Creating a Life with Freedom
We just celebrated Freedom and Independence (I hope you had a blast with your family!!) And while we’ve been celebrating freedom, I’ve been reflecting on what freedom means in my life and the lives of my clients.
Around here, we talk a lot about finding harmony with your family, faith, and career, but what does that even mean? If I could sum it up in one word, it’d be freedom.
Freedom to choose who we work with. Freedom to set our own hours and take off when we want to. Freedom to give and take with our family and friends.
Are you creating a life that is free from overextending, over-working, over-committing, and underperforming? How do we even do this?!
I’ve seen firsthand how the chaos of life can easily suck us into getting caught up in those little tasks that keep us overwhelmed, stuck, and stagnant in our career, family, and faith.
So, let's focus on FREEDOM! Specifically how to cultivate a daily rhythm that allows you to make decisions that are best for you and your family. No one has time to be a slave to chaos and clutter, right!?
Here are 4 key elements that have helped me truly live a life of freedom:
1. Budget Time
I became acquainted with time blocking when my son was a baby and I was working on my direct sales business. At first, I tried to be a mom AND business owner all day long. I was constantly juggling and using “mental gymnastics” to think about both priorities. And at the end of the day, I felt angry at my baby for crying so much and angry at myself for not getting anything done.
It didn’t take me long to figure out THAT was not the kind of “harmony” I was looking for!! LOL
So, I took a step back and decided to try something different. I noticed that Glendon was most content late morning and through lunch, so I picked that time to focus on my business and pay attention to him as needed. Then, I could put my work away for the rest of the day and focus on his needs and the other household chores that I wanted to take care of. Or even go out for a play date!
When I set up these general and wide time blocks it gave me the freedom to focus on work for a portion of the day and then forget about it for the rest of the time! And, it was the same with my “mom duties”. Of course, I was not neglecting his needs, but I could give him less attention for a few hours and then really concentrate on his needs when it was necessary.
Those are strategies that I’ve carried forward into today.
2. Create Routines around important tasks
Think of one thing that you have to remind yourself of every day. The mental energy it takes for you to remember that every day is stealing your freedom!! Can I share a secret with you??? There’s a way to gain mental freedom and that is to set up a routine around that task!
It is as simple as attaching the desired task to something that you already do every day (or every week).
For example, want to drink more water? Drink a glass of water every time you finish your cup of coffee.
Want to look at your goals every day? Put them in a note on your phone and look at them every morning right after you check your social media feed. (I know you’re doing that already. Amiright??)
Want to find time to pray? Do it in the shower, girlfriend.
You see?? Make it easy! Want some more inspiration and ideas? I highly recommend the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I love this book so much I’ve hosted multiple book clubs and used it in the Mastermind! It’s going to be a classic. I’m sure of it.
3. Have clearly defined goals in the most important parts of your life and look at those goals everyday
Personally, my goals help me to stay focused on what’s important and not get distracted. They also allow me to make adjustments and have grace with myself.
I’m a pretty task-oriented person and can get lost in the TO-DO list easily. My goals help me remember what my priorities are and when I include relationships and personal goals, I’m sure to make time for them!
Let me share a scenario that’s happened with several of my clients:
My client is a business owner. Their business is growing significantly and is meeting all of their expectations. It’s a success! All of this business success has overtaken time with the family. They are a loving and devoted parent and think that scheduling time with family is weird and should just happen naturally. But, guess what, it's not!! So, we set a SMART goal together (more about that here). This goal helped my client get specific about what they wanted the relationship to look like. Then, I suggested that they intentionally block time on their calendar to spend with the children. They were hesitant at first, but willing to give it a try for a couple of weeks. My client scheduled time to leave early from work once a week and scheduled donut dates every other week. At our next session, they reported success!! The child was in HEAVEN and the parent felt so good about the growth in a relationship that they committed to it indefinitely.
4. Keep re-aligning yourself to the Source - keep relationship with God at the forefront
Psalm 119:45 "I will walk about in freedom for I have sought out your precepts."
One of the most powerful yet underrated things we can do is invite God into our everyday life. When we partner our time, skills, and resources with His divine timing and power, we are setting ourselves up for true freedom.
It’s easy to “visit” with God on Sunday morning and during our daily prayer before dinner and much more difficult to invite God into our daily activities--to abide with Him in the everyday.
It starts with the foundation of a strong personal relationship with the Lord. Then, we lean on his guidance to build our vision. Finally, we invite Him in the day-to-day work of bringing that vision to fruition. Where are you on that journey? Do you need to work on the foundational relationship? (And, yes, we all need to keep that going and strong.) Or, have you taken your vision for the future to prayer and meditation? And then, you can use your daily goals and schedule as part of your prayer time and lean on the Spirit for guidance of where your efforts will be multiplied and bless the Kingdom.
If you’re finding yourself leading an overextended and unnecessarily busy life, please schedule a coaching chat with me!
I’d love to sit down with you and help you map out your personal plan to help you be more strategic and disciplined with your time so that you and your family can live a life of freedom!
Coach Selena