3. Your Retirement Identity: The Mindset Shift with Vanessta Spark

Embracing Your God-Given Identity Beyond the Workplace

In this episode of Courageous Retirement, host Vona Johnson sits down with transformation mentor Vanessta Spark to discuss the profound mindset shift required for a fulfilling retirement. They delve into the challenges Christians face when transitioning from a career-focused identity, highlighting the importance of finding purpose and value beyond professional achievements. Through personal experiences and biblical teachings, they explore how reconnecting with God, embracing a new identity, and practicing surrender can lead to a purposeful and adventurous retirement. Tune in to discover the steps for a courageous and Christ-centered retirement journey.

00:00 Introduction: The Mindset Shift for Retirement
01:01 Meet the Expert: Vanessa Spark
01:55 The Biggest Hurdle: Mindset
03:56 Finding Purpose Beyond Work
05:00 Connecting with God for Guidance
07:27 The Role of Scripture and Devotion
09:11 Courageous Retirement: Living Boldly
13:16 Empowerment Through Surrender
16:50 Serving Others in Retirement
19:11 Final Thoughts and Resources
21:31 A Different View: Scriptural Insights

Connect with Vanessta Spark at: https://vanesstaspark.com/ or mailto:vanessta@youniquespark.com

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Thank you for stopping by today! Remember to Engage Your Faith and Live Your More!

To watch the video, check out my YouTube Channel!

Learn more about the show, author Vona Johnson, and more at CourageousRetirement.com!

Transcript

0:00

Most Christians aren't prepared for the mindset shift that it takes to be successful in retirement. For instance, if you've been finding your value and the workplace for decades, you may struggle when the job is no longer there to provide that value to you. This can manifest in very many ways. Such as feeling a lack of purpose. Struggling to fill your time. How do I know? Because I've been there. Today, we're going to visit with an empowerment mentor, and she's going to spend some time and shed some light on how we, as Christians. Can shift our focus away from our value in the workplace and toward our value in our new role in retirement. Be sure to stick around until the end where we will share with you the number one thing you're going to want to know as you transition into retirement. Do you fear what lies beyond retirement? What if it's a gateway to a life filled with purpose, meaning, and adventure rather than an end? Discover peace and fulfillment as you boldly enter this new chapter in Courageous Retirement, a Christian podcast. I'm your host, author and coach, Vona Johnson. Let's get started.

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I have with us a really special guest, Vanessta Spark, and she is a transformation mentor and educator. She caught my attention in an exchange that we had in LinkedIn, but she talked about how we can get lost in our identity when we shift from the work world into retirement. I experienced that personally. And so I thought. I'm sure that there are others of you out there that can get stuck in that place, like, so where's my value? If I'm not achieving things and getting a paycheck and all of that, what is the value in that? So I wanted to invite Vanessta on today to just talk about that some because she does a lot of that, that heart healing and mindset shift. And today we're going to focus on the mindset shift. that we need to go through into retirement. So welcome, Vanessta. I'm so excited to have you here today. Thank you, Vona. I'm happy to be here. From your experience, what is that biggest hurdle that someone needs to overcome when they make that shift from the work world working eight to five, nine to five, whatever it is day in and day out to now all of a sudden not having the goals, the deadlines, the things that has driven us. I mean, we've really gotten to be a driven world. So, how can we make that shift and do it well? I think the biggest hurdle is our mind. God gave us the most powerful tool and that is our mindset. And for me, the biggest shift was in finding out who I was, in finding out what feeds my mindset. What set of beliefs feeds it? Because after I retired, I was lost for a little while. When I was working, I didn't really think about my mindset. I was unaware of it. I, you know, I would hear Romans 12:2 in church about renewing the mind, but I didn't really apply that to myself. I was not conscious, you know, until after I retired. And then after I retired, the thought was, what am I going to do? Because my behavior, my beliefs, everything was based on what you said in the intro, what we do is who we are. And I found out that after I retired and I had some time, I didn't know who I was. I really didn't. I, you know, I, I would, I would say to people, I'm a mother, I'm an educator, I'm an executive director of a school. All those things are what you do. And then when the doing part is gone. Then who do I become? You know, do I have value anymore? So the biggest hurdle was the mindset, I believe. Yeah. You know, and mine was a little different because I always say we need to retire to something, not away from something. And, Oh, Yes. I, when I retired, I knew that I was going to go into coaching. I had dreams for years of writing a book and I knew I was going to do that. But what happened for me was when I got into this new retirement where I had the freedom and all of that, I was doing the things that I wanted to do. But, you know, I would put posts out there and would get very little response. I would, offer coaching programs and have a handful of people come in. And, you know, I, I had always put my value in what my paycheck was, what my title was and got those accolades from those kinds of things. And when those didn't come in my new found newly created career, if you will. It was a real struggle for me because I wasn't getting those accolades. What kind of work can we do to, you know, that mind shift set shift that you're talking about? How can we do that? Yes. Well, I think we do it with a connection with God, God, the Father, God, the Son the Holy Spirit. That's how we make changes. Becoming Christ aware of our thoughts, understanding that our brain and our mind are two different things, that we have control over our mind. And you know, I have a process that I go through when I work with individuals learning about the belief cycle. How it feeds our identity, who we think that we are, and is the identity that I was living up until retirement, is that who God called me to be? And that was one of the biggest questions for me, and not until I became an entrepreneur, so I didn't know what I was going to do when I was going to retire. I just had to get out of this. 60 hour work week. I was tired, exhausted. And so, when I became an entrepreneur and started my business and I started my business with writing about mindset, because I wanted to find out, you know, why am I feeling this way? What's the meaning of life? I'm in the last third of my life. Now, what do I do? What does God want me to do? You know, what is his purpose for me? And I had always wondered what the purpose was. But I didn't know what it was until I made that connection with him, and until I could start to hear his voice. And I didn't have time to hear his voice before, right? But now I have now I had time to prioritize my devotions with him. And I could prioritize time listening to him. It wasn't until I became an entrepreneur and dug into my mindset and and dug into heart healing that things started to change for me. I feel like I am an authentic person now. I know who I am. I think when I retired seven years ago, I was who I was in connection with my job. But now I know who God has made me to be, you know, I can see with spiritual eyes now, which is different than before. Exactly. You know, and it's funny how parallel our stories are because I too retired seven years ago. I had done Bible studies and things like that. I didn't do devotions like I do now, like I have time, but I went to the scripture looking for answers and they were all right there. And, yeah, The, the message that became really loud and clear to me was, seek first God's kingdom, right? Well, I was seeking my value in getting clients and earning money and all of that. I wasn't seeking the value of just being one of God's daughters and being able to know that he provides everything I need. It wasn't until I spent time in scripture and you made an excellent point because a big part of it is we keep ourselves so busy. Yes, we don't hear when he answers our prayer, you know, so yeah, it's funny that you bring that up because in my book Equip for More, the first three habits that I encourage everybody to start with, it's like you can go anywhere from those, but the first three really need to be, be in scripture, be in prayer, and be still and listen. I love that. Be still and know that I am God. Yes, exactly. And, you know, when you work for 40 years and you go, go, go, go, go, you get up in the morning, there's distractions, you're taking care of family and, and business and the job and relationships. It's hard. to hear the voice of God and to be still. I did read the Bible. Like you just said, I went to church but to absorb the word and to absorb the word in the context of, What is it that God wants for me?" Not what I want for me, but what is it that God wants for me? That was, yeah, how to apply that word. That's why I call this courageous retirement because it's not just knowing what it is, it's having the courage to do what God tells us to do when we do get into his Word. And throughout the Bible, he talks about, the disciples boldly proclaim his message and to courageously step into, I mean, there were situations where, they knew that they were going to be not just, chastised for what they were doing, but potentially killed for what they were doing. We forget. Where we are in, our country, yes, there's a lot of things that aren't perfect here, but we forget that there are people that do truly put their lives on the line every time they speak the name of Jesus Christ. Oh, definitely. I love it that that you're titling this courageous because I would say that would be something that I was weak at because I was a timid person. It's just how I, you know, introvert even though I was a director of a school. So when I started to read about courage and my lack thereof of courage, I realized that if I connected with God and with the Holy Spirit in those moments of weakness, where I felt timid, That God would provide the courage for me. I'm more of a courageous woman now than I was when I retired. You know, it's funny that you bring that up because I've had, two different people make comments on, both the cover art and then the intro video, and, and one of them was like, well, you need to put a picture of you hand gliding. I'm like, first of all, that's never going to happen. That's not the kind of courage I'm talking about. I'm talking about having the courage to speak God's truth in love. Yeah, same thing with the video. There's a man walking out on the mountain kind of and, and that's where I talk about peace and Christ-centered fulfillment. And then right after that, I give the title to the show, which is Courageous Retirement. And that picture is someone reading the Bible and flipping through pages. And I had somebody say, you need to flip those around. And show the courageous on the mountain top. And I said, no, I said, that was very intentional. By listening to this show, I want them to have the courage to do what God's asking us to do, to live out His Word. Yes. It breaks my heart because there are so many people in the world today who don't even pick up the Bible because they don't consider it to be valid. And so I'm here today to speak to those people who are hungry for God's Word and are hungry to hear what he has to say to them. Everybody's path is going to be different. And that's beautiful about the Bible is it talks to everybody where they are in that moment. You could read the same verse 10 times in 10 different places in your life and you will learn something or feel something different from the Holy Spirit, right? Yes. And you know, I love, I love what you said. God speaks to us uniquely. I mean, that is why I have a business called Unique Spark, because He has a unique voice for us. We have a unique purpose. We have one God, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And it was the Holy Spirit world That I had not, engaged in before I retired, and that has been a huge blessing for me to be able to get that connection with Holy Spirit to recognize his voice, to hear his guidance throughout the day, 24 seven, to be able to stop and say, Lord, what do you think? I should do, but not only ask, but to wait and receive what he has for me. So that has been one of the greatest blessings in my retirement is getting to know the Holy spirit, you know, spending time with him. Well, and I really think, I mean, circling back around to talking about our identity, once we shift that perspective away from our identity in the work world, it doesn't mean we stop working and it doesn't mean we stop doing things for the kingdom. Right. We realize when we, the word that so many people in, the secular world will run from, but the word that we haven't said yet, but really what we mean is surrender. Yes, and once we get to that point where we surrender and we realize that it's not about the money, it's not about, you know, whether my got the right shirt on or my hair's got, you know, it's, it's about. loving people where they are and showing them the way to Christ. And, you know, so when I talk about courageous retirement people may be listening today and I want to make the point that when somebody asked me one day, so, you know, how early, you know, should we be even considering, you know, what you're talking about? If you're 25 years old and you're thinking about retirement, this is valid. It's honestly, it's valid for anybody because in my mind, it's all about shifting our perspective away from looking at our work and either in the workplace or beyond the workplace, but looking at our work from a perspective of how is God using me where I am right now today? How can he use me? To have an impact and an influence in the people that he brings into my life. Yes. That kind of transitions into a Bible verse from 2 Corinthians 10:13. I'll read the verse first. It says we, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but we'll confine our boasting to the sphere of service. God himself has assigned to us a sphere that also includes you. I think it's so important that, that we have, we have all these beautiful people with all this knowledge and experience. That retire, and we want them to tell their story. We want them to tell it to the people that God has assigned to us. We have a unique set or group of people that he has assigned to us for us to share our stories for us to. Just to be of service to them, whoever he brings across our path. And so I love that you mentioned that, you know, that is, and, and to know what he wants us to do, that surrender piece that you talked about, Vona, that was hard for me. Surrendering is hard. I have to get up every day and talk about it. And I learned how to surrender. In retirement, and when we bring all of the things of our mindset or beliefs or thoughts that we no longer need anymore, surrender them to the cross and pick up what he has in exchange for us. That's when empowerment in retirement begins. It's that exchange, and it's a beautiful exchange. But the first step to that exchange is bringing thoughts and beliefs that we no longer need anymore to the cross, surrendering them to the cross. And that requires trust of our Heavenly Father, doesn't it? It sure does. And that's, that's really the crutch of it all is trusting him through the storms in life. You know, so many people, think how could you believe in a God that would allow these horrible things to happen in the world, but it isn't until we experience the tragedies, the illnesses, the disappointments that we turn to God and we can trust him no matter what. I want to go back to something you said that I think is really important because I absolutely believe, you know, it's the scripture that tells us to love our neighbors, right? And our neighbors are the people that he brings into our life. That doesn't mean you don't have, you can't go overseas or to Africa or whatever to serve. Right. It also doesn't mean that we need to neglect the people that are right in our life. Sometimes it's our people right in our very homes. We need to love on, we forget that because we get so wrapped up on serving, serving, serving. And I love that you talked about introverts because we're both introverts and it's only through the strength that we get from Christ that we do the work that he calls us to. Truly the work that I'm doing the shifting towards the retirement came about from learning, through Del Tackett in the engagement project. And he did that whole thing based on love your neighbor. And he talks about. Your physical neighbors that live around where you live. It's a beautiful, beautiful 12 week program and it's well worth every minute of it. But I thought when I was going through that, I kept thinking we spend more time with people in our workplace than we even do our families. Many times those people don't know Christ, they don't know how to trust God or that even Christians don't realize That that's a thing that deep relationship that we can have can be a reality. I grew up my whole life not knowing that that was something that I should be striving for. Right. And so, again, when we spend time in the Word we start realizing all of those things. I go back to the story of the man walking down the beach that encounters the young man throwing the starfish back into the ocean. And there were so many starfish and he thought, well, that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. He said, why are you doing this? Why, why even bother? There's so many, you, you can't make a difference. And the young man said, I made a difference to

18:41

that one.

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Yeah. I think when we look at what God's calling us to do, and we realize that we don't have to worry about anything beyond the person that's right in front of us in that moment, or that duty that he's called us to wherever we're serving if we just realize that that's all we need to worry about in that moment. It can change our entire perspective. Right. It's the one, isn't it? It's the one that is crossing our path. Yes. I love that. That's a beautiful story. Thank you. This has been lovely and we could probably go on all day, but I know that our listeners have other things they need to do today as well. You have a whole work built around this mindset in heart healing. If someone wants to learn more about what you are doing, how would they get ahold of you or how could they find you? They can go to my website, www. vanesstaspark. com. There is a T in Vanessta, V A N E S S T A, or they can find me on LinkedIn by typing in my name or Instagram. And I just started a YouTube channel. I'm an educator and I want to share my story and educate on YouTube with some lessons. So right now I started with shorts, but. Yeah I'll expand on that. And I have right on the screen there is an email to Vanessta at unique spark. com. They can email me and I'd love to help people with their mindset and heartset. It's a, it's a beautiful blessing from God when we bring who we were to him and he gives back what he intended us to be. And that's, that's a beautiful blessing from him. I love that. And I really think that that's an important thing to remember that he uses our gifts and our talents, all of our experiences. And he pulls from all of that our whole life to help us see how we can continue to serve him beyond the workplace. I think that that's a beautiful place to end this conversation. I just want to thank you so much for joining me today. It's just been such a blessing to me. And thank you, Vona. It's lovely to meet you. Thank you so much. You're welcome.

20:59

Identity is such an important part of this journey through retirement. And I hope that you will share this episode with some of your friends who may be also contemplating retirement or already be there. I also hope that you will subscribe to the show because there are many great conversations and ideas coming your way about how you can live in courageous retirement.

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Now I want to welcome you to what's going to be my favorite section or one of my favorite sections of the podcast, courageous retirement. And that is the section that I call a different view. You may know that a different view is the name of my first book, but it's also what I believe we, as Christians are called to do in that is to look at life from a different view. And today the scripture that I want to read is out of 1 Peter 2:9-10 out of the new living translation. For you are a chosen people. You are Royal priests. A holy nation. God's very own possession. As a result. You can show others. The goodness of God. For he called you out of darkness and into his wonderful light. Once you had no identity as a people. Now you are God's people. Once you received no mercy. Now you have received God's mercy. Now, I don't know about you, but sometimes I need to go to the footnotes to really get a grasp of what they're trying to say there. It says, people often base their self-concept on their accomplishments. But our relationship with Christ is far more important than our jobs. Success. Wealth or knowledge. We have been chosen by God. He has his very own. And we have been called to represent him to others. Remember that your value. Comes from being one of God's children. Not from what you can achieve. You have worth. Because of what God does. Not because of what you do. I feel like that's a great place to end this session identity.

22:57

Thank you for stopping by today. I am really excited to share this journey with you. Be sure to engage your faith and always, always live your more..