(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
(0:00 - 1:39)
Before we talk about September, I want you to do something most high-achieving people are remarkably bad at doing. Look backward. But I don't want you to do so in order to criticize yourself or dwell on every little thing you could have, and maybe even should have, done differently.
Instead, I want you to look back long enough to notice something. You aren't standing where you started. Something has changed.
Maybe your circumstances haven't changed much, but perhaps your clarity has. Maybe you've stopped pretending something isn't working because it isn't. Or perhaps you finally named what matters.
Maybe you've made a decision you've been postponing. Or perhaps you've created a much-needed boundary. Maybe you've asked for support.
Maybe you're simply more aware of the life you don't want to keep living on autopilot. Believe me, that counts. So before we rush into what's next, let's acknowledge what's already happened.
Welcome to Goals and Grace. I'm Rev. Dr. Juliet Spencer, Certified High Performance Coach. I'm known as the Decision Architect because the life we're building is shaped, one decision at a time, by what we choose to give our time, energy, courage, and attention to.
(1:40 - 2:22)
And today, we are completing our Clarity to Commitment, a Late Summer Reset Series. There's something about September that feels like a second January, at least to me. School begins, schedules start to settle, summer begins to wind down, and routines return.
And suddenly, we get this feeling, okay, now I'll get serious. I want you to approach September as though everything before you was experience that mattered. In other words, you're not starting over.
(2:22 - 5:19)
You're starting somewhere new, today, from experience. You know the things today that you didn't know at the beginning of the summer. You've learned something about your energy, your priorities, your relationships.
You now have a better understanding of your capacity, your habits, and your limits, maybe even your faith. Wisdom is not pretending the past didn't happen, but it is allowing what happened to inform what happens next. And remember and celebrate what God has already done.
Throughout Scripture, God's people are repeatedly told to remember. Remember where you've been. Remember what God has done.
Remember what you've survived. Remember what you've learned. In Joshua chapter 4, the Israelites cross the river Jordan, and God tells Joshua to have 12 stones taken from the river.
They're set up as a memorial. Why? So that when future generations ask, what do these stones mean? There'll be a story to tell. The stones weren't the miracle, but they were the reminder.
I think we need more stones, don't you? Obviously not literal ones, although if that's your thing, go for it. I think we need markers that remind us, that tell us, hey, I made it through that. I learned this.
God was present there, and I felt it, and I knew it. Over here, I was braver than I thought, and I made a decision I didn't think I could make. I've changed.
Because if you don't intentionally remember your growth, you'll keep moving the finish line and convincing yourself you've never arrived anywhere. Some people resist celebration because they think it makes them complacent. They think, if I celebrate now, maybe I'll stop pushing.
But I think the opposite is true. Celebration gives meaning to effort, and it lets your mind register, hey, that mattered. You kept the boundary, so celebrate it.
You had the difficult conversation, celebrate it. You rested instead of trying to prove how tough you were, celebrate it. Hey, you made that appointment.
You sent the proposal. You started walking or returned to prayer. You said no when everything in your being felt compelled to say yes, even though you knew you shouldn't.
(5:19 - 5:36)
You asked for help. You made that decision. Celebrate it, my friend.
Celebrate it because something is different. Now let's turn towards September. I want you to finish this sentence.
(5:37 - 6:10)
September is the month I . . . September is the month I . . . what? Finish what I started, protect my health, create margin or launch that project. Maybe it's to rebuild my morning routine or have the conversation I didn't already have. Perhaps it's about becoming more consistent or maybe you'll finally stop apologizing for the boundary you set.
(6:12 - 7:35)
Perhaps it's reconnecting with God consistently. Maybe you'll choose joy consistently. Maybe you'll choose joy, not wait for it to happen, but choose it.
What is September about for you? Whatever it is, I want you to finish the sentence. September is the month I . . . Make one clear declaration that gives your decisions somewhere to organize themselves. Clarity reduces the number of decisions you have to make repeatedly.
If you've already decided September is the month that you protect your health, then when choices arise, you have a filter. If something isn't going to help you do that, then the answer is no. If September's the month you finish the manuscript or you reclaim your evenings, you have a filter.
You're not having to say, what do I do? What should I do? You're asking, which choice supports the decision I've already made. That, my friend, is decision architecture. Here's where we need to distinguish between wanting something and committing to something.
(7:36 - 8:01)
I want things all the time, but if you're like me, nothing is really going to happen until you commit. Instead of saying, oh, I hope this happens, commitment says, I have decided to participate in making it happen. That doesn't mean you control every outcome, of course, because you don't.
(8:02 - 8:27)
Faith has never promised us control, but you do have stewardship. You can steward your time, your attention, your words, your habits, your energy, and your choices. Proverbs chapter 16, verse 9 says, the human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.
(8:28 - 10:02)
I love the tension in that verse. We plan, but God directs. Those are not opposites.
Faith doesn't eliminate planning, and planning doesn't eliminate dependence on God. We make wise decisions with what we know, and we remain attentive to God's leading, and we hold our plans with open hands. And as you've heard me say before, if you get no clear direction from God, if you ask, should I go right or left, and you don't hear a thing, then I'm convinced that means God can work with you no matter which direction you turn.
So here's how we're going to close this series. I want you to continue after that first declarative sentence, in which you say, I declare dot, dot, dot, whatever September is about. Second, I celebrate dot, dot, dot, what has already changed during this reset.
And third, I commit dot, dot, dot, what specific action will make your declaration visible. For example, I declare that September is the month I protect my health. I celebrate that I've stopped treating exhaustion as evidence that I'm working hard enough.
(10:03 - 11:07)
And I commit to protecting three mornings each week for exercise. Now that's clear. Or you might say, I declare that September is the month that I finish what I've been postponing.
I celebrate that I finally admitted how important this project is to me, and I commit to working on it from 8 to 10 every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Declare, celebrate, commit. Over these last few episodes, I've been talking more about a phrase I've begun using to describe my work, the decision architect.
And I want to tell you why it matters to me. Architecture isn't about making one beautiful decision. It's about understanding how decisions fit together.
One choice becomes a habit. Habits create patterns. Patterns shape days.
(11:08 - 11:34)
And days become years. And eventually we look around and realize, wow, we've built a life. Sometimes intentionally, and to be honest, sometimes accidentally.
But that's why decisions matter so much. But I also want to leave you with the other half of the message. Your value is not determined by the quality of the life you've built.
(11:35 - 11:48)
You are not more loved by God because you have an impressive calendar. You are not more worthy because you're more productive. And you're not more faithful because you've achieved more of your goals.
(11:49 - 12:20)
You don't lose your identity when you make a bad decision. And can I hear a hallelujah from someone? You do not lose your identity when you make a bad decision. But everyone deserves the opportunity to make a good decision.
And your decisions become clearer when you remember this. Your identity is rooted in the love of God. You make decisions from that love, not to earn it.
(12:21 - 13:05)
That's the grace in Goals in Grace. We pursue growth. We practice courage.
We build discipline. We take responsibility. And we make better decisions.
And through all of it, grace reminds us that our worth was never the prize waiting at the finish line. It was already ours. So sometime before September 1st, find a quiet place.
Take out a piece of paper and write, I declare, I celebrate, I commit. Fill it out and then sign your name and date it. Pray over it.
(13:05 - 13:28)
And tell one trusted person what you've decided. And then stop endlessly reconsidering. Just begin.
You don't need perfect certainty or perfect clarity. You certainly don't need perfect conditions. You don't need to know exactly how the entire month will unfold.
(13:29 - 14:48)
You need enough clarity to make the next good decision. And then enough clarity to make the next one. And then the next one.
That's how we build. I want you to know how much it means to me that you have joined me for this clarity commitment, a late summer reset. My prayer is you don't simply arrive in September with a longer list.
I want you to arrive with greater clarity and purpose and a calendar that reflects what matters. I want you to protect the energy you'll need because you deserve it. And I want you to have people beside you who have the courage to support you.
And I want you to have one decision you're ready to keep. I'm Reverend Dr. Juliet Spencer, the Decision Architect. Protect what matters.
Finish what you start. Make the decision your future self will thank you for. And always, always leave room for grace.
I'll see you in September, and may God bless you with goals and grace.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe. Go Unlimited to remove this message.)
