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/E8 - Activate the Dream: How to Move From Stuck to Start with Dr. Joyce Gilmer
Ever felt that stirring within—knowing you were made for more, yet struggling to bring that vision to life? Dr. Joyce Gilmer's wisdom on the Grace to Lead podcast might just be the catalyst you need. Known as "The Dream Activator," Dr. Gilmer shares her extraordinary journey from feeling trapped by unrealized potential to helping others birth their God-given dreams.
The conversation takes a powerful turn when Dr. Gilmer reveals how God instructed her to "be what you desire to see"—a profound reminder that sometimes we're called to become the very example we're searching for. She introduces a transformative framework for understanding where your dream currently resides: is it stuck in your head (intellectual understanding), nestled in your heart (emotional connection), or actively in your hands (implementation phase)? This simple yet profound perspective helps listeners identify exactly where they've become stalled.
Dr. Gilmer doesn't shy away from naming the barriers that keep us paralyzed: fear, self-doubt, and lack of support. But rather than offering platitudes, she provides concrete strategies for overcoming these roadblocks, including recognizing the "breadcrumbs" God places along your path instead of waiting for thunderous revelations. For those questioning whether their dreams truly come from God, she offers practical discernment tools: does it align with scripture, match your natural passions, and connect with prophetic words spoken over your life?
Perhaps most liberating is Dr. Gilmer's perspective on bringing your whole self to your calling. She vulnerably shares her struggle with separating her ministry identity from her marketplace presence—a division that was "keeping me broke." The breakthrough came when she realized God intended to use every aspect of her being, every credential, every gift, in every setting, though expressed appropriately for each environment. This convergence allows for authenticity that magnetically draws your true audience without struggle.
For women on the verge of abandoning their dreams, Dr. Gilmer's parting wisdom resonates deeply: "Believe God again... Don't wait, initiate." She encourages assessing whether you're pursuing the right dream, changing your perspective about investing in yourself, and inviting qualified help on your journey. The conversation leaves listeners empowered to move forward with renewed confidence that when they walk in the fullest expression of who they're called to be, God will illuminate their path and bring the right connections at precisely the right time.
Ready to activate your dream? Listen now and discover how to transform your vision from mere possibility to powerful reality.
Connect with Dr. Joyce Gilmer! www.joycegilmer.com/
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Listen. Did you catch the last episode of the Graced to Lead podcast? If you didn't, you need to catch up, because today's episode is like a part two of last week's episode and the guests had no idea. In fact, they were recorded completely different times. They didn't know what each person was going to talk about, but it's like God ordained this moment. Our guest is none other than Dr Joyce Gilmer. Known as the Dream Activate Her, she joins us to talk about what it really takes to birth a vision. Overcome fear, move your dream from your head to your heart, to your hands. So if you've ever had a God-given dream but felt unsure, overwhelmed or alone in bringing it to life, this conversation is for you. You ready, let's get into it. Welcome to the Graced to Lead podcast. I'm Belinda Gaston, your host. And listen.
Belinda Gaston:Our guest today is Dr Joyce Gilmer. Let me tell you about Dr Joyce. She is a prophetic, spirit-led voice for women in ministry and the marketplace. Known as the Dream Activate Her, she helps women identify strategies to monetize and launch their God-given dreams, turning their pain into purpose and their calling into kingdom impact. With a background in credit union, banking and entrepreneurship. Certification from Cornell University, a triad of accredited life coach certifications that include professional, neuro-linguistic and faith-based training, plus years of pastoral and national ministry. She merges prophetic spiritual insight with practical strategies Listen, say practical y'all. Practical strategies to help women overcome fear, gain clarity around their purpose and leverage their gifts to profit from their passion, resulting in a life of obedience and fulfillment in their pulpit and platform assignments. Would you do me a favor and welcome Dr Joyce Gilmer to the Graced to Lead podcast? Welcome, dr.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:Joyce, thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I cannot wait to dive into our conversation today.
Belinda Gaston:Me too. It's amazing, and so we are just going to get started now. So let's start, dr Joyce, with you giving us a little bit about your journey. Can you share a little bit about your journey of becoming the Dream Activate Her?
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:Absolutely. My journey from a very authentic place is layered with trials, brokenness, disappointment, tragedy, frustration I mean just a myriad of emotions and unmet expectations and probably a few unrealistic ones. But realizing that, I felt that I was kind of trapped at all this great potential, potent, you know, emphasis on potent all this greatness that was inside of me and I didn't really know how to get it out. I didn't really have anyone helping me or supporting me to try to get it out. I just was full of all of this pregnant, if you will and I couldn't really find help. I couldn't find assistance.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:And one day, in prayer, out of my frustration, I prayed to God and I said listen, lord, now listen here. Listen, Linda, if you are calling me to this place of helping people, at this capacity as a dream activator, show me what I need to do. Where are the people, where are the places? And he said to me I am calling you to be what you desire to see.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I was trying to see it first and therein lied my frustration, because sometimes God is calling us to be the blueprint, but we're stuck on trying to find a pattern. And that's where I found my freedom. So I started this journey on becoming and discovering with more clarity what was a dream activator. I didn't understand what it meant, but I took it into prayer and he began to talk to me about what it was, and I would be called to speak to the dormant places, the dormant dreams inside of women, and I had the Graced and anointing to activate their dormant places so they could walk out the fullest expression of what they also were called to do. And that's how I landed here.
Belinda Gaston:That is what a way to start, and so I listen. If you are listening, I hope that you captured that first nugget, which is in her journey. God showed her that she was to be what she wanted to see, and I believe that there are some people out there right now that are frustrated because you have this dream. It doesn't make sense to you. You think that God is calling you in a place and you have no examples. Perhaps you are to be the example. That's a great point.
Belinda Gaston:And so it sounds like you had a true vision, a true dream. It's God put it in you. This is what you are to do, and there are some women who are in that place where they do have a dream. They may not be able to articulate that dream. They may not be able to articulate that dream, they may not be able to define that dream, but they have something that they know that God has given them, and they want to be obedient and birth that thing, but they're not quite sure really what it looks like to do that, particularly in a world where things seem so counter to faith these days. And so my question to you is what does that look like? What does it look like to birth a God-given dream in today's world.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I think the first thing that I would say is to pay attention to the breadcrumbs and stop waiting for the big boom. Attention to the breadcrumbs and stop waiting for the big boom. I think that when we talk about dreams, it becomes this big, magnanimous, humongous goal, and that's what becomes overwhelming to us, because we're not sure how to process all that we see, all that we feel, all that we sense, and that's where the overwhelm comes. So I would say, dial it back a bit and to pay attention to the small breadcrumbs. What do I mean? What are the things when you were a child that you were automatically inclined to? What did you have leans toward?
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:You know, for me I always was the one taking care of the broken doll, fixing the arms and things that were. The little girl that was buying stuff at a table at lunch. I'd be drawing that one person they're never the crowd, just the one person off to the side to encourage. So I've always kind of had this passion to comfort, to lead, to direct, to encourage even young girls, even women, even people in ministry. So I had this thing all along to be this empowerer. If you empower her, can I say that, this person that empowers me, you can, yes. So I've had this burden for women in particular. Of course, I preached the gospel in general, but the burden that I had for women was something that I could not shake. I don't care what environment if you put me over the women's ministry or the choir I was always drawn to the one person that needed a little bit more help, a little more encouragement, a little more clarity, and so I started to pitch into that through my life.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:And so I would say to you that, if you are trying to figure out whether or not the dream that you are carrying is really a God-given dream, first of all, it's usually an idea, a feeling that will not leave you alone from it, and try to ignore it. It keeps coming back, it keeps resurfacing. You dream about it, you hear about it, you'll hear a sermon and it triggers a thought concerning it. You'll be in a small conversation and another thought will trigger, because God's nudging you or reminding you of what he has already put in you, what he already intends to be birthed through you. So now you have to pay another level of attention to what it is that God is calling you to. So it should, number one make sure it's a God-given dream. Make sure that it is something that aligns with scripture. If you're a faith-based person, it should align with the word of God. It should also align with your passion, something you're naturally excited about. It should even align people don't think about this, belinda but it even should align with your prophecies.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:What prophetic word has been spoken of your life? Yeah, and not just a preached word. But when I think about this, I think about my grandmama praying over me. My grandmother is speaking life over me, prophesying over me One day, baby, you're going to be something great. Right, she was prophesying in my life even then. So where you land in your dream, the thing you are supposed to activate, develop, build, grow, launch it should be something that aligns with your purpose, aligns with your passion, but also aligns with your prophecy. And that's how you'll know, because the things spoken of your life is the thing that God will make sure happens in your life.
Belinda Gaston:You know, it's interesting because I think this is something that causes people to not move forward. So I love that you said identifying the pattern. What is that thing that keeps coming up, that pattern of behavior, that pattern of your passion, and even the things that were spoken to you prophetically? But I think that some of us, some of our listeners, know what that thing is, but they get overwhelmed by it, right? So it gets to be big, it gets to be grand. Even our attitudes and beliefs can cause people to stop and not move forward. So you have this dream. You know that it's aligned with your purpose and passion, but maybe there's fear, maybe there is doubt, maybe there are other things that may cause you from even going any further. So they have a dream and there are things that kind of keep you from moving forward. What would you say are the top one or two things that hold leaders back from pursuing their dream?
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:Yeah, I think you tapped into it initially is there's definitely the fear factor, fear of the unknown. Fear is very big. So am I good enough? Do I know enough? Am I smart enough? Will I have the right connections to make it happen? Will I have enough money? So it brings up all of these questions right.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:So fear definitely is number one that I hear with those that I work with. And then there's a self-doubt, there's this introspection into my own capabilities. And then the third thing is lack of support. If I do this, who will be around to help me? Or who will buy the product that I create? Or who will buy the book that I actually write, or who will attend the event that I am called to launch? So we have these fear factors all around all of the what-ifs, and that diffuses or takes away energy from the things that you should be doing to birth the dream.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:We have our attention oftentimes in the wrong space, because you can take the large picture and, once you identify the what, you can then break down in small steps the how. And as you lean into prayer about the how, then God will show you the next step. He'll show you the people, he'll show you the places He'll bring the resources. But we stay stuck in the headspace. So often when I'm doing my sessions, I ask them to assess where is your dream? It's in different spaces. It's in the head space, it's in the heart space, or is it in your hand? Is it in my head, where I just keep thinking about it and that's it. I just ponder it, I think about it, I ponder it, I think about it. One day I'm going to be, I think about it, right, and so that head space is kind of bounces around in the cerebral cortex and everything's going anywhere. It just stays in the head. That's great, but it's also frustrating. Can you imagine if we had to stay pregnant more than nine months, if we had to be pregnant forever?
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:Oh my goodness, that's what a slept dream is like being pregnant forever. No one wants that.
Belinda Gaston:No, absolutely not.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:Right. So you have to find ways to move from the head space. Sometimes, depending on who you are and where you are in your life, it might just be the heart space, like you now feel it. You know what is in your heart, you believe it like it's there, but that's all you have is the belief that God's going to one day. God's going to do it. I feel it, I just know it right, and you're in that space and you stay there forever five years, 10 years, 15 years.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:But our goal, and what I do as a dream activator, is to move from the head, from the heart, into the place of the hands, where you're in the doing space, where you're creating, you're building, you're pulling in the resources, you're attracting the people, you're ending up in the right places, and so this all happens through prayer. But no one births a dream alone. This is where overwhelm can not be overwhelming, because you onboard the help that you need, even when you're birthing a baby. We have midwives. You know people that have the skill set to help you where you lack, and they bring an extra comfort right. When I think about when I was pregnant, it was going to the Lamaze classes that brought another level of assurance. Oh, maybe I can do this because they gave me strategic things to do while I was going through the birthing process to birth successfully how to breathe, for instance. Remember that breathing process, breathing exercise right.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:How to breathe when you begin to feel the pain, and I think that's something. Else is that we want to. Sometimes we're afraid of the pain or we don't want, we want to skirt by the process, and so just because I have a dream doesn't mean it's going to be easy. Let me say that again.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:Just because you have a dream and especially a God dream, we think, because God gave it to us, it's going to be easy. That's the problem. Sometimes we feel like, as believers, oh, this is God's dream, it's God's idea and it is. But we expect it to be easy and that's not how it works. Every dream requires a process, a level of patience, sometimes strategy, sometimes system. Sometimes I have to hire somebody to help me. I cannot do it on my own, so there's a level of sacrifice that's required of me in order to get the help that I need to make sure that I succeed.
Belinda Gaston:Oh, you said some good stuff, Dr Joyce. I feel like we need to go back for a minute.
Belinda Gaston:So a couple of things. Listeners, I hope that you're getting this and I hear you. I heard your messages. Thank you all for sending messages too. I appreciate you connecting with Graced Tlaib. Keep it coming.
Belinda Gaston:So I heard that a lot of our guests just drop a whole bunch of information and you're like wait, wait, wait. So let's just try to summarize here for a second. So we talked about Dr. Joy said that there were three primary things that came to mind when she thinks about what holds us leaders back from pursuing our dreams. One of those was fear, the other was self-doubt and then the third was lack of support. So fear, self-doubt, lack of support. And then she talked about she asked us a question that I think we need to pause for a moment and ask ourselves where is your dream? Is it in your head? Listen, I'm a heady girl. I go from head to heart a lot. Ooh, I have it and I could just imagine. So she talked about the headspace. Then she talked about the heart no-transcript want to talk about, which will take us back before I go into my next area, but I really hear clearly as you were talking.
Belinda Gaston:I heard that there are some leaders who are listening to this and they will say well, she talked about having a grandmother who spoke to her, or she talked about you know someone giving a prophetic word, or I don't have any of that. I didn't have anybody speaking life to me. How am I supposed to even get a dream or know that my dream is from God, when I don't? I'm in a place where no one around me is a believer, no one speaks encouragement to me. I've had a hard space. What would you say to that leader in that space who may feel like well, I think I have a dream, but I'm not sure. Or maybe I do have a dream, but no one's ever spoke to me about it. What would you say to that leader listening?
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I would say to I don't want to articulate this I would say to look beyond who you expect to have spoken in your life and look to has already spoken. Go to the word of God. That's the first place that I heard about my dream. That was the first place that I saw what God said about me. It was the word of God, and I mean that literally.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I didn't grow up, even though I had family. I didn't grow up with people giving me positive comments and words of affirmation and you're so pretty. I didn't have any of that. I grew with low self-esteem, no self-esteem. I've had abuse in my life and so, but what I realized is that I was God's daughter before I was my mother's daughter, and looking at what God said about me is what first spoke to my personhood. And he began to speak to me about my even in the word of God. Right, he let me know that I'm more than a conqueror. He said in Jeremiah before you were even in your mama's womb, I knew you. So I had to lean into what God said more than what people may or may have not said, because I've been disappointed by people and what I've learned about what I've also learned, belinda is that when people give you all the accolades, they can also take those back.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:They can also backstab, they can also betray, but the word of the Lord is the only thing that stands sure forever. And so I've learned to put my attention to what he has said, and that's where I found my own faith began to build. That's where I began to see how much more of he was saying about my own dreams and me being a dream. Activate her. Because even when I first put out dream activator, I remember someone that I respect, who shall remain nameless, looking at the phrasing, and I dream activator. What is that? That don't even make sense. But I knew what God said. He gave me that before I even knew what it was myself. So I wasn't about to try to defend what God said. I just needed to become what he said. Does that make sense?
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:It does Become what he said and as I'm walking out what he says, now they see what a dream actor is, dream activator is and what it means. I don't have to explain it. God's doing that for me. And if you think about it, when he called Abraham he had to say listen, come on out, away from your family folk, get away from your kindred to a place that I'm going to show you. So it took courage to step into this space of marketplace.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I've only been known for ministry for like 30, 40 years. Everybody knows me evangelist, preacher, prophet, and so when I started leaning into the marketplace space, for sure they were like oh you backslidden. Oh you all about the money. Oh you, I mean. I had to listen to all types of negativity, but I knew what God said because, again, it didn't leave me. I kept dreaming about it, it kept popping up, it kept resurfacing, and so I was like, okay, god, one day in prayer, in frustration I might be a little ahead of myself, but I remember one day in frustration I prayed out to God.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I said, if you want me to do this activation thing, if you want me to be a coach, I need you to show me an example, because I don't have any. I don't have anyone in my space doing this and I prayed a prayer and I logged onto Facebook. It was at midnight. I logged onto Facebook and I ran across a video of a Japanese man who was not of my ethnicity, not in my church circle or any of that, but he was holding an event. It was a three-day event. He was giving away free tickets only five free tickets. It was $1,000 a ticket to get in that space. I didn't have $1,000 at all, but I applied. I was selected. God brought me to that space as an answer to my prayer and he began to show me more about what he was calling me to do.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:So if you're in that place, but you're thinking, you're looking for your family. Many times people are saying I don't have anyone. They're thinking about their family, thinking about their friends, thinking about their immediate circle. But can I tell you that God has assigned strangers to help birth your dream. You may not even know them, but they will have the anointing and the Graced to carry you where others have dropped you. So don't get stuck on the familiar. God may have an unfamiliar person that's housed with the capacity to birth you and help you birth your dreams.
Belinda Gaston:I got a little bit more second on this one yeah, that's good, I think it's important. So I'm pausing intentionally because I think somebody just received that. So, listeners, if that's you, you're not counting yourself out, you can still birth that dream. And so, dr Joyce, you talked a little bit about marketplace in your example of your prayer and the answer to that prayer. So let's talk about that for a minute. How do ministry and marketplace intersect in a woman's calling, when they're a woman who leads?
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:Oh, child, that is a reason why I say it like that is because it was an area where I was so bifurcated, so torn, because I kept trying to segment and differentiate between marketplace and trying to be in two separate places when I was one individual. So I kept trying to make them separate Right. So I was like, okay, I just show up in ministry, I only preach, I only do this. And then I turned that off and now I go over here and in my marketplace I can't show any ministry, show any ministry and for my business blueprint it was keeping me broke. I was making no money in my business after like six years because I kept trying to separate, because I failed to realize that God wanted to use all of who I am in my DNA to show up in every place. So every skill set, every credential, every certification, every degree, God wants to use that in all of the places that you are called to serve and show up in Hope that this is making sense. So there is a convergence.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:The reality is is that with my prophetic gifting, for example, it absolutely informs everything else that I do in my marketplace. So I am a faith-based coach and when I coach my clients. My gifting is what informs what type of strategy I need to implement, what type of goals, because I pray first that this particular person may need. It's not a cookie cutter, a cookie cutter format or blueprint. I go to the Lord and his prophetic insight through me begins to show me what needs to be done for this particular client. Now there's also a practical skillset right, so I had to learn. That's why I did neuro-linguistic training. This is why I did other certifications, because I wanted to understand how the human mind function, how it makes the decisions and choices that it makes, so that I can partner with them. So they're not an alienation of each. There is a convergence where God wants to use all that you are and bring all of that to the table. Does that make sense at all?
Belinda Gaston:It does. I think what you're doing is giving people permission to show up fully, yeah, and this topic keeps coming up on this show, so it's clearly something that people need to hear. One of our guests talked about you know the process of becoming. Another one talked about you know making sure that you're bringing your whole self and even I've talked about on this show about my journey of releasing those segments and really showing up in the corporate world as Belinda the leader, but also Belinda the woman of faith.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:There's wisdom with that, though too right. So knowing how you present, based on the atmosphere, correct, my anointing is my anointing. I am an encourager. Every room I step into, it's just a part of my DNA. It doesn't matter if I'm having coffee with a friend, if I'm on a pulpit ministering. In fact, I was called into ministry to a place of healing and deliverance when I was called in 1988, that's the space of ministry God called me into why? Because it has to do with helping people get over a process, getting unstuck, getting dislodged. That's why I'm in ministry. Same thing in coaching getting unstuck, away from fear, getting out of your stuck place, breaking limiting beliefs. So my anointing and my Graced is the same. It just shows up differently in those different platforms, if that makes sense. And so when I'm called to speak at a college, I'm not going to speak in tongues and you know, roll around and grab the mic. It's not the right platform for that. But the anointing that works. The yoke to string anointing still showed up the same and I have proof of this receipts.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I spoke at a college here. I forget the name of the college, shame on me. I won't even say it on here and I was like but you can't be churchy, you know, because she doesn't have a church girl, which I already knew, that. But anyways. So at first I thought maybe you want to get someone else for the assignment because I can be churchy. But the Lord reassured me that no, this is ministry too and this is part of your assignment. So I accepted the assignment.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I go there and I speak, and when I'm done I did not do any. Thank you, jesuses, no hallelujahs, no amens. But when I was done, the vice president of that college came up to me and said it was so powerful. I don't even know what I felt, but I felt something. The students that were there, I don't know what. Wow, I just felt like. I just felt like now I know it was the anointing and I know it was the Holy Ghost. My grandma would say right, but I didn't get it there and again, be very demonstrative and yell and do like we would do in a church environment, but the Graced to minister effectively, even in the marketplace, was with me, and so I want us to really rest in the fact again that God wants to use every part of you as significant toward the birthing and facilitation of the dream that he's called you to do and to the people that are assigned to your sound.
Belinda Gaston:Yes, I appreciate you sharing that.
Belinda Gaston:And even for me, I'm finding more and more, I'm getting more corporate kind of invitations, and I am ministry, even though I am ordained minister.
Belinda Gaston:But I do find that whenever I speak, even if it's in a team meeting, that anointing is there and I'm just now accepting that. And so, even if it's in a team meeting, that anointing is there and I'm just now accepting that. So I hope, if you're listening, that you are hearing a couple things. I want you to know that your dream matters. I want you to know that the dreams that you have can be birthed and we just got practical advice of moving that from our heads out to our hands, right. But I also want you to know that you can overcome those barriers, those things that Dr Joyce talked about the fear, the self-doubt, the worry about lack of support and that as you're birthing this dream, you can do so as your whole self so God created you as you and that you can bring your entire self to what he's called. In fact, I would say. I don't know if you agree with this, Dr Joyce, but I say that your full self is required in order for the dream to be fulfilled.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I would agree with that. And when you are walking in the full expression of who you're called to be and do and what you're called to do, then your true audience can find you as well and you don't have to go hunt them down and beg for opportunities and beg for clients and beg for customers. The Graced in your life, when you walk in the fullest expression of who you are supposed to be, causes God to illuminate you, causes this emergence, this elevation of people. So now they begin to see you and pay attention Wow, who is that what they're doing over there? Because now you're being authentic to yourself and not hiding behind someone else's Graced, not hiding behind what your mother said or what your leaders say you should be. It's a requirement. I would use that. I haven't used that before, but I would agree with that. That's absolutely true.
Belinda Gaston:Yeah, so listeners, I hope that this is helping you.
Belinda Gaston:We are almost out of time, but I know it's been such a great conversation, but, leaders, I know you have if you have listened, listen if you have not listened to the previous episodes, cause I'm telling you, I love how God is connecting. None of my guests knew that they were going to be guests. In fact, dr Joyce doesn't know who else has been on the show and some of the episodes haven't aired yet. But when I tell you that God is connecting every single episode to each other, you have to go back and listen to the other episodes, because God is bringing all of this together, whether you are leading in corporate spaces, whether you have your own business, whether you're leading in ministry. You have to hear this.
Belinda Gaston:But I would like to give Dr Joyce a moment, because we have some women listening who are like yeah, I have heard this before, maybe not in this way, but I had my dream, I did what God said and I just feel like it's enough, I'm ready to quit, I'm ready to stop. This isn't working. I don't know what I was thinking, and so I really want to encourage that woman before we end this conversation. So what would you say to the woman? What kind of encouragement would you give to the woman who is like forget this dream stuff. I'm ready to quit. I'm done. What would you say to her?
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:I would say to you to believe God again. I would say to learn to trust in yourself, because if God trusts you with the dream, then you also need to trust that God knows what he's doing concerning choosing you. And I would say to look inward again, but this time do it with help, don't do it alone. Do it with help, don't do it alone. Pause and pray. Do an assessment, assess is this still, was the dream I was pursuing? Was it the right dream? Maybe it was somebody else's dream for you? So you should do a dream assessment to make sure that number one it's still the dream that God wants you to pursue, that it's still the right time for the dream. And if that's the case, then maybe you need to invite someone else on your dream journey. That might mean hiring a coach. That might mean investing, going back to school for some reason to get another level of certification or skillset.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:But I believe that if you just change your heart toward giving God another yes, he's gonna give you fresh insight concerning the dream.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:This time he's gonna show you who can help you, how it needs to be done, and he will even give you I believe I'm going to say it because I feel it right now, he will even give you the finances that you need to invest in your own journey. I would say, too, belinda, to change your perspective around paying for things, because in this season, you will need to invest in your own journey. It's an investment because when you invest, you can expect a return, and that's what I had to learn. I had to begin to invest in my own journey instead of just waiting on the profit side and then what's going to happen? No, there were things that I had to do from a practical place to assure that my dream came into pass, but I think the biggest thing, too, is definitely inviting someone who's qualified and equipped on your dream journey to help you build. That's what I would say. But don't stop dreaming, and I would say don't wait, initiate.
Belinda Gaston:I think that's a perfect place for us to end this conversation. Dr Joyce has said a lot. If you were not able to take notes as you listen, I would encourage you to go back and listen and I'm sure that by now, dr Joyce there's some people who are listening are like man, I really want to connect with Dr Joyce in a different way. So can you tell people how they can connect with you?
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:Absolutely so. I am Dr Joyce Gilmer. I love to help women of faith wake up to their dreams, get clear about their purpose and learn how to profit from their passion. If any of that sounds like you, you can meet me on my website at joycegilmercom. That's G-I-L-M-E-R. Joycegilmercom. You can also find out more about me on Instagram at I am Joyce GilceGilmer, and on Facebook at JoyceGilmerSpeaks. Any of those places. I'm excited about looking and I look forward to working with you in the future.
Belinda Gaston:Thank you so much and, for our listeners, we will have all of the links in our show notes so that you'll be able to reach Dr Joyce. It has, as my grandmother says, been a plum pleasing pleasure, dr Joyce, to have you on the show. I feel like we have a whole. We need to do a part two of this conversation. So, just in case I invite you back, let's have that part two. But thank you for your time, your willingness and your yes, it has been truly a pleasure.
Dr. Joyce Gilmer:Thank you for having me. My only complaint is that it was too short.
Belinda Gaston:Yes, time did fly. Time did fly, so listen those of you who are Graced to Lead listeners. I appreciate you. As always, I don't take your listening, your plugging in, for granted. You can always follow the podcast. Remember to follow the podcast. You can subscribe on Apple and on Spotify as well. Also, in the show notes, there's a way for you to jump on and subscribe so you can stay up to date on what we're doing at Graced to Lead. I appreciate you listening. Remember, until we meet again next week, that you are indeed Graced to Lead. Bye-bye, thank you.
