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Graced to Lead
The Graced to Lead Podcast is an empowering space dedicated to women, designed to inspire, equip, and nurture their leadership abilities in every aspect of life. We are here to remind you of the extraordinary God-grace you possess to lead with confidence and Biblical wisdom, whether in your professional endeavors, at home, in your business, or within your ministry.
Join us weekly for a journey of personal growth and empowerment. Each episode and post is crafted to challenge and inspire you, providing insights and tools that propel you forward in your leadership path. Graced to Lead is more than a podcast; it's a call to embrace God's grace to lead, even if you feel unqualified. Here, we believe in your power to gracefully, boldly, and effectively lead God’s way!
What to expect: solo episodes, conversations with guests, and even a few giveaways.
Graced to Lead
S2/Ep.1 - Season Two is Here: New Content, New Challenges, Same Grace
Has perfectionism ever kept you from moving forward? In this vulnerable Season 2 opener, I pull back the curtain on my own struggle with perfectionism that delayed the podcast's return. Despite previously preaching "progress over perfection," I found myself caught in an all-too-familiar trap—comparing my current self not to others, but to my past success.
This comparison paralysis affects countless leaders. After experiencing success (which often propels us into leadership positions), we become hyperaware of maintaining or exceeding those standards. Questions like "What if it doesn't work like it did last time?" or "What if people respond differently?" can leave us frozen in place rather than moving forward. Coupled with decision fatigue from mentally rehearsing countless scenarios, we can find ourselves stuck in analysis paralysis while opportunities pass us by.
The breakthrough came when I realized two powerful truths: first, staying focused on future possibilities rather than past performance creates freedom and momentum; second, "you are not responsible for other people's expectations." This season brings exciting new elements—video content, downloadable resources, compelling interviews, and a growing Grace to Lead community. Throughout it all, we'll continue providing transparent conversations with practical tools for faith-driven leaders. Whether you lead in boardrooms, churches, or homes, join us weekly as we explore how to lead with God's grace in every aspect of our lives. Have topics you'd like to see covered or questions about leadership? Connect with us and let's grow together!
Please subscribe to our mailing list to stay connected and get updates! Thanks for listening to the Graced to Lead Podcast.
You're listening to episode one, season two of the Graced to Lead podcast, and today I'm going to talk about what to expect on season two, for all of our podcast episodes, but also a few challenges I had, as it relates to perfectionism and my inability to make some decisions for this season, for this season. So if you are a leader and you are in that spot where you may be having some challenges, making decisions or even struggling with perfectionism maybe you're thinking about your successes that once was, instead of what's in your present right now then you'll definitely want to keep listening. Enjoy listening. Enjoy. Welcome to the Grace to Lead podcast. I am Belinda Gaston, your host, and listen. If you are a woman who leads in the boardroom, the church or your home, you are in the right place. On this podcast, you'll hear real conversations, practical insights and biblical encouragement to help you lead only and walk confidently in your God-given purpose. So are you ready? Let the journey begin. Welcome to the Grace to Lead podcast. I am Belinda Gaston and welcome to season two.
Belinda Gaston:My intention was to start sooner. My intention was to have a great year and I planned out all these episodes, but we're late. Now let me tell you why we're late. There are a couple of things that weren't quite right, and so, as much as I talked about perfection and last season we talked about progress over perfection I got caught in the perfection trap. I was supposed to have new music. My son was working on new music. I was really excited to share with you all. Hey, my son, the college student music producer, gave me some new music and his class studies got really busy and he wasn't able to do it in the time that I needed him to do, so that was the first thing. Then I started thinking about oh, I need to create better content this season. Right, because last season we had what I think is a successful season. This season I'm expecting us to grow, and so there were things that I wanted to do and new things I wanted to add, and it just didn't seem to be working, and so we were late, and so today I want to talk about that as an introduction to season two. Listen, we're starting season two out with a bang. We're going to be adding some video content this season, so that's exciting.
Belinda Gaston:But let me tell you about this whole perfection thing. That's what we're going to talk about today really quickly. Is perfection Perfection? I know that we talked about last season how important it is to keep moving over perfection, but can we talk about how, as leaders, sometimes, especially if you've had some success, that that thing that you thought you were over with for me it was perfection can come back, and so I want to talk about that a little bit.
Belinda Gaston:There were a couple reasons why I think this perfection trap caught me, even after doing 20, what I think are successful episodes, knowing how this all works. I've been here, I've done that. I found my rhythm, I'm like comfortable with the things that I'm doing. Why does it seem like perfection held me back this time? This happens to leaders all the time, so let me tell you what was going on for me. The first thing is comparison. Now listen, I know we have talked about comparison over and over again, but I'm not talking about this time comparison of me with other people. I'm pretty comfortable now with where I am and who I am. Even how I show up, like you know, locks pink lipstick in my t-shirt. You know that's how I am right now and I'm comfortable with that.
Belinda Gaston:But the thing that I was comparing myself with was me. Listen, as leaders, if you have had success before. If something's gone well before and all of a sudden you find yourself in the next season, in the next thing, it's easy to compare the now to the then, right. And so what I found myself doing was comparing what I thought would happen now to what was I thought exceedingly well then. And that happens. And, as a leader, when we are leading people, when we're leading in specific areas, whether you're leading in your business or corporate spaces if you have had one success and typically what happens as a leader is, you have had success because that's how you got there right. You were promoted because of the success. You started the business because you kept getting people wanting your advice. You started the ministry because God called you into it, and so something has happened that has been successful to get you to this place.
Belinda Gaston:And you find yourself comparing yourself to the then. What if it doesn't work like it did the last time? Well, the last time I did this, so maybe I should do it this way. Well, what if people think differently this time than they did last time? What if the people I'm leading respond differently this time than they did last time? All those things become a comparison and it can keep you from moving forward, right, and so that was one of the reasons that this podcast was late. I started thinking about, well, what if I need to be able to do it differently than last time? Right, or I did it this way and this worked, and changing it up it might fail. Those are real talk. Those are things that I was thinking about. So that was the one thing.
Belinda Gaston:The second thing is decision fatigue. We talked about this the first season, so listen. If you are listening to the Grace to Lead podcast and you did not catch the first season, I need you to go back and listen to those episodes. You can listen on Apple, on Spotify, on I put them all up on YouTube now. You can listen on Google, wherever you get your podcast.
Belinda Gaston:This decision fatigue is real because what started to happen is, as I was comparing myself to me, right, I started trying to figure out like mull over almost my decisions over and over again. I actually started replaying in my head each scenario of what could happen, right, what could happen if I did this? What could happen if I did this? What could happen if I did that? It was ridiculous and, as a result, I just sat and great things have been happening around me. Progress is happening in other areas, but for this particular project, I was stuck, standing still, and so wait, let me tell you some ways to get over this.
Belinda Gaston:So let's go back to comparison for a second. Let me just tell you this I encourage you to free yourself from thinking about what happened in the past. There's this saying that says, like my only competition is me, or something like that it's there's no competition but me. I'm my own worst competition. All this kind of stuff but me. I'm my own worst competition, all this kind of stuff. The reality is that if you are a woman of faith and you have found yourself in a season that's different from the previous season, it's really easy to compare yourself to the season that was and that's a trap of the enemy right. And so if you find yourself in that comparison of thinking what used to be mourning, what was thinking about how to top what used to be, I want you to break the cycle by staying in the now. What I did to move forward is think about the possibilities. This may not be the same podcast season as last season, but there's a possibility that this different thing could be greater. This different thing could be more enjoyable. This different thing may teach me something about myself that I didn't know, and so, instead of focusing on the past, I wanted to focus on the future, and that's what I encourage you to do.
Belinda Gaston:If you find yourself in a place where you can't seem to make a decision right, you're mulling over, and most of the time when you're in this place, you already know what to do. You've already prayed about it. God has already put in your heart this is the step, but it's really more about our faith in God, our faith in ourselves, our belief system that holds us in this place of well, I have to have it just right, and I can't move, and so the easiest way to get over that is just to do something immediately. I am recording this podcast right now. It's about six in the morning. I actually put my makeup on this morning at least the best I could to get up and get dressed and do this podcast, and it was because I got up and I said enough is enough. I have interviews already recorded for this season. These are the solo episodes that I needed to get done, and I just decided to get it done, and so here's a step If you feel like you're in decision fatigue, take one of the options that you think is the best option and just move quickly.
Belinda Gaston:Moving in obedience quickly, it begins to shake up the momentum for you. It creates more momentum for you, but it also shakes some things up, and so I want to encourage you to do that. The other thing that may be holding you back is unrealistic expectations not of myself, but get this. I was trying to figure out what y'all wanted as a listener. What are your expectations for season two? Right, as a listener, what do people expect and how can I meet those expectations? I had to tell myself girl, stop Listen. I can't tell you what you're thinking and you can't tell me what I'm thinking. So all of this focus I had on what people were expecting was ridiculous.
Belinda Gaston:It's the same thing in our leadership journeys too. When you're leading a team of people, when you're leading a group or projects, there's an unspoken rule that the customers are raised right, we are leading, we're servant leaders, and all of that is true. I don't think the customer is always right, but I do think that we are servant leaders. But there's also a point where you have to understand that you can't read minds. You aren't responsible for other people's expectations. Can I say that again? You are not responsible for other people's expectations, and so free yourself from that. We're not responsible for how people respond to what we do. We're not responsible for other people's perceptions or perspectives of a situation. We're not responsible for how other people feel. Right, we've got it all wrong. And, as leaders, if we can embrace that, it helps our leadership journey, but it also helps us to move forward, and so this is season two.
Belinda Gaston:Y'all what you can expect this season is that we're adding some video content this season. That's exciting. Eventually, we're gonna have some new music. I'm excited about that too. We have some great interviews lined up. I've already recorded some. They are amazing. So you'll have some interviews. You'll have some solo episodes. You'll have some video. You'll have some solo episodes. You'll have some video content. I'm also going to be giving you some tools and resources this season so you'll be able to download those and take the information from the episode and use that, and I'm also going to be encouraging you.
Belinda Gaston:I want us to have a Graced to Lead community where we can engage with one another, where there are topics that you may want to discuss or people you may want to hear from that. You can let me know and we can encourage and grow together. So that's what to expect. We'll still have our every week episodes, so please come back every week. We're on Spotify, apple Podcasts, google I think it's Google Play on YouTube, so you can find us, grace to Lead, on those platforms and we are going to have transparent conversation with practical tools and tips for how you can continue to lead with God's grace. Listen, this is about how we incorporate our faith in what we do, and while this first episode I didn't talk a lot about God, I didn't talk a lot about the Bible. This is still for those women who are believers, who have faith and want to integrate their faith and how they lead. So I hope that you'll come back for our next episode next week.
Belinda Gaston:This has just been a brief overview of the next season. I'm excited about season two. Listen, tell your friends, tell your leadership girlfriends to come on. There's some great things happening on Graced to Lead and you can always connect with us. Remember you can get on our mailing list. I won't spam you, I promise, but it'll give you a way to stay updated. Remember, you can connect with me and the Grace to Lead podcast, so that you can stay updated on what's new, what's happening. This is going to be a great season. Buckle up buttercup, I think that's what they say. Buckle up buttercup, because this is going to be great Until we meet again. Remember, you are indeed grace to lead. Bye-bye.
