Kent Sanders

Reflections on Writing & Creativity

Podcast: Chasing Dreams in a Minivan (with Zech Newman)

December 20, 2018 by Kent Sanders | Leave a Comment

A dream is like a knife. It’s very powerful when you use it the right way. But if you’re careless with it, you can do a lot of harm to yourself and others. Today’s guest helps us view our dreams in the correct light so we can chase them in a God-honoring way that blesses our families and brings more value into the world.

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I’m excited today to be speaking with Zech Newman. He is a husband, father of three children, entrepreneur, author of Chasing Dreams in a Minivan, and a serial dreamer. Zech teaches others to chase their goals dreams in a healthy way.

On this episode, we focus on how to chase your dream in the correct way. Let’s face it—a lot of people who are “successful” end up losing their families. You’ll learn how to develop good habits, how to make your family a priority, and how to use your writing skills to expand your platform. Zech shares a massive amount of practical wisdom in this episode, and you’ll benefit from it no matter what type of creative work you do.

Episode Highlights

In this episode, you’ll discover:

  • Why Zech and his family hated his dream, and how that experience led to him writing Chasing Dreams in a Minivan.
  • How to know whether a dream is God-honoring or not.
  • Why so many kids believe their father loves their dreams more than he loves them.
  • What it means to “turtle up” by taking slow steps day after day.
  • Why Zech gets up at 4:30 a.m. to write, and what he is working on during the next two hours.
  • The benefits of running and exercise.
  • How men can start becoming more authentic and transparent.
  • The power of thinking about your goals over the long term.
  • How to expand your reach by writing for sites such as Entrepreneur, and how it can help you get speaking opportunities.
  • Why Zech creates daily 1-3 minute videos on his Facebook page.

Key Takeaways

1. Getting up early can change your life.

I love Zach’s idea of setting an alarm in the evening to signal that it’s time to start getting ready for bed. He has made a list of all the positive things that will happen because he gets up early, as well as the negative things that will happen if he doesn’t. I’m also intrigued by the fact that he spent 90 days developing a flossing habit to help him build an evening routine. I confess that I’m a recovering night owl and need to be more intentional about getting up early.

2. Don’t compare yourself to others.

Zech warned against playing the comparison game with others. This is difficult for creative people (including me!). We see other people’s gifts, talents, and results, and we wonder why we don’t have the same thing. Instead of looking at others’ success and being jealous, or even actively trying to discredit them, we should learn from them.

3. My favorite quote from the interview: “Action is a spiritual thing, just like prayer is.”

The more action we take, the more doors will open for us. It’s also easier to gain more momentum when we already have a little bit of it. Don’t discredit the value of small actions. What action can you take today to help you achieve your creative dreams? Maybe it’s writing a blog post, creating a video, or sending an email.

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