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Live Lead Last is a weekly podcast hosted by leadership coach, nonprofit director, and entrepreneur James Duvall. Designed for growth-minded leaders, this show helps you live by design, lead with purpose, and leave a legacy that lasts.
Through honest conversations, practical tools, and real-life stories, James equips leaders to develop strong roots, sustainable influence, and lasting impact — both personally and professionally. Whether you're leading a team, a business, a ministry, or a family, this podcast will help you become the kind of leader others want to follow.
James: [00:00:00] What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't your ability but your belief system? You know, so many of us live under self-imposed ceilings. Beliefs we never consciously chose, but we still carry them. Beliefs like, I'm not ready, or I've messed up too much, or I should be further along by now. Today, we're gonna break that cycle because what we believe determines how we live and how we lead, and ultimately what we leave behind.
Hey friends. Welcome to the Live Lead last podcast. I'm your host, James Deval, and I'm so glad you're tuning in. So If you're an entrepreneur, a business leader, a coach, or a creator who wants to grow with intention, lead with integrity, and just the overall level up your performance, this podcast is for you.
See, I believe that leadership isn't just about achievement, it's about [00:01:00] alignment. And through our live lead last framework, our desires to help you go deeper, to live with purpose, lead with clarity, and last with a legacy that multiplies your impact.
And here's the truth, you don't rise to the level of your intentions. You actually fall to the level of your internal beliefs. And the sneaky part is that most of those beliefs weren't consciously chosen. They were inherited, imprinted or internalized.
They're picked up from our past experiences, family dynamics, religious expectations, or personal failures. We often confuse inhibition that internal, I can't with prohibition, external rules, like you must not.
And as leaders, we pile on the shoulds and oughts without questioning where they came from. But here's the invitation. You can rewrite your story. You can create a belief system rooted not in shame or survival, but in truth, freedom, and forward movement. I remember a season where I felt like I was stuck in quote unquote almost. I was [00:02:00] doing good work leading people, but deep down I was haunted by this low hum of you should be more or you ought to be further.
I was exhausted, not from the work, but from the internal dialogue that kept telling me I wasn't enough. That's when I started using the tool of personal declarations, not as a motivational gimmick, but as a deliberate rhythm to rewrite my inner narrative, a new script, a new belief system, and I've watched it transform how I live and lead.
You know, belief systems are formed in layers, childhood experiences, trauma, culture, maybe church messages, winds, and wounds. And many of us are leading inhibited lives, not because we lack skill or passion, but because our root system is tangled in false, outdated narratives.
But scripture offers us a different lens. It's full of declarations made over people. Think of people like David and Gideon and Peter. [00:03:00] You know, none of those declarations were based on what they had already done. They were rooted in who God said they would become. Proverbs 1821 says, words kill, words, give life.
They're either poison or fruit. You get to choose. And if you wanna live deeply, you have to plant the right roots. And that starts with the words we speak over ourselves. A good friend of mine, Greg Gorman, always says What we contemplate, we gravitate towards.
that's why your internal dialogue always shows up in your external leadership. The stories you tell yourself in quiet moments will shape the decisions you make in loud ones. That's where personal declarations move from. Personal growth, the leadership strategy.
When you start your day declaring, I am a courageous and creative leader who multiplies hope in others. That's a pretty powerful statement. You're not just journaling, you're aligning your identity with your vision.
I try to [00:04:00] read my personal declarations out loud every morning. Not because I need a pep talk, but because my words are forming, my future Legacy isn't built in public, it's actually built in private. Think about that. We think about the big things that people do, but True legacy is built in the private.
Places of our life. It's not the platform moments or performance metrics that define your impact. It's the small, quiet disciplines that no one sees. There's a book I read a long time ago by Joshua Medcalf called Hustle, and he makes a statement. He makes a statement.
He says greatness is 3% of what everyone sees under the bright lights, and it's 97% your hustle in the dark. Often when your dreams feel so far off, they seem like fairytales, but those who shine the brightest, they've been hustling in the dark the longest, usually while the world waits for the big break.
See that hustle in the [00:05:00] dark? That's where declarations do their work. Before the fruit ever shows up, the roots have to go down deep. You don't build a legacy by performing louder. You build it by believing truer.
What starts with your mouth becomes a reality in your mindset and eventually in your legacy. So if you're ready to rewire your belief systems, I wanna give you five steps to begin creating your own personal declarations for your life,
Because the truth is they need to be for your life, the vision of what you see for yourself. My declarations are not gonna help you become the person that you're meant to be. [00:06:00] So the first step is this, choose the areas you want to grow or transform in.
Ask yourself, where do you feel stuck? What roles or rhythms need to shift? I like to use the six Fs, faith, family, fitness, fun faculty, which means your work and finances. Of those areas, where are the places I'm feeling stuck, that I want something different for my life?
So think about that for yourself. Write down the areas you want to change. The second step is to craft your declarations thoughtfully. Now, here's how to build declarations that actually reshape how you think and live. First, you wanna [00:07:00] make them personal.
These are for you, not for me, or anyone else. So always start with I. Secondly, make them present tense. Speak as if it's already true, even if it's not, begin speaking it into existence. I am or I will. The third thing is to make them positive. I wanna encourage you to use big, bold, audacious words, language that's empowering. This is not the time to play small. Remember, these declarations are for you. So if they seem outlandish, that's okay. You're the only one who's declaring them over yourself, then I wanna make sure that you make them descriptive.
You wanna paint a picture of how this belief plays out in real life. How does it look when you live it out with intentions? Don't just say that I am something, but describe what that action is or what it looks like when you live into that [00:08:00] declaration. And then finally make them meaningful. You wanna point out the outcome of living that declaration.
How does this impact your relationships? How does this impact your finances, your mindset, your leadership? So let me give you some examples from my own personal declarations of how these steps sound. So I'll start with this one. Here's one of my declarations. I'm a growing follower of Jesus Christ.
I intentionally invest in my relationship with Jesus every day. I prioritize time and God's worth. I pray every day I come expectantly the church, the fellowship with God's people. I know that I'm only made complete through Jesus and I don't rely on my own strength, but I trust Holy Spirit to guide me through life.
So that's a declaration about my spiritual walk. Here's one about my declaration to be a husband. I'm a great husband. I'm passionately in love with Lisa, and I intentionally look for ways to cherish her by taking advantage of opportunities to serve her, surprise her with unexpected gifts and plan special experiences.[00:09:00]
And Lisa, she esteems me and is deeply in love with me as her faithful soulmate.
When you make your declarations both descriptive and meaningful together, the how and the why, give your declaration both clarity and emotional weight. If it doesn't stir something in you, then keep working on it. Rewrite it until it does, okay? Here's the third step. It's important to store them where you can access them easily.
Maybe use notes or something like Evernote. Keep them printed in your journal or on your desk or in your Bible. The truth is, if you can't find them quickly, you won't use them consistently. The fourth step. Read them daily, speak them out loud, preferably in the morning. Let them shape your mindset before the demands of the day do and don't hesitate to use them in hard moments.
You know, when doubt and insecurity and those inhibitions start to play with your mind, pull 'em out and use them to fight against discouragement. This is a tool in your toolkit to continue to [00:10:00] lead yourself and become the leader that you want to be. And then the fifth step is this. Be on the lookout.
This is important. You're gonna start noticing small confirmations, maybe open doors or new energy, emotional shifts, timely encouragement, better relationships. See what you focus on becomes what you will find. And that's just not some inspirational fluff I just came up with.
It's actually brain science. See your reticular activating system or your RAS, your RAs is the brain's internal filter. It decides what information makes it through your conscious awareness. And think about what trains the reticular activating system, what you think about consistently, what you expect, what you declare.
It's why when you decide you wanna buy a red Subaru, you suddenly see red Subarus everywhere. They've always been there. You're just now tuned in to notice them. See declarations don't just change how you feel. They change [00:11:00] what you see and that's the magic. They reprogram your reticular activating system to look for alignment, confirmation, and opportunity. That's why you gotta keep speaking them, even when they feel so far off and distant from the reality that you currently experience.
Because the more you declare, the more you begin to perceive and move toward the life you're becoming. I've created a simple PDF that will walk you through these steps that I love to send to you. All you need to do is go to liveleadlast.com/declare and I'll send that to you. And I wanna make sure that you also know about the free five day leadership reset, because if you're feeling stuck, worn out, or just need fresh vision for your leadership, this is a free resource I designed to help you realign your priorities, refresh your perspective, and renew your energy in just five days, and you can start that today by going to liveleadlast.com reset You may not know, but I also have a weekly email called Rooted. It has [00:12:00] practical tools to help you grow deeper and lead stronger. You can text the word Grow to 6, 6, 8, 6, 6 to sign up for that. And if we're not already connected, I'd love to connect with you on Instagram or LinkedIn. Just search for the James Duvall.
Finally, if you found this content helpful, it'd be a huge blessing if you would rate, review, and share this episode with another leader who needs it. Your shares help us reach more people and keep equipping leaders to live and lead with purpose and integrity. So thanks again for listening. Until next time, live deeply, lead boldly, and last intentionally.