Summary
Do you ever wake up feeling like you’re already on the back foot? You have so much to do that you are only looking forward to crawling back under the covers at the end of the day. Or maybe you have a lot of things on that never ending to do list and it’s a headache trying to prioritize it all?
In this episode Sasha shares 4 easy steps that can be done each morning to prioritize your day in a way that leaves you focusing on your top priorities, giving your first fruits to God, and leaving yourself available to divine appointments.
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Want to support our adoption journey by making a tax deductible contribution to our matching grant via Lifesong online at https://give.lifesong.org/lifesong/10121-ff or via mailing a check payable to “Lifesong for Orphans,” with “#10121 Robertson” on the memo line of the check. Please mail to: PO Box 9, Gridley, IL 61744.
Transcription
0:03
Hello sisters and welcome back to another episode of the Intentional Abundant Life Podcast. I’m your host Sasha Star Robertson and I am super excited to bring you this episode today where we are just simply talking about prioritizing your day in four easy steps. And let me tell you, there are only four and they are easy. And we can all do this. We can all do this in a matter of minutes every single day. And we’re going to bring the Lord into it and it’s going to be fabulous. But first I want to do this jingle and then we are going to share some personal bits of information of course.
0:49
Jingle
1:16
All right, so before we jump into today’s episode, I just have to share with you guys how incredibly excited I am because my husband and I have been approved for a matching grant on our adoption journey. So if you’re listening to this in real-time, and you’re just following along in the podcast, as episodes come out, you know that we are in the midst of our second adoption journey to grow our family. And this is huge news. Super, super cool, because it actually has come like the same week that during our first adoption journey we found out that we were adopting twins that were matched with. And my dog just dropped her bone. So sorry if you’re hearing all this background noise.
2:34
But super, super cool news. So it’s a matching grant and what that means is there is a generous donor out there who has said for every dollar we raise up to $7,000. In our adoption journey, they are going to match it dollar for dollar up to $7,000. And so that’s incredibly huge. That’s about 50% of the cost of our adoption through the agency fees and the finalization costs that are expected through our attorney. That’s not counting, you know, other incidentals through the home study and medical stuff and travel, if that ends up being necessary. But again, just a super, super huge blessing.
3:22
So if this podcast has impacted you, if you follow me on social media, if you’re in the community, if you have received value through any of my free workshops or anything like that, and God is putting it on your heart to make a contribution. I don’t make anything for this podcast. I don’t have any sponsors. I don’t have any ads. I don’t get paid anything for the information or value that I put out here. And so if you’ve been impacted by and God is calling you to give in anyway. This is a way that would benefit our family. So incredibly much and again, every dollar is going to be matched. And so your $1 it turns to$2, your $5 turns to $10, your $100 turns to $200, and it would be such an incredible blessing to our family. So I’m gonna drop the information in the show notes where you guys are able to just easily click and give online if that’s something that you want to do.
4:23
I also want to let you know that I am leading another free workshop coming up next Tuesday. This is Tuesday, August 9. And it is a free workshop talking all about 10 powerful hacks for living intentionally as a multi-passionate or busy Christian mom. And this is something that I had actually prepared for a local women-in-business. luncheon networking luncheon here locally that I attended last week and it was such a powerful, powerful talk. I got such high praises in response to it. Even a local House representative was there and he’s your speech both the delivery and the content was absolutely incredible. So many great tools.
5:20
And I know that the women who are listening to this podcast, who are in my community, who are in my circle of influence are just going to be able to gain so many hacks and tools and just real-life application for living intentionally. And so I want to deliver this to guys totally for free. It’s going to be taking place in the community. If you want it on that. Again, the link is in the show notes. I’m not only giving you these powerful hacks, I’m giving you worksheets and time to be able to implement some of them that very day. So that’s going to be taking place at 6 am Alaska time Tuesday, August 9, you do not want to miss out. Okay, now we’re jumping into these four easy steps for prioritizing your day.
6:10
Number one is to begin your day with Jesus. And I think this is so powerful because not only does it go from these faithful foundations that we’re wanting to build everything on that cornerstone right? Not the shifting sand but the cornerstone that is Christ, making sure we’re building everything in our lives and in our being off of that. We’re wanting to give Him the first fruits of our day and we go to Him again. I say this over and over and over again. I love this quote from Tara Lynn St. Aileen. We go to him for his presence, for sitting in his presence, for that relationship with Him. Not for the presents as in the gifts but that is what we get. Right? So I want you to pray over your to-do list and your schedule every single day.
7:04
I love this quote by Martin Luther and I shared it last month on one of the podcast episodes about reasons to get quiet – right – reasons to have quiet time with God daily. And in the quote, he says I have so many things to do today. I cannot afford to not spend three hours of my morning in prayer. I’m paraphrasing, that’s not the quote exactly. There are probably a few words rearranged in there. But it’s so incredibly important because when we let Him guide our steps, there could be something on your to-do list or on your schedule that doesn’t need to be.
7:52
And by praying and giving him those first fruits or allowing him to show us those divine appointments. And if we’re too focused on what we have planned before us, then there’s a good chance that we might be missing those divinely scheduled appointments. And I just want to encourage you in that, that it helps you live in awareness. It helps you live in the gift that is the present moment of our lives. Not constantly looking forward not constantly looking for more, but in current awareness. So number one, begin your day with Jesus.
8:38
Number two is to review your schedule and your to-do list. This is something that I think we can often look over and it kind of stems from that praying over it, right? Praying over your to-do list and your schedule is creating the time for you to review and asking yourself are the things on my to-do list and on my schedule today? Are they the things that are in line with the life I am trying to create? Are they in line with my values? And are they necessary and/or life-giving?
9:19
There have been many times I and my clients have gotten a little wrapped around the axle clinging to something on our schedule that if we take a moment to just slow down and look at it and pray over it, we can see that this is not that big of a deal. This is something that can easily be put off at a later time. It’s something that could be delegated. Or it’s something that perhaps we don’t really even need to be doing it. But sometimes once it’s on the schedule, it’s just like it’s there to stay. Right? And we’re hell-bent on continuing forward sometimes without asking these questions. So really take a few moments. When you pray over your to-do list and your schedule and review it.
10:14
Number three is to state your intentions for the day. And intentions are kind of this like growing off of your intent right your purpose. What are you determined to do? And I love to think about like the overall outcome of the day, right? Like, what’s pressing about this year or the season of life that you’re in? What’s pressing about this month that you’re in, and what’s pressing about this week that makes this something that’s pressing that I am like determined to do today? A good example of this is this adoption season that I just mentioned at the beginning, right? We’ve been on this journey for, goodness, I think we’re coming up on two years, two years in the second adoption journey. And it’s beginning to feel more and more real.
11:13
Like it felt real in January when we were like actually put up on the website and like presenting as a family and our first adoption journey we actually had three different matches with different expectant moms and their babies. And every single one of those took place within 30 days kind of like we’re up or alive on the website. People are looking at our profile book. We’re giving our yes and then we were picked. And then that fell through. We went back. We were giving our yes within 30 days. We were chosen again. And then when that fell through it was actually the first yes, that we put out was returned back and that’s our son.
11:58
So it has been seven months that we’ve been on the website and haven’t been chosen. And not that it’s a bad thing like I we are fully like this is surrender to God. It is in his hands. We know that. We’ve just given our Yes. And when a mother chooses us, when she feels like that is the best decision for her child, and wants to step into that relationship. We’re here for it. But it’s not like it’s not anything like the last time I’ll have to share a whole different podcast episode on adoption and, and all that kind of stuff. Right? But we are updating our home study. We might need to get new photos for the website because it’s been a year since we did that in our profile book. And you know from a two-year-old to a three-year-old massive changes happen, mostly in the hair department for our son, height-wise as well, and his baby face is going away a little bit.
13:02
Anyways, I digress. So we got approved for these adoption grants. And we’re like, oh my goodness, we need to start doing fundraising so that you know, the funds we raised can be matched and updating the home study and just all this other stuff. And I feel like before the end of the year is like this feeling that I’ve been like, I don’t know, I don’t maybe it’s a download right? Maybe it’s God saying that before the end of the year we’re going to be placed with a child but this week we’re updating our home study. Last week we were approved for this adoption grant. It just feels like this is the season right?
13:42
So what is pressing on my values and my family and in my life, right? What has been very real in this season, in this month, in this week, and what things about that are my intentions for today? And one of those things is to email about the adoption grant. I have like three different people in this approval email we found out late Friday. And so one of my responsibilities today, one of my intentions today, is to go through an email back each of the people that I need to in response to that grant to move forward with the steps of reaching out to the fundraising opportunities that this grant organization gives us access to and to take the steps in getting one of our adoption platforms listed. And so all these things have to do with this one adoption grant that’s relevant for this adoption season. Something that’s pressing this week, pressing this season.
14:58
So when you’re thinking of your intentions, stating your intentions for the day, what are the top three things that you need to accomplish today? Right if you can verbally state them out loud, verbally and preferably to an accountability partner. For me right now my accountability partner is my spouse. We do this together four days a week. Every morning, we get up together, we pray together and we state our intentions to each other. And it’s not listing off of these are all the things I need to do today. I’m gonna start with my quiet time and then I’m gonna do this. No, it’s not like reviewing your to-do list, it is stating your intentions. These are the three things I’m going to do today.
15:51
Okay, and then number four is don’t hesitate to shift or pivot your plans. This is not coming from a place of laziness or fear, or lack-mindsets, right? I think sometimes we can say oh, you know I’m going to shift or pivot my plans because I’m just tired today or I just need a mental break today. Or coming from a place of like shiny object syndrome, like, oh, well, I’m just going to ignore this thing on my plate. While I go pursue this other thing. Scope creep, really not important. It’s not coming from a place of that. When I say don’t hesitate to shift or pivot your plans, I’m saying to make yourself available to a friend that might need a shoulder or hand. Make yourself available to those divine appointments that God has in your day. Make yourself available to your spouse and your children. The number-one priorities in your life. And I want to encourage you to focus on remaining present in a state of awareness of your needs, your family’s needs, and God’s pushes and pulls.
17:15
Okay, so in recap, number one, begin your day with Jesus. Number two, review your schedule and your to-do list. Number three, state your intentions for the day. And number four, don’t hesitate to shift or pivot your plans in accordance with what your family or you need or those pushes and pulls from God. Before we jump off. I just have to share with you one last bonus because who is Sasha if she’s not here to overdeliver right? This is something that I’m also going to share, so your workshop has now become not 10 hacks but only nine and if you’ve already got the life goals planner, you’re already familiar with this process, but do a brain dump as needed. This is not something that I do every day, nor encourage my clients to do every day.
18:13
But some of those days where you might be feeling a little overwhelmed or just need a little bit more space to organize like all the things that are floating around in your brain or your to-do list or on your schedule, or whatever else. Do not hesitate to pull out a piece of paper or use an app like workflowy. Again, link in the show notes because it’s probably my favorite app currently. Use workflowy or just a sheet of paper and dump out everything that is on your brain. Everything that is just floating around, creating mind drama and mental Clutter and chaos and overwhelm. And then once it’s all out of your brain, and somewhere else, you can use tools like the four DS, the rubber ball versus glass balls, the peace versus chaos. There are multiple different tools, color coding systems, and things that you can use to then organize that information in whatever way works best for you.
19:12
And all these tools and worksheets are available in the Life & Goals planner. If you don’t have it, grab a copy. And some of these worksheets are also going to be available in the 10 hacks for intentional living. That is coming up next Tuesday. So be sure to be in the community and gain access to all that. Alright, sisters, I pray this blessed you I pray is going to help you live more intentionally and prioritize your day using these four easy steps and the bonus hack.
More about your Podcast Host
Sasha Star Robertson is an Intentional Living & Biblical Mindset Coach for busy Christian moms, wife of 13 years to her best friend, boy mom (blessed by adoption), travel addict, and Jesus freak. She is the founder of The Intentional Abundance Co., curator of the Life & Goals Planner, & host of the Intentional Abundant Life Podcast.
Would you benefit from having a coach helping you live Productively Peaceful days digging into Faithful Foundations, Purposeful Priorities, Mindset Mastery, & Simple Selfcare? This question is rhetorical, everyone would! Schedule a consult with Sasha to learn more about the IAM Coaching Program and to see if you’d be a good it. https://calendly.com/intentionalabundanceco/iamconsult
Desiring Community?
You’re invited to join us in the Productively Peaceful Moms Club over on facebook! It’s a safe space where we can show up vulnerably and encourage each other, where ere share the mission of being the best mommas we can be through the grace and strength of Jesus Christ, where we encourage consistency and are able to hold each other accountable. We share scripture and talk about podcast episodes and pray for each other and set goals and so much more! You’re more than welcome here, you’re wanted here! https://www.facebook.com/groups/IntentionalAbundance
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