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In this episode of 'Renew and Transform,' host Moussa Mikhail explores the motivation and purpose behind the podcast, focusing on the concept of renewing the mind as a pathway to personal transformation. Inspired by the scripture Romans 12:2, Moussa discusses how our thoughts create neural pathways which shape our actions and habits, drawing parallels with cognitive theory and biblical wisdom.

Listeners are encouraged to identify patterns that limit spiritual and personal growth and to consciously forge new thought trails that align with their divine calling. Practical steps include reflection, identifying limiting habits, and starting small changes, all while seeking guidance from scripture, prayer, and supportive communities.

00:00 Introduction to Renew and Transform

00:41 The Power of Romans 12:2

02:23 Understanding Cognitive Theory

03:59 The Story of the Conditioned Dog

06:13 Creating New Neural Pathways

10:36 Practical Steps for Mind Renewal

17:45 Conclusion and Call to Action

Join me on the journey to Renew and Transform your mind and Cultivate your leadership by subscribing, leaving a review and following me on social media!

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In this episode, I want to talk about the motivation and intention

of this podcast, Renew and Transform.

What it means to renew the mind and how transformation begins with the

mind, and two things we can start doing now to begin renewing the mind.

I Welcome to Renew and Transform, a podcast to renew and transform your

mind and cultivate your leadership to live a life worthy of your calling.

I'm your host, Mindset and Leadership Coach Moussa Mikhail.

Let the renewal begin.

Welcome to Renew and Transform.

Thank you so much for tuning in.

Want to bring you back to the scripture that inspired me to launch this

new podcast, and the scripture that inspired the name, Renew and Transform.

You might have heard it before, if you haven't.

It is Romans 12: 2.

Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind.

Then you'll be able to test and approve.

What God's will is his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Now, it's such a powerful scripture, and it is the essence of change.

It is the essence of transformation and changing your habits and creating

a new identity within yourself.

Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind.

It means we can begin to transform our life.

By renewing our mind, we can transform what it is we've become accustomed to.

We can transform what we have conditioned ourselves to do, feel,

and act for our entire lifetime.

We could change the conditioning of what's been surrounding us for all these years.

For the media, for what we've been listening to, for our upbringing.

We may not have the ability to control most of those things, But the one thing we

can control is our mind, and we're going to talk about two things we can start

doing now to begin that renewal process.

Our life goes in the direction of our most dominant thoughts.

Good or bad.

Ineffective.

or effective.

Actions are going to follow our most dominant thoughts.

And this is how the renewal process begins.

This is how our habits form.

By constant thought, what we think about the most.

Do you ever inventory and take a real good look at what

you're thinking about the most?

And how much time you spend thinking about what you're thinking about?

What we think about the most generally determines.

Our feelings and attitudes.

Our attitude and feelings lead to our behavior and actions.

Our actions and behaviors over time become our habits.

And our habits determine our character.

This is what psychologists call cognitive theory.

The relationship between our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Neuroscientists suggest that 90 to 95% Of what we do in our day to

day life are subconscious habits.

Meaning most of our life is subconsciously acted out through our habits.

Most of which we're not even aware of.

Most of which we don't even notice.

A friend was telling me about a story about his neighbor's

dog who is severely injured.

Now they have a large yard where the dog usually roams.

But they initially set up an electric fence on this yard so the dog doesn't run

too far or get lost or leave the property.

So they built this electric fence and it would shock the

dog every time it got near it.

So over time, the dog was conditioned.

It recognized that it's not allowed to go past A certain boundary that has

to stay within this boundary, uh, even after they removed the fence, the dog

was so conditioned to these boundaries that it would not go past them.

It was so conditioned by these boundaries that it would stay on the yard long

after the electric fence was gone.

And one day, this is in a wooded area.

A deer roamed on the property.

Not very uncommon for this area to have deer roaming around large

land areas and large properties.

But this large deer attacked this dog abruptly.

This dog had the chance to run away.

It's probably faster than this deer.

It would have gotten away.

However, it was subconsciously conditioned to stay within a certain

parameter, although it could run past the property and escape this deer.

In its mind, it was trapped.

It got to the boundary and then stopped.

This deer then trampled over this poor dog and injured it severely.

The dog could have gotten away.

But the crazy thing is, we, humans, can't.

Do the same thing this dog has done.

We have conditioned ourselves with subconscious habits that are limiting

us and making us more susceptible to an attack from an enemy.

We are stuck within the boundaries of our mind.

We've played the same feedback loop over and over and over and created this

pathway in our brain In which our habits are produced, science is catching up

to biblical wisdom, and here is one of the best ways to start changing this.

After you think about a thought, you start to formulate a

electrical pathway in the brain.

They call it neural pathways, but it's literally electricity.

It's kind of like walking in a trail in the woods.

If you've never walked on a certain trail and you start creating a new trail.

It's not going to be very visible, but if you've walked that trail thousands

and thousands and thousands of times over many years, the trail is going

to be forged through the woods.

It's going to be very easily visible.

It's going to be where you take when you want to go to your destination.

You're going to take that trail.

There's no reason to climb over.

And create a new trail because you have solidified this trail.

It's the easiest path to the action.

And this begins to happen subconsciously in the brain.

You are forming trails that happen over repetition and repetition and repetition.

And those become the habits.

We have to consciously decide to formulate a new trail.

To go off that trail because that trail is leading us to limitation.

It is leading us, maybe, in a feedback loop.

It is maybe leading us to do things that we regret later.

It's maybe leading us to limit ourselves and our potential and what God has for us.

It may be hurting us.

It may be hurting other people.

We have to consciously decide, I'm not going down that way anymore.

And we start forging a new trail.

We might have to move some shrub out the way.

We might have to cut some trees.

We might have to make a way.

We might have to dig a trench.

We might have to put in that effort initially to forge that trail.

But once we cut the shrubs and clean out the debris and clear

out that trail, the more we do the more we walk through that trail.

We then create a new trail.

This old trail begins to have its growth back.

If no one ever stepped on that trail again, it will give nature time

to regrow and cover up that trail.

The growth of the trees and the plants and the debris and the branches and

the leaves and everything that falls in nature would eventually cover that

trail after many years of not using it.

You've created a new trail.

And this trail is a disciplined trail.

One that leads you to more freedom.

One that leads you to be in better shape.

To write that book.

To start that business.

To start that non profit.

To start that charity.

To do what God placed on your heart, to maybe leave the job that you hate and

start pursuing what will fulfill you.

The more you navigate on that trail, the more you exert that energy in the

beginning to clear out that trail, the easier it will be over time.

This is what happens in the mind.

Those neural pathways, those habits, Are creating trails in our brain

that lead from one part of the brain to another that leads to us doing

a certain action over and over and over it becomes easier and easier

and there's less resistance to do it.

There will always be more resistance in the beginning.

Starting that trail, getting off trail, off the beaten path and

creating a new trail will take time.

It will need you to walk that trail over and over and over again for days

and months and years until it's a solidified trail out obstructions.

And that's the process.

So science is catching up to biblical wisdom.

And here are the two things we can start doing now to begin

the renewal process of the mind.

I want to start off with.

The Apostle Paul's scripture in Philippians 4: 8.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble,

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is

admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.

He knows.

Our life goes in the direction of our most dominant thoughts, so fix your thoughts on

that which is worth it, that which is true and noble and excellent and praiseworthy.

In Proverbs it says, As you think in your heart, so you are.

Fix your mind on that which is going to get you closer to the man

or woman God created you to be.

The first thing you can do to begin the process of renewing your mind.

is to identify the patterns that are separating you from God and limiting you.

Think about it.

You might need to take time away from the noise, away from electronics,

away from social media, away from media in general, away from people,

somewhere quiet where you can really reflect And identify the patterns.

Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed

by the renewing of your mind.

What patterns have you conformed to?

What patterns have you conditioned yourself in?

What patterns have you developed over time based on your environment, your

parents, your friends, the people you've watched over years, the TV.

Media, movies, whatever it is, identify them.

You may not be able to control those things.

There's a lot in your life that contributed to your patterns

that are out of your control now, but you can renew the mind.

And when you renew the mind, you can transform and you don't have to get the

same results and live the same life based on the patterns you developed years ago.

And many of these subconscious habits and patterns We're

ones you developed as a child.

You don't have to be a victim to these patterns anymore.

Identify them.

Take the time.

Take a look at yourself deeply and check your heart.

You may not be able to do it alone.

You may need to ask friends, a counselor, a coach, a therapist, a community group, a

mentor, a pastor, whoever that you trust.

You may need to ask them.

And it's okay.

We were not.

Designed to do it alone anyway.

You can't read the label if you're stuck in the box.

That's why we need other people to give us feedback, and there's no shame in that.

Everybody needs it.

This is why the greatest athletes are usually a result of the greatest coaches.

Because they're able to see things from a different perspective

that the athlete can't see.

So it's okay to get help to identify these patterns, because you can't see

yourself clearly most of the time.

You can deeply journal about them.

Journal without distraction again.

Alone.

Somewhere peaceful.

Somewhere quiet.

Where you can really start to access your thoughts and your heart.

You may need to pray about it, and I encourage you to pray about it, to have

God reveal the things and the patterns and the habits that are contributing

to the things that you are unhappy with right now, that are contributing

to this limited version of you.

That is not God's best.

Pray for God to reveal that to you and for the strength of your heart.

Number two is to choose one habit, just one habit to begin working on,

to renew the mind of the one habit that is limiting you from being

the person God created you to be.

Just the habit that you can begin working on when you notice

your thoughts are changing.

Going in a certain direction.

When you start noticing that trail, what leads me to get on to that trail?

That trail which leads me to do things that I regret later.

Identify those things and choose the one habit that is

harming you to begin working on.

And here are some examples.

Obviously, this is not an all inclusive list.

These are just some examples that may help you.

They may not.

They may make sense.

They may not.

But that's why you have to take the time to identify what is

getting in the way from you being the person God created you to be.

A habit like interrupting your thoughts of temptation with prayer.

That may lead you to not get on that trail.

You're interrupting that pattern.

Or reading a book or the bible instead of an episode of a TV show.

Taking a prayer walk around the community which stimulates your physical body

and your heart in a spiritual practice.

Listening to music intentionally.

Music that encourages you.

That maybe motivates you or inspires you.

That leaves you feeling better than you did before listening to it.

Scheduling periodic check ins with friends or family or people

that are keeping you accountable.

Maybe on a weekly or bi weekly basis.

Having conversations that are intentionally designed to

go deeper and have a deeper connection and more vulnerability.

Which exercises emotional muscles in your heart to start

developing stronger relationships and to help you be accountable.

Getting some exercise, something that we probably all need to do more of.

One of the best things we could do for our mind is exercise our

body, which benefits our physical body and the mind at the same time.

Something like intermittent fasting could help.

It's a discipline that bleeds into every other discipline.

If you're able to have the discipline to not put things in

your mouth and eat, you can have the discipline to do almost anything.

Choose one habit to start working on today.

Share that habit with me in the comments or reach out to me on Instagram.

I would love to support you however I can.

And whatever you are struggling with right now, just keep your focus on things above

And not of this world, like Colossians 3, 2 says, try giving it all to Jesus.

You have nothing to lose and all to gain.

God bless you.

Thank you for tuning in.

Be a light and share this with someone you love and care about, and please subscribe

and leave a review so we can reach more people and remember, do not conform

to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is.

His good, pleasing and perfect will.