of year when it works for you. Head to nancyray.com/contentmentchallenge, where you can learn all about it. For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/141. Resources from this episode: The Contentment Challenge Kid's Worship Playlist

This episode is going to be a fun one. I firmly believe before we can look ahead and move forward, we need to pause and look back, and this episode is going to do just that. It's going to be all about 2021. The things that happened in my life that were highlights, experiences—I recommend trips that we took, books that I read, things I tried and liked, and more. Here is the best of 2021! For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/140. Resources from this episode: Blackberry Farm Up From Slavery, Booker T. Washington's autobiography Episode 103 - Book | Up From Slavery The Gospel Comes With a House Key, by Rosaria Butterfield Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens @shaycochrane @brooke_gantner @cameronfaye_ @naptimekitchen Olive & June nail polish Blog: Benji's Birth Story Blog: Children and the Passing of Time, by Emily Thomas Joanna Gaines' mac and cheese recipe The Contentment Challenge 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!

Hello and happy new year! I am so excited to be back, to be bringing you some fresh episodes of the work and play podcast moving forward, and to start this year off on the right foot, encouraging you in your work and in your play. Happy 2022! For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/139. Resources from this episode: Take the Work & Play Podcast Survey! Take the Contentment Challenge Nancy Ray Book Club

Listen, we all struggle with social media. It is an incredible tool of connectivity, but it's literally designed to keep us scrolling, even when we don't want to be. Now in my best moments, I've connected with people I've never met. They have brought me hope or encouragement in a time I have desperately needed it. But in my darkest moments, I've thought some pretty terrible thoughts about myself as a wife, or a mother. I've wanted to escape a messy house or crying baby, or even worse, I haven't wanted to escape those things, but I've been scrolling none the less. I want to say is that technology isn't good or bad. Social media isn't good or bad, it is simply a tool. Just like money can be used to bless other people, and you can help eradicate poverty, do amazing things with money. Or you can spend it on some pretty terrible things and fuel addiction. Just like you can use bricks to build a hospital or a foundation that helps people in need. Or you can take a brick and throw it through a window and bring destruction. It's just a tool, right? Money is a tool, bricks are a tool, social media, technology, they're tools that you can use. It's not good or bad, it's how we use it or how we choose to use it that determines its outcome. With that said, it's incredibly important for us to know that this is just a tool, but it's also important for us to understand how it has been designed and refined over time. I want to enhance your understanding of its design, so that you can be aware of it and take responsibility for your life and your scrolling habits. It can be helpful. It can provide income. It can be addictive. It can be a trap. Today, I want to talk about simple practices that I have found incredibly life-giving to keep social media in its place. For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/138. Resources from this episode: A Good Podcast Episode on the Subject BBC Article: Social Media is 'deliberately' addictive The Tech-Wise Family, Andy Crouch Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport Steelie phone car mount Nancy Ray Book Club

I have three quick things for you before I dive into a very brief, but hopefully very encouraging episode for you today. First, would you head to nancyray.com/survey to help me make this podcast even better for you next year? Listen, I choose the episode content based on three things: 1) what I believe God wants me to say, 2) what I'm learning, and 3) what you want me to talk about. And since I'm off social media and can't ask you there, this is the way I'm able to ask you, what do you want me to talk about next year? So I would love for you to head here to let me know. And I appreciate it so, so much. It should only take a minute, it's just a couple of questions and thank you in advance for doing that. Second, the Contentment Challenge is starting again on January 10th! Head to nancyray.com/contentmentchallenge to learn more and sign up if you want to be part of that. And the third thing is my book club. You can see the books I'm reading for 2022, and you can join in with me on some of them or all of them or none of them, or you can just see what I'm reading next year if you want. Whatever you want to do, it's very casual, but you can head to nancyray.com/bookclub to check that out. And now for the shortest podcast episode of 2021, I hope this encourages you and is just what you need today. For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/137. Quick links from this episode: Work & Play Podcast Survey Contentment Challenge Book Club Nancy's Email List

What is the Contentment Challenge? In a nutshell, it is a commitment to giving up shopping for clothes, accessories, household decor, stuff, really anything excessive, for 3 months straight in order to focus your heart and your mind on the root of true contentment. It's also a commitment to replace shopping with activities experiences and relationships— the things that really matter in your life. We live in a world where money seems to kind of fly out of our bank accounts with the simple push of an Amazon button on your phone or the irresistible one spot at Target. We keep buying more and more to make us happy, but does it really? Does it really foster a deep, centered posture of joy and contentment? A few years ago, God asked me to give up shopping for 3 months straight and at first I was not happy about that. This episode is all about that journey and the profound difference that it's made in my heart and in my life. The simple act of abstaining from shopping for extra things for a short amount of time opened my eyes wide to the weird way that I was living life is a consumer and it revealed the actual way that I want to live—full of gratitude and Grace. I have actually taken the Contentment Challenge many times over the years, and in this episode I share the three things I learned during my most recent time through (Jan-March 2019). This also includes a lot of our financial story. Some of which, quite honestly, hurts my pride a little to share, but I pray that God can use it to benefit you! I hope this episode causes you to pause and think about your own life and how content you are today. Who knows? Maybe you need to take the challenge, too. For the full show notes, head to nancyray.com/podcast/136. Resources from this episode: Take the Contentment Challenge (begins Jan. 10, 2022!) Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps Making Things Happen Conference Philippians 4:12