Ep 58 - Emmanuel Acho: Uncomfortable Conversations, Illogical Advice, and Our Endless Horizons

The Paula Faris 'Faith & Calling' Podcast

These are wild times we are all living through, ripe with conflict and confusion. No matter the personal circumstances you’re up against, we all could use a safe space to talk about the issues on our heart – a space where shame isn't allowed.

This week’s “Faith & Calling” guest has a remarkable gift for navigating uncomfortable conversations and has become a groundbreaking change-maker in the process. Paula sits down with Emmanuel Acho, the host of the viral hit video series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man.” He’s also a former NFL player, current Fox Sports analyst, New York Times best-selling author and even starred as host on The Bachelor’s After The Final Rose.

Emmanuel takes Paula back to the moment he was moved to step into the middle of our nation’s most-heated conversation about race in America. Hear how the combination of seeing a need, turning inward and ignoring what everyone around him called “logic” led him to turn on the camera, pick up the microphone and invite others into a long-overdue uncomfortable conversation.

Turns out Emmanuel’s first episode of “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” would go viral – reaching 25 million views in just five days, catching the attention of big names like Matthew McConoughey and Oprah, who called him up to keep the conversation going. All this success and impact, he tells Paula, is directly linked to his ability to push doubt aside, channel a childlike faith and “act and think illogically.”

And that just happens to be the message behind his new book, Illogical: Saying Yes to a Life Without Limits, which hits stores today. Hear Emmauel lay out the vision and calling he felt to write this book with the reminder that our horizons are endless. Find out why he says how we talk to ourselves matters more than we know and why we need to be “dumb enough” to believe in the impossible. And if you’re feeling stuck, Emmanuel tells Paula what he thinks is often standing in the way of our ability to tap into our giftedness - and how you can uncover it, develop it and use it to change the world.

Two words for this episode: Buckle up!

Pick up Emmanuel’s new book, Illogical: Saying Yes to a Life Without Limits

Watch Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man on Youtube

Follow Emmanuel on Instagram

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