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This is Goals and Grace with Certified High Performance Coach, Rev. Dr. Juliet Spencer. One practical framework and a faith truth to cut overwhelm and claim your calling. Ready to lead with love, not depletion? Let's go.
You're standing at the refrigerator again, door open, cold air on your face and your mind running 12 tabs at once. And in that tiny pause, you feel it. That quiet pull to handle one more thing for everyone else, instead of the one thing that would actually move your life forward.
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If that's you, you're not behind, you're overloaded. And today we're going to fix that. Welcome to Decision Fitness.
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This is where you train how you choose under pressure so you can fully commit to one clear priority and clear the rest. Here's your anchor for this entire series. From the Gospel of Matthew chapter five, let your yes be yes and your no be no.
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This isn't about productivity. Jesus wasn't giving a time management tip. He was calling people into integrity because every time you say a soft yes, you create a silent no somewhere else.
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So this week we do something different. Your yes becomes real. Your no becomes clear and your life starts to align with what actually matters.
Let me make this real for you. Earlier in my career, I sensed that God was nudging me to show up more publicly, to teach beyond the walls of a church building, to encourage people in everyday life, to use social media for something deeper than noise and scrolling. But honestly, I kept putting it off.
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I told myself I needed a better plan, a better setup. I needed more knowledge, more clarity, more time. And meanwhile, life stayed full.
Ministry was busy. People needed things and every day felt important. But then COVID happened and suddenly people were isolated, anxious, overwhelmed and hungry for connection.
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That's when I finally started Thoughtful Tuesdays as a Facebook Live. Was it polished? Not even close. I didn't have studio lighting.
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I didn't have a professional set. I wasn't sitting there thinking, wow, this is going to build a platform. I just showed up consistently.
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One Tuesday at a time, one encouraging message at a time and one imperfect step at a time. And what I learned is something that I wish more high capacity women understood. Clarity often comes after the movement, not before it.
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You don't think your way into confidence. You build confidence by taking action before you're fully ready. Because the real danger isn't imperfect action.
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The real danger is spending years waiting for a perfect moment that never arrives. And that showed me you don't need clarity to start. You get clarity because you start.
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And that's what I want for you this week. Because here's the truth about where you are right now. You're not stuck because you don't care.
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You're stuck because you've been saying yes to too many good things. Your energy is scattered and your calendar is full, but not aligned deep down. You already know what matters most.
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You've just been delaying the decision. So we're going to make this simple. There are three moves.
That's it. You only need three moves. Number one, choose the priority.
Not three, not a category, not get my life together, but one. And here's how, you know, when you've chosen it correctly, it makes you feel a little uncomfortable. You've been avoiding it.
And if you move forward, everything else would feel easier. I'm going to say that again. It makes you feel a little uncomfortable.
You've been avoiding it. And if you moved it forward, everything else would feel easier. So say it out loud.
This week, my priority is and don't leave it vague. For instance, don't use this week. My priority is to work on my business.
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Make it specific. For example, you might say this week, my priority is to finish and send my proposal to X client by Friday at noon. You need a finish line.
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You can see when I got ready to do goals and grace, I was thinking it would be months out, but instead I said, Nope, two weeks. I gave myself two weeks because I knew that a longer period wasn't going to make me better prepared. I just had to start.
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Was it flawless? It's still not, but confidence comes when you start. Number two, name the five needle moving actions. Now this is not busy work.
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It's not organizing your desktop or your desk for that matter. It's the five things that would make you say, yep, I actually moved this forward. I'm guessing you already know them.
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They're probably the ones you keep avoiding. So write them down and here's your rule for the week. When you feel overwhelmed, you don't pick a new task.
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You come back to your list of five. Step three, pause what doesn't serve it. This is where your life starts to change because it's where you stop being available for everything.
So here's your bottom line. Use it exactly like this. I'm focused on an important priority this week.
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I can revisit this next Wednesday. You don't over explain and you don't apologize. You just lead.
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Now let's talk about what will happen when you try to do this. You'll sit down to work and suddenly feel the urge to do anything else to check email, to respond to a message, to do something easier, to do something that is a little bit of escape. That's not a time problem.
That's a decision muscle problem. So here's what you do in that moment. You pause, drop your shoulders and take one deep breath.
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And when you do say to yourself, I'm here, I'm focused, I'm moving what matters. Then set a timer for 10 minutes. Start the first action on your list.
That's it. 10 minutes, because 10 minutes will break the resistance and it will create momentum. And then you can set your timer for 40 minutes.
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And from then on, I recommend setting a 50 minute timer. I find that not only for me, but research shows that if you set your timer for 50 minutes and work in a concentrated fashion for those 50 minutes, you will be stunned at how much you can accomplish. Take a break for 10 minutes, stretch, get some water, preferably go outside for a second, come back in, set the timer for 50 minutes more.
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Now here's something that most people skip and it does matter. When you complete one of your five actions, don't rush to the next thing. Pause, stand up, smile, and say, Hey, that's like me.
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I finished as my friend and mentor Forbes Riley says, I finished as expected because right now you're not just getting started. You're getting things done. You're becoming someone who follows through.
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In other words, you are keeping a yes to yourself. Now you might be thinking, but if I focus on one thing, everything else will fall apart. It won't.
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What falls apart is the illusion that you can carry everything at once. What actually improves? Your presence, your energy and your peace, because now you're not reacting to your life. You're leading your life.
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And there's one more voice that's going to show up when you're asked to do something. It's the one that says, who are you to say no? But let me answer that for you. You are the person entrusted with your calling and stewardship requires selection.
You don't honor your calling. Your goals, your ambition by saying yes to everything. You honor it by choosing what matters most and protecting it.
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So here's your simple plan for the week tomorrow morning. I want you to write your one priority and list your five actions. Then block two 25 minute sessions or one 50 minute section either before each of the two or before your one, set your intention.
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And during that session, focus on one action only. When you finish it, or when you finish the portion of it that you have determined will occupy that time block, check it off and then celebrate it. Give God thanks for clarity and for the strength to follow through.
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If you do this for a whole week, then at the end of the week, you'll notice that you're not measuring perfection. You're asking, did I move the one thing that matters? Because that's how trust in yourself is built. That's how you're able to trust that your yes is yes.
And your no is no. You don't need more time. You don't need a better system.
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You need a decision that honors what God has already placed in your heart. And if you're listening to this and you're thinking, I know exactly what my priority is, but I'm still not doing it. That's where coaching changes everything because coaching doesn't just give you a plan.
It strengthens your ability to make clear decisions, to follow through under pressure, to lead your life instead of reacting to it. And if you're ready for that kind of clarity and consistency, I'd love to walk with you this week. Let your yes be yes.
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Choose the priority and take the first step today. You don't need permission to begin. You don't need the perfect window to honor what's most important.
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You need a truthful yes, a courageous no, and one first move today. That's decision fitness, my friend. That's you training your choices to match your calling.
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Thanks again for listening to Goals in Grace. If this is helpful to you, I'd love to hear from you and I hope you'll share it with a friend. And if I can help you with coaching, please feel free to book a free 25 minute coaching call today.
The link is in the show notes. Be well, my friend, and may God bless you with Goals in Grace.
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