Today’s podcast episode is part of the 30 Days of Dangerous Hope Campaign. Grab your coffee and listen in as I share a personal story about how Hope Never Stops Learning.

“Something has to change, Mandy! We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result!” My coach’s words resonated deep within me on that evening of February 3, 2010.

I so desperately needed to hear what this multi-millionaire was teaching, even if it hurt my pride a little bit…okay, most of the time it hurt my pride a lot because I had a HUGE ego. My coach had the courage to tell me what I needed to hear in order to grow into the woman that God designed me to be. That evening, I learned more about myself than ever before.

One of roughly fifty students in an online accountability class, the time had come to stop sitting on the fence and get to work. This was a serious class with an investment of $2,000 and the possibility of getting kicked out if your homework wasn’t emailed in on time. The entire focus of the class was to help us develop our skills in business, debt, and time management. My stomach churned with butterflies as I dialed *2 on my phone to raise my hand and ask a question.

“Okay, Mandy Anderson…how can I help you tonight?” asked my coach.

“Well,” I started out softly—almost too quiet to even hear myself ask the question that, in my mind, seemed to have no answer, “I have a hard time managing my home business with my life and I have a tendency to make myself sick because I’m doing too much.”

Over the next several moments I explained how my life consisted of working full-time in a new position at a hotel and being stressed out because this brand new position was designed specifically for my skillset.  On top of all the “newness,” I wanted to keep building my home business ten hours a week. After taking time off from my home business because of a hospital stay a few months earlier, I was ready to dive in again head first and get this thing figured out!

“So, what you have is a very stressful full-time new job that requires a learning curve,” my coach began to explain. “You just got out of the hospital because you wore yourself out and stretched yourself too thin.  Prior to going into the hospital you were working forty hours a week plus an additional eight to ten hours per week on your home business. So…eight to ten hours per week plus forty hours per week equals two weeks in the hospital. Do you see the recipe?”

Honestly, it had never occurred to me to look at the recipe before.

No one had ever taken the time to sit down with me and point it out.  (And this is where I hope your ears are perking up. Have you looked at the recipe of your life lately? Something to think about!)

“So you got out of the hospital and now you want to go BACK to ten hours per week!” My coach exclaimed with a compassionate chuckle that eased the tension and confusion oozing out of me and into the phone line. “We still have the full time job, still have CF, still have ten hours per week and we still have a tendency of doing that to yourself! Something has to change, Mandy! We can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result. You are a beautiful, intelligent woman and never in a million years would I have ever thought that you had this thing—CF—going on with your body. So here’s what we’re going to do…”

She went on to help me craft a schedule. One that was doable for my lifestyle while still wor...