Have you taken a moment recently to truly celebrate your successes? This weekend, I found myself immersed in an incredible gathering of over a thousand passionate speakers at the Next Level Speakers Conference, and it sparked a profound moment of recognition and gratitude for me.
In this episode, titled “Stop and Honor the Moment,” I share the transformative power of connecting with like-minded individuals who inspire and push us toward our dreams. The sense of community and the lessons learned from fellow thought leaders have left a lasting impression on me, reminding us of the impact our words can have when wielded wisely and with intention.
Success really does thrive in the soil of gratitude. Today, I want to take a moment to celebrate some incredible milestones. Join me as I reflect on a special moment at this event where I was humbled to receive the Sapphire Award from the Next Level Speakers Academy. This award, signifying over $250,000 in business last year, represents more than financial success—it symbolizes the trust and opportunities you've given me to share my journey and expertise with your schools, teams, and organizations. This recognition extends beyond the numbers; it's about the trust and honor you've given me, allowing me to connect with your hearts and minds.
Reflecting on my own journey—from delivering my first message in a church at age 12 to standing on global stages this weekend—I’m reminded of the importance of honoring our achievements. It’s not about boasting; it’s about recognizing the light within us that inspires and impacts others. This episode calls on you to shed any self-doubt, embrace your talents, and find a balance between humility and gratitude.
As we continue to focus on preventing burnout, not just for individuals but for teams, my passion for creating work environments where everyone feels valued and thrives remains stronger than ever. Let’s step into our brilliance and appreciate the meaningful impacts we make.
Looking forward to sharing this journey of celebration and gratitude with you.
Have you taken a moment recently to truly celebrate your successes? This weekend, I found myself immersed in an incredible gathering of over a thousand passionate speakers at the Next Level Speakers Conference, and it sparked a profound moment of recognition and gratitude for me.
In this episode, titled “Stop and Honor the Moment,” I share the transformative power of connecting with like-minded individuals who inspire and push us toward our dreams. The sense of community and the lessons learned from fellow thought leaders have left a lasting impression on me, reminding us of the impact our words can have when wielded wisely and with intention.
Success really does thrive in the soil of gratitude. Today, I want to take a moment to celebrate some incredible milestones. Join me as I reflect on a special moment at this event where I was humbled to receive the Sapphire Award from the Next Level Speakers Academy. This award, signifying over $250,000 in business last year, represents more than financial success—it symbolizes the trust and opportunities you've given me to share my journey and expertise with your schools, teams, and organizations. This recognition extends beyond the numbers; it's about the trust and honor you've given me, allowing me to connect with your hearts and minds.
Reflecting on my own journey—from delivering my first message in a church at age 12 to standing on global stages this weekend—I’m reminded of the importance of honoring our achievements. It’s not about boasting; it’s about recognizing the light within us that inspires and impacts others. This episode calls on you to shed any self-doubt, embrace your talents, and find a balance between humility and gratitude.
As we continue to focus on preventing burnout, not just for individuals but for teams, my passion for creating work environments where everyone feels valued and thrives remains stronger than ever. Let’s step into our brilliance and appreciate the meaningful impacts we make.
Looking forward to sharing this journey of celebration and gratitude with you.
Friend, listen, I got to tell you it is 530 in the morning and I could not sleep for this message and what I need to share with you. Listen, I have had a phenomenal weekend and I received a special award and, as I was thinking about it, there's a message that I need to share with you from that experience. So, listen, I got to tell you all about it because I can't sleep, I can't rest. I got to get this out. So let's talk about it, y'all. Okay? So you all know that when I wrote my book, I had a community. When I first launched out into entrepreneurship, I had a community for that. You know that I believe in having a powerful community around you. Well, now that I'm speaking full time, I have a community. So I'm a member of the Next Level Speakers Academy with Jeremy Anderson, dr Eric Thomas, et, the Hip Hop Preacher, and Inky Johnson. Now, if you don't know these names, I would encourage you to Google them, because it's worth a Google, first of all, but it gives context to what I need to share with you.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
So this past weekend, I attended the next level speakers conference and it was out of this world, y'all. There's so much that I can tell you about this conference I'm not going to hold you, I'm not going to tell you everything, but, oh my gosh, it was so rich. It was so rich. So, first of all, the community to be in the same room with I would guess it was over a thousand people who are all speaking and sharing and, you know, walking in purpose, whether they're speaking at corporate levels or speaking to children in schools or higher ed, like I am, or, you know, wherever they are sharing their message. I was in a room full of people who walk this, walk and talk, this, talk and get it, and we had the opportunity to connect and network and share resources and answer each other's questions and hear each other's story. Y'all. Community is so important. I'm here to tell you if you are trying to accomplish something, surround yourself with other people who are accomplishing the same thing. It is so important. As human beings, we are heard beings. We are always looking for our people, and sometimes those people are not just the people that are naturally around you, but you have to find the people who are on the same path as you. You got to find the people who are working the same direction you are. That's where your strength is going to come. So the community was outstanding, phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
Then the lineup of speakers. Now listen, okay, y'all have heard me talk about Dr Anita Phillips, especially in the last few episodes. When I tell you I got to meet Dr Phillips, when I tell you I got to take a picture with Dr Phillips, when I tell you what she shared with us was such a sober powerful word when I say sober, I mean like she didn't come to hype us up or you know, it wasn't like this motivational rah, rah you can do it. No, every speaker was deep, I mean went to the soul. Dr Anita spoke to us about the power of how we use language and how we have such a responsibility to use our language appropriately and in a powerful way, because we can literally transform lives by what we say. And it made me think about how you all listen to this podcast every week. First of all, you don't have to. You have options. There's so many places that you can go to listen and be empowered and to learn, but the fact that you would spend your time here with me, I honor that, and she reminded me of my responsibility to pour into you and to use my voice and use my language to enrich your life, to transform your life. The power of language she reminded us of how human beings are the only creations that God gave the fullness of language to, so that we could not only talk to him but talk to each other. And the power of language and how I'm responsible for how I use my language to serve everybody around me. So y'all meeting Dr Anita was out of this world, and it did not stop there. Y'all the weekend kept going.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
Oh my gosh, I'm still trying to get myself together from this experience. Trying to get myself together from this experience. All right, friend, I'm just popping in really quick because I need your help. Would you go over to Amazon right now and leave a quick review for Disrupting Burnout? You don't have to finish the whole book to leave a review and it doesn't have to be long or fancy, just your honest take on the book. I know that there's some algorithm fairies out there. If you leave enough reviews, they will share this book with other readers who need it. So would you help me out? Would you help our friends out who haven't heard about Disrupting Burnout yet? Go over to Amazon and leave your honest review for Disrupting Burnout. I appreciate you. All right, let's get back to the episode.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
I was also able to meet Tim Ross from the Basement Podcast Y'all. It was such and I want you to hear me, it's not a oh my gosh these people are celebrities. It wasn't that for me, but I got the opportunity to say thank you to people who have poured into me, people who have done such deep work. I know what it costs and I don't know their costs, but I know what it costs to live through the experiences that you write in a book. I know what it costs to do the research and to spend the time to pour your heart out to help other people, and I got the opportunity to say thank you to those people this weekend. So it was phenomenal. I know, I know I got to tell you about the award. I'm going to tell you about the award, but I got to tell you this part too. So I was able to attend with my friend, dr Ramona Lawrence, and you all met her. You've heard her here on the podcast more than once. She was a part of my virtual book launch, so there's an episode about that from January.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
But I was able to spend that time with my friend and we were able to process what we were hearing together and spend time at meals together and try new food together. It was just rich. It was rich for my soul, and I want you to know that rest is not always a nap. Y'all have heard me say this before. Sometimes you need social rest, sometimes you need to connect to your people and listen.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
I'm an introvert. I like being alone. I like quiet. I have no problem staying in my house Not at all. I'm good. I'm one of those people. When the pandemic came and they told us to go home, I was happy to go home. Not that I don't like people, but I love quiet. But even as an introvert, I find that it's important for me to reconnect to my people and to talk and to share. So I'm so grateful for that time. Ok, so let me get to the award.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
In the Next Level Speakers Academy, we have an opportunity to be recognized for growth in our business. So they give us all of the information about speaking. And just think about who I'm learning from. I'm learning from people, first of all, who've been doing this 15, 20 years. I'm also learning from people who have perfected their systems and their processes of making speaking a business right. So I'm just so honored to be a part of this community. But they give us an opportunity to be recognized for growth in our business. So I won the Sapphire Award from the Next Level Speakers Academy this weekend and the Sapphire award represents over $250,000 in my business last year.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
Now I hesitated to say the number because y'all know, if we are educators, we don't talk about what we make, even though all of us go to that open government site to see what other people are making. Y'all ain't fooling nobody. You know communicators, we don't talk about what we make, even though all of us go to that open government site to see what other people are making. Y'all ain't fooling nobody. You know you go to that open, especially if you live in an open state like Georgia. You go to that open site just to see what other people make, but we never talk about it. So I hesitated to tell you all what the award was for. But I have to tell you, because that doesn't just represent speaking, and I've been speaking since I was 12, way before I was paid for it. I've been speaking throughout my entire career. People would always call on me to speak. But that's not just about speaking.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
That award represents to me that you all have trusted me to pay me to come in to speak to your teams and your departments and your universities and to keynote your conferences and your public health organizations and your hospitals and your corporations. You have brought me in, you have trusted me to come, brought me in, you have trusted me to come. Several of you, more than once, have brought me in to speak and pour into your people and I don't take that for granted. I don't take it for granted that you would trust me to come and share what I've learned with your people. I don't ever want to get to the point where that's not a big deal to me. I don't ever want to get to a point that is just normal, that I expect to be invited in. It is an honor that you would trust me to come and share with your educators, with your faculty, with your staff, with your team. Concerning burnout, there are so many people all over this world that you could bring in and the fact that you all would trust me. I don't ever want that to be lost on me.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
So that award for me represents the people who see the brilliance in me, trust the brilliance in me and allow me to live and flow in that brilliance. So it was just a special moment. It was just a special moment and in the moment, right. So I told you there's like a thousand people in the room. You got Dr Eric Thomas on the stage. Et. I told you there's like a thousand people in the room. You got Dr Eric Thomas on the stage. Et, the hip hop preacher. If you Google him, if you actually Google top motivational speaker in the world and you will see his face. No matter where you search top motivational speaker in the world, you're going to see Dr Eric Thomas. So this is what I'm talking about Jeremy Anderson, like Jessica Lundy, chris Crumpler, these people are on the stage.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
Dr Eric Thomas, you know, helps me up the steps and he gives me a hug and he encourages my heart, like he whispers and encourages me. And then Jeremy Anderson welcomes me on stage and I take a picture with them and receive the award. And I gotta be honest with you in the moment I'm thinking things like okay, pbj, don't you fall on these steps, girl, make sure you smile big, take a good picture. Um, you know, like I'm thinking all the things, like you know, you step to the middle, you take the picture, then you get off stage because the next person's coming, like I'm thinking all the things, like you know. You step to the middle, you take the picture, then you get off stage because the next person's coming, like I'm thinking technical things in this moment, even as I'm hearing Dr Eric Thomas whisper and encourage my heart and listen, you know telling me I ain't seen nothing yet, like. So I leave the stage and then they ushered me back to do some videos and some things.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
So it was a moment, right, and as I'm walking out of the room, everybody's saying congratulations, congratulations, congratulations. It was such a sweet moment but I gotta, I gotta be honest, I didn't really sit in it, I didn't really honor the moment until yesterday when I got home. Yesterday, when I got home, I posted the video, of course, because if it's not on social media it didn't happen, right. I mean not really, but y'all know what I'm saying. So I posted the video on social media and of course so many of you said congratulations and so many sweet messages.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
But there were two that captured my heart. There was one from my cousin, lakeepa, and she reposted the video on her Facebook page and she said something to the effect of you know, so many people just want to meet Dr Eric Thomas, but to have him, not not just to meet him, but to have him present an award to you. It's just, you know, I can't remember what else she said, but that part just captured my heart Like wow, man, wow. And then Dr Ramona, who was we were at the conference together. She posted under my video and she she said you know you need to sit in this. Dr Eric Thomas welcomed you on stage, helped you up the stairs, he um this award. He joined Jeremy and awarded you this award. And she said you're moving from the back to the front.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
And I remembered, and even my husband helped me remember this later. He said you remember last year when we were at the conference. He didn't make it this year, but he was with me last year and I wasn't on the stage and I didn't get an award last year. And last year, when we were watching the award ceremony, I looked at him. I said I'm supposed to be up there. I'm going to be up there next year. And I want you to know that it wasn't a prideful thing, it wasn't a jealous thing. I was celebrating everybody. But something in me said you're going to be up there next year. And I didn't really remember saying that until my husband reminded me. He said do you remember what you told me? Do you remember what you said? You said you would be up there next year. And lo and behold, there I was.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
I want you to learn how to honor the moment. We are so focused on being humble. And yes, yes, you need to be humble, yes, you need to stay low. But when I say stay low, I'm talking about on your knees, on your face before God. I'm not talking about missing the moments that matter. I almost missed being truly grateful for that moment. I was grateful for the award. I was grateful for the award. I was grateful for the recognition. I was grateful and great I am. I am grateful for the growth in my business, but the gratitude that I felt after I really sat there and thought about what God did.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
I told you I've been speaking since I was 12. Even before that. I mean, if you are churchy like me, you know we did Easter speeches, like all of us did, but I gave my first message in a church when I was 12. So I've been speaking for a long time, man, I've been speaking for a long time but to see where God has brought me and what he's doing in my life. I told y'all I'm from Crockettville, South Carolina, and I love Crockettville and I will always honor Crockettville. But I couldn't see this. I didn't see the day that I would stand on that stage with people who have spoken all over the world, so just to recognize the moment.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
How many moments have you missed? How many moments have you missed just moving on to the next thing, just being humble and not wanting to talk about it, not wanting to share it with anybody, not wanting to rehearse it in your head? You know, I don't want to be prideful, I don't want to be puffed up. So, yeah, thank you, thank you, thank you, move on, move on, move on. How many moments have you missed you? Move on, move on, move on. How many moments have you missed? How many opportunities have you missed to be grateful? How many opportunities have you missed to really recognize what God has done in your life? How many moments have you just allowed to pass by?
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
It may not be standing on a stage in front of a thousand people. For you, maybe it is raising your children and watching them graduate from high school and graduate from college and launch off into successful lives. Maybe it's serving your students and being recognized by your students. Maybe your students have called you advisor of the year or teacher of the year, or maybe it is your faculty reviews, where students are talking about how you have impacted their lives. Or maybe your colleagues have represented or have recognized you in a special way. How many moments have you missed? How many moments have you allowed just to pass by without sitting in that moment and honoring that moment and being grateful for how far you've come?
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
You need to honor the moment. You need to stop and honor the moment, not just to be grateful, but I want you to know that the moment points towards your brilliance. Those compliments that people give you, those awards that you receive that may be sitting on your shelf collecting dust or maybe they're put away in a box, in a storage unit, somewhere like mine, are. You need to recognize that all of those awards, all of those recognitions, all of those compliments point towards your brilliance. People don't trust you just because they want to do something nice for you. They don't recognize you just because they're feeling froggy one day, like there is something that you have done that has impacted people, and you need to stop and recognize that, not so you can get puffed up, not so you can get prideful, but so you can be even more intentional and more responsible with what you have.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
We have treasure hidden in clay pots. We have treasure hidden in earthen vessels. We are the earthen vessels, we are the broken clay pots, but there is treasure in you and that treasure shines forth and it impacts the world around you. But if you don't stop to recognize that shine, if you don't stop to recognize that treasure, you will hide it under a bush instead of allowing it to impact the people around you. It is time for you to stop hiding in plain sight. No one benefits by you pretending that you are not brilliant.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
It is time for you to honor the moment when someone recognizes you, when someone honors you with a compliment, when someone gives you an award, when someone tells you thank you and they tell you what they're thankful for. You need to hear it. You need to hear it, you need to receive it. You need to be grateful for it because you recognize it's not you, but it's the God that lives on the inside of you. But you also need to recognize that there's more of that in you for you to share. We have used humility as a weapon to force people into hiding. We have used humility as a weapon to force people to shrink and to hide and to fall back. And the very people who are shrinking and hiding and falling back are the very people that we need to hear from, are the very people that have brilliance to impact the world, and we need to honor the moment. Friend, listen.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
I woke up this morning like I said I'm just hype. I'm just so hype after this weekend and so grateful, so grateful for all of it. For all of it. I didn't know what was in store, I didn't know what was coming, and I'm here to tell you there's more. I'm not done. I'm not done. There's more stirring in me now. You know I started with what we can do for ourselves disrupting burnout, and now I'm not done. There's more stirring in me Now. You know I started with what we can do for ourselves, disrupting burnout, and now I'm researching and working through what we need to do for our teams, how we're going to disrupt burnout in our teams so that not only we can retain our people, but we can have a workplace where people want to come, where people are living in their brilliance, where people don't feel like they have to escape Y'all.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
I'm in the lab, I'm telling you I'm working. I am working because this thing is in me. It is in me. I cannot avoid it if I tried. That's what brilliance is. It speaks loud, it pours out. You can't hide it. If you try, once you tapped into it. It would be torturous to hide it now that you know. It would be torturous to hide it now that you know.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
So I woke up and I wanted to study humility, because I never want to get too high, I never want to be puffed up, but at the same time I want to be grateful and I want to walk in this brilliance and honor what God has done in my life. So it led me to 1 Peter, chapter 5. And I want to read the B clause, or the second half of verse 5. And I want to read verse 6. And I'm reading in the amplified version. So first Peter, verse. Girl friend, listen, let me. Let me get it together. First Peter, chapter 5, verse five, second part.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
It says and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. It means to tie on the servant's apron. Not to be prideful, not to be flashy, not to be famous, not to be seen, but tie on the servant's apron, clothe yourself in humility toward one another. For God is opposed to the proud, the disdainful, the presumptuous, and he defeats them. But he gives grace to the humble man. He gives you grace to do the thing that he has created you to do. He gives you grace to walk in that brilliance, that treasure that he put on the inside of you. He gives you grace when you are humble. Verse six, therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, set aside self-righteous pride so that he may exalt you to a place of honor in his service at the appropriate time. Listen to me this whole chapter is good, but when I tell you verse six, if you humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, he will exalt you to a place of honor at the appropriate time.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
I know for many of you it might look like I just showed up, I just arrived, I came out of nowhere and I haven't even arrived. Like, let's just be clear, right, like this ain't. No, I'm working, I am pouring out purpose right now. And I got a long way to go, friend, I got a long way to go. I got a long way to go, but I got to tell you this the success, the moments that I have the honor of standing in right now, it didn't show up overnight.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
There were years of pouring and sowing and sewing. Like I told you, I've been speaking since I remember 12. But now that I say it, even before that, my mama had me teaching Sunday school to adults. She had me teaching Sunday school when nobody else showed up to Sunday school, when it was just her and my brother and my sister and me. She had me stand up in the front of the church and teach the lesson to this them.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
Y'all don't understand. In my life right now, it's fruit of 30, 40 years of just being obedient, of just being obedient, showing up every day just to serve. And I'm here to tell you that this scripture is so true If you stay humble, that this scripture is so true If you stay humble man, I didn't mean to cry like this If you stay humble Under the mighty hand of God, in the appropriate time he will exalt you, and it won't be an exaltation that will crush you. It won't be a chasing of fame that you're not ready for, but he will exalt you to a level that your soul can handle. Do the heart work, friend. Get to a place that you are walking with God. Trust him enough to obey him. Do what he's telling you to do and his word says in the appropriate time, he will exalt you to a place of honor in his service. So today, I just came to encourage you to honor the moment.
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson:
Honor the moment. Don't let these moments pass you by. Be grateful for the compliments. Be grateful for the gratitude coming your way. Be grateful for the recognition. Be grateful for the gratitude coming your way. Be grateful for the recognition. Be grateful for the awards. Be grateful for the promotions. Be grateful for the degrees and graduations. Be grateful for your children saying thank you. Be grateful for the hugs and the high fives. Be grateful. Honor the and the high fives. Be grateful. Honor the moment. Sit in it, allow yourself to take it in, allow yourself to recognize where you're standing. Stay humble. Stay humble, stay grateful and before you know it, you're going to find yourself standing in places that you couldn't even dream of. Friend, as always, you are powerful, you are significant, you are loved and you are absolutely brilliant. Love always, pbj.