Monday Morning Mindset with Christie
In this Monday‑morning devotional, Christie Renee Hawkins opens the Fall Sunflowers workshop and the launch of her online community, Tribe. She frames the week’s work around mindset, emphasizing that 80 % of outcomes stem from our thoughts and only 20 % from skill. Drawing on a recent business conference, she describes three internal “voices”: the questioning brain, God’s creative calling, and the resisting enemy that fuels fear. Christie argues that fear loses power when acknowledged, brought into the light, and met with action, and she supports this with multiple Scripture passages (Romans 8:28, Isaiah 12:2, Philippians 4:6, Psalm 56:3, Deuteronomy 31:8). She affirms that creativity is a God‑given trait in every person and positions herself as a guide to help women discover and trust that inner artist. Practical teaching advice follows: focus on the learning process rather than the final product, give oneself grace, use video replays to learn at one’s own pace, and lean on the supportive sisterhood of Tribe. The talk concludes with encouragement to enjoy painting, trust the process, and join the growing community of women who have transformed through art.
Chapters
Hey, good morning. We are gonna do a little Monday morning mindset this morning. This is going to be the first part of my Fall Sunflowers workshop, but I'm actually posting this devotional on the Social Easel page as well because I figure everyone needs a little Monday morning, uh, motivation, right? So, um, couple things I just want to go over, um, this morning before we start our week off of launch. Doors are open, um, to TRIBE, and this is the, the kickoff of that celebration. But I wanted to, um, start this morning and this week with a little bit of a, um, I guess, reminder of how important our mindset is. And, um, how important it is to not let fear control our decisions. So I've got a little bit of a devotional to give you guys this morning, and also just want to share from my business conference that I got back from last week. This was a message that was given to us there, and as I was listening to it, I thought how appropriate this was not only for us in business, but for those of you that may be joining me this week and trying something new, um, learning how to paint. It can be intimidating sometimes, and sometimes, um, fear and doubt can creep in, um, to our mind and, and control our actions. And one of the things I always say is that action stops fear. Fear. So most of the fear that we, um, that we have or that we think about, most of those things are never going to come to fruition, right? Like, there are things we think up in our head and all these worst-case scenarios, um, and the longer we leave those thoughts and those fears there to grow and pester in the darkness, right, that's what happens. But as soon as we bring light to them, As soon as, um, we acknowledge, like, yes, I'm a little nervous, yes, I'm a little fearful, but I'm not going to let it control me— as soon as we bring it to the light, it loses its power. And then as soon as we take action to do that thing that we're scared of, all of a sudden that fear disappears. And a lot of what was shared with us at the conference, which I just think is, um, it's just crazy for us to think about, right? No matter what it is, that new skill we're learning or obstacle that we come up against in life, whether it be painting or work or whatever, 80% of it is all in our mind. 80% is controlled by our mindset and 20% is controlled by our skill set. So if only 20% is controlled by our skill set, and if you're relying on me as your painting and art teacher this week to give you those skills, then that 20% is taken care of, right? But the other 80% is what's going on in our head. And, um, as we were talking about this at the conference, you could see the whole room— there were 5,000 attendees at this event— and in that room, every single one of us is nodding our head saying, yes, I've been there, yes. And what he talked about was the difference of like hearing the voices in our heads, right? And I know that sounds kind of crazy when you're saying it, but we're gonna, we're gonna explain what those are. But the 3 voices in our head is: one, our brain is asking questions, right? We're like, can I do this? Am I going to be able to? And we're figuring out our way through it. The second voice we have is our calling, or God's voice. And he is the one guiding us and giving us direction, reminding us of truths. And one of those truths is, is he is the original creator, and God created us in his image. And if we believe that's true, then we must also believe that he gave us that creative ability. And that is what I believe. And I believe that all of you that paint with me, the thousands of women that I've taught over the last 10 years, most of those women, over 95% of them I would say, maybe even a little bit higher, had never painted before painting with me, or maybe like did back in high school or elementary school, right? But, um, most of them had grown up with this thought like you're either born an artist or you're born creative or you're not. But I actually believe that God instilled creativity in every single one of us. We were called to create. That is part of our human nature that he gave us. And I think for most people, um, it's just finding that inner artist inside of you, right? Like, it's tapping into that creative part of yourself that maybe you haven't found yet. And that's where I'm hoping that I can come in and help be that guide for you. That's what I feel like my calling is, is to share my love of art, share my love of painting with you, and to help you overcome these hurdles of fear or, um, you know, scared of failure, all of those things, and just remind you that you actually are a creative. It is instilled in you, and my hope is to help bring that out of you. And then, um, the third voice And sometimes the, the loudest, the one that we hear the most, is the resistance, right? You can call it whatever you want— resistance, the devil, like, you know, all the negative thoughts in your head. And think of it as like the enemy, right? So we have, we have God, we have our calling, and we have the enemy. And he likes to deal in absolutes. He likes to say, we're not ready, or you're not worthy, or you're not capable, or you're not good enough. And he berates you, right? So we just have to be aware, aware of those different voices, and then having the discernment to decide what we choose to follow. And, um, that's what I'm hoping to help you overcome this week. And I was just going back through my scripture and, um, and my notes and my journaling, just reminding me when those— when that negative— when that negative starts entering your head, I want you to stop, and I want you to hold that thought captive, and I want you to ask yourself, do you think that that is coming from God? Because God is love, and he's only going to bring you love. He's only going to share truth with you. And God says he did not give us a spirit of fear, but he gave us a spirit of power and love and self-control. And he told us to be strong and courageous. But here's the thing, we can't do it alone. So much time we spend trying to figure everything out on our own or doing it on our own instead of relying on him. And so when we start to feel that way and, and scared of failure, that's when We have to trust in him and trust that he wants what's best for us and that he's going to provide for us, and that we just need to kind of sit back, take a deep breath, and relax knowing that he is on our side. In Romans 8:28, he says, for I know the plans— um, I'm sorry, and we know that for the love, um, 'For those that love God, all things work together for good, for those called according to His purpose.' And I'm gonna skip over to a couple different verses here. Isaiah 12:2 says, 'I will trust and not be afraid,' because fear is a normal tendency of ours. But again, it's kind of just about holding it captive and taking that fear, um, just as, um, David did. And I'm gonna go into that a little bit, but taking that fear and bringing it to God and learning to trust him when fear arises in our life. And in Philippians 4:6, he says, do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, with prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And just that reminder that whenever we start feeling those anxious thoughts, that we can take those to him and ask him for his strength and ask him for his guidance and what it is that is causing us fear right now. And I'm going to read from— this is Sarah Love, Jesus Lives is the name of this devotional, um, and I love it because it has sections on, um, like this one is called Fear. You can see that. So, um, and there's some on trust, and there's, um, there's some on thanksgiving and assurance and brokenness. So whatever it is that you're going through, I love this devotional because you can go to specific verses, um, that will help you during that time. But this one is about fear, and, um, it says, I myself go before you, opening up the way. I will never leave nor forsake you. Therefore, you do not need to be afraid or discouraged. I realize, though, that feelings often fail to submit to logic. Don't be surprised when your emotions rebel against your will. David, who was a mighty warrior and a gifted poet, expressed fearfulness, trembling, and even overwhelming horror in one of his Psalms. Yet his trust in me was genuine and deep. His life and his writing demonstrate that fear does not trump Trust. They can coexist. That is why David could proclaim, 'When I am afraid, I will trust in you.' Trust is a relational word. It's one of the prime ways you can draw near to me. When you are afraid, don't blame yourself for having a very human emotion. Instead, acknowledge what you are feeling, then affirm your trust in me out loud or in a whisper. The affirmation protects you from the lie. Remember, because Because fear is a liar. The affirmation protects you from the lie that feeling fearful means you don't trust me. Even better, it brings you consciously into my presence where you can find comfort and hope. The light of my presence illuminates the vast dimensions of my love for you, empowering you to grasp how wide and long and high and deep my love is, and to know that this love surpasses knowledge. Um, Psalm 56:3 says, when I'm afraid, I will trust in you. Deuteronomy 31:8, the Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid and do not be discouraged. So I hope that, um, kind of helps give you some peace this morning. Sorry for the dogs barking. If I thought it would be nice to come out here this morning and hope it starts your week off. I hope it's a little reminder to hold those thoughts captive. And as we start this week of, you know, opening the doors to Tribe, I'm gonna be teaching inside my Fall Sunflowers workshop. I'm gonna be sharing with you over on the Social Easel page as well. And you're gonna be learning new things. And I just want to remind you, one, to give yourself grace as you're learning something new, that these are just skills that you're going to learn, no different than when we learn anything else in life. And it's normal to be a little bit, you know, apprehensive or nervous taking on something new, and you're wondering if you can do it. And maybe it's worked for other people, but it's not going to work for me. Again, those negative thoughts in your head, let's, let's take hold of those and push them away. Because as long as you follow my lead, as long as you follow the steps that I'm going to put before you each step of the way as I teach you how to paint, each time you take action, that fear starts to dissipate and you'll start to trust the process of learning to paint more. You'll start trusting me more and you'll see that, um, the other women who are painting along with you, um, are going through the exact same feelings and thoughts and emotions that you are as well. Um, and so I hope, um, that fear starts to dissipate and you start really learning to not— my biggest encouragement for you this week, and as you are learning to paint, is to not focus on the end product, right? Because I think that's what gets in a lot of people's heads is they're like, well, is it going to look like Christie's? How's it going to look at the end? Mine's going to look terrible. You know, all those lovely things that we say to ourselves and worry about. Um, and one, I don't want it to look like mine. I want it to look like yours. I'm going to teach you the techniques that you need, um, to learn how to create your own piece of art that speaks to you and, um, and your your artistic, um, side coming out, right? And I want you to really just focus on enjoying the process of learning how to paint. Don't think about the end. Stay in the moment as we're going through the steps and, um, just remembering to give yourself grace along the way and to take your time with it. Um, the videos that I will be sharing this week, um, you will be able to go back and watch on replays, um, through the 10th, um, when doors close to Tribe. So, um, my recommendation for you, um, whenever you're learning to paint with me is to always kind of watch and hang out with me, um, first, and then go back and watch it on replay so that you can pause it, rewind it, um, go back if you need to and take it at your own pace. That immediately lowers the stress level, um, so you're not feeling like you have to keep up with me. So, um, I hope that's an encouraging note for you this morning, and I just want you to have fun. We're gonna be, um, doing lots of fun things, um, over the next 9 days, um, as the doors to Tribe are open. We're going to have a lot of fun, and you're going to learn a lot of new things. And I hope you fall in love with painting and fall in love with the process and, um, want to join a sisterhood of the other amazing ladies that are a part of our tribe. Because, um, what we have found— Tribe itself is 5 years old, and in that 5 years I have seen so many women grow and so many women change, and seeing what painting can do in someone's life. It's not just about painting, it's about taking time for you, it's about proving to yourself that you can learn something new, um, that we never stop learning. Um, there's always a chance for you to do something new. And, um, I just— I hope you— I hope you have a lot of fun, um, along the way. So everyone have a happy Monday, and, um, you will see me soon. All right, I'll talk to you guys
