The Next Right Thing

Our lives are endlessly complicated and our decisions are almost always laced with layers of nuance which is why it's always a challenge (one I love!) to create episodes about decision-making. Is it possible to share principles, perspective, and simple frameworks that are helpful no matter who you are or what decision you have to make? I say it is, or at least I try.   Today I've curated the top 10 episodes to listen to if you're carrying a particular decision right now and could use some practical help to make it; a decision-making starter kit if you will. Listen in.   Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 167: Spiritual Direction for Beginners Episode 32: Stop Collective Gurus Episode 70: The Best Time to Make a Decision Episode 109: Wait Until the Morning Episode 113: Decide to Decide Episode 136: Decision-Making for Slow Processors Episode 172: Make These 2 Lists Now Episode 196: Why Your Pro/Con List Isn't Working Episode 162: Is It Time to Move On? Episode 168: Is It Time to Dream Again? Episode 174: Is It Time to Quit My Job? Episode 121: How to Discern and Decide Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this episode at emilypfreeman.com.

Today’s conversation is between me and you—because today we celebrate 200 episodes of The Next Right Thing! What a gift it has been to be a small part of 200 of your Tuesdays. For the first time, I'm hosting an Ask Me Anything where you asked questions and I say words about my dream guests, my limited parenting advice, what the P stands for, and if I've ever thought about quitting. Listen in.   Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 187: State of the Podcast 2021 Episode 115: Before You Decide, Halt Episode 189: How to Use The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Episode 172: Make These Two Lists Now hope*writers online writing community Episode 106: Let's Talk About Disney's Frozen 2! Episode 185: Why Makers Struggle to Get Things Done Episode 71: Let Time Be Your Friend Episode 103: Look for the Children What Now? by Ann Patchett Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this and every episode at emilypfreeman.com.

May this simple reading of Psalm 27 be a reflection you can return to as you discern your next right thing in love. This reading is from the Common English Version of the Bible. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Psalm 27 Other episodes like this one: Psalm 139, Read Psalm 23, Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this episode at emilypfreeman.com.

Today I’m joined by a writer who deeply understands what it means to live life on autopilot, chugging through the day "on fear and caffeine." As it turns out, that life is a train to nowhere and Shauna Niequist decided to get off. I’m happy to sit down with her to talk about writing, connection, and her next right thing. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Learn more about Shauna on her website and Instagram Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet by Shauna Niequist Laura Tremaine and Shauna Niequist talk about journaling Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript for this, and every, episode at emilypfreeman.com.

A lot of us are looking for our truest words these days. We’re taking the hymns and choruses of our childhood faith, the verses we have memorized, our adolescent optimism, our adult commitments, our 2020 cynicism and our 2021 exhaustion and we’re holding them all up to the light. We have thrown some things out. We are holding on for dear life. In the sifting, there's sure to be some mix-ups. If you can relate, this episode is for you. And for me. Listen in.   Links + Resources From This Episode: Walking in Wonder by John O'Donohue Find Annie F. Downs online here and on Instagram here On the Brink of Everything by Parker Palmer To Bless the Space Between Us by John O'Donohue Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this and every episode at emilypfreeman.com

It's the list we all know to make when we're stuck in the decision-making process. There are helpful things about the pro/con list but we all know they don't work all by themselves. This type of list could be a good starting point, but what do you do next? I dedicated The Next Right Thing to anyone who's ever made a pro/con list in the middle of the night. If that's you, listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Gilmore Girls: Season 3, Episode 17 (Netflix) Let Your Life Speak by Parker J. Palmer Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman

What do we do when we wish we were different but struggle to make a change? What do we do when a thing we’re good at (that is sometimes good) is also a thing that is sometimes trouble? Every strength has a shadow side and sometimes gifts come with burdens to bear. If you wonder what to do when your best gets the best of you, listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: Friends University's Master of Arts in Christian Spiritual Formation and Leadership Learn more about the StrengthsFinder assessment The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri Nouwen Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this and every episode at www.emilypfreeman.com

She believed that life was a series of unlimited choices, until she discovered at age 35 that her body was wracked with cancer. In the years that have followed, Kate Bowler has wrestled honestly with the reality she has been handed and the terrible advice she’s received along the way, like that everything happens for a reason. Hers is a voice I never want to stop listening to and in her new book, No Cure for Being Human, she is honest, vulnerable, and delightfully human, saying the words we all know but are sometimes afraid to say: that life is beautiful and terrible, full of hope and despair and everything in between. I’m delighted to sit down with Kate to talk about that and the truths we need to hear. Listen in.   Links + Resources From This Episode: No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler Learn more about Kate's work here Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this and every episode at emilypfreeman.com/podcast.

If you need to get in that autumn state of mind, today's episode is for you. Maybe the season has caught you by surprise or you're feeling a little off but don't know why. It's time to clear the summer mind-clutter and move into fall like a soul minimalist. Listen in.   Links + Resources From This Episode: Episode 181: A Soul Minimalist's Guide to Summer Simplify by Joshua Becker Becoming Minimalist Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this episode at www.emilypfreeman.com.

It’s a short trip from helpless to hopeless, just a shuffling of a few letters and you’re there. If you've been struggling to hold on to hope over the last few weeks (or years), then today's episode is for you. Listen in. Links + Resources From This Episode: La Foce Order The Next Right Thing Guided Journal Grab a copy of my book The Next Right Thing  Find me on Instagram @emilypfreeman Download a transcript of this and every episode at emilypfreeman.com.