From Missed Goals to New Beginnings: Embracing Intentional Living S4E67

Have you ever felt like life is just slipping by, month after month, without you truly living it?

In this episode, I'm opening up about my own experience of feeling overwhelmed and how my perfectly planned August turned into a whirlwind of unexpected events. I’ll share how I navigated through the chaos, what I learned about the importance of intentional living, and the steps I’m taking to ensure my life aligns with my true calling. 

Join me as I explore how to take control of our time, refocus on our goals, and live a life of purpose.

Key Points/Topics Covered

• My experience of unmet expectations and the reality of unexpected changes
• 3 tips to achieve more success in your career & life
• Why being intentional with our time is crucial
• Setting weekly goals and reviewing them daily to stay on track
• The power of taking small, consistent steps towards big dreams
• Using CliftonStrengths to rediscover and leverage personal strengths
• My invitation to you to join the "Discovering Your Calling Academy" Fall Cohort

Inspiring Quote

"If we aren't intentional about our lives, they will just sneak by, just like the summer does."

Are you tired of letting life slip by?

If you’re ready to take control and start living up to your true potential, join me in the Discovering Your Calling Academy Fall Cohort. Visit my website to learn more and apply.
Let’s not let another day go by without making the most of it. Take time this week to enjoy a sunset, connect with friends, and be intentional about how you spend each moment. Together, we can live up to our fullest potential.

Mentioned in this episode:

Full Focus Planner 

Finding Focus: Why I’m Taking a Break to Recharge and Write My Book. S4E66

Transcript

UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT 

Speaker 1 00:00:00  Hey friends, welcome back to the Discovering Your Calling podcast. I'm your host, Sheri Miter. And today, as we're flipping the calendar to September, I'm excited to get back to creating insightful podcasts for you. And in today's episode, you're going to hear my story of how my August went. And let's just say it wasn't what I had hoped for. All the things that I had shared that I was going to do in the last episode that you may have listened to didn't all happen. And in fact, I thought of making this podcast title where the heck did August go? And just in case I'm not alone in feeling like the summer and life just keeps going by faster and faster. I'm here today not just to share my story of how my August went, but I'm here to leave you with some action steps to help you take control of your time and live more intentionally. live aligned with your calling. So if you're ready to start living more intentionally and stop letting life just flip by like the turn of a page of a calendar, make sure you tune in to this full episode.

Speaker 1 00:01:15  Starlin put the intro here. So can you believe that it's already September? Like, where did the summer go? And again, if you caught my August 6th episode, the last episode I recorded this summer, you know that I had big plans for this month. For the month of August, I'm recording this August 31st if I sound confused, but I had hit had decided, purposely decided to hit the pause button on all other work in August to focus on resting and writing. And I had this picture in my head of what August would look like. You know yoga on the beach. Long and productive writing sessions, peaceful sunsets, and plenty of time to enjoy all of the other, other wonderful things summer has to offer. But here's the reality of what it really look like. The rough draft of my book isn't finished, and the only rest I got was from a summer cold that left me on the couch for a week watching Netflix and playing Wordle. Not exactly the restful, productive month I had envisioned.

Speaker 1 00:02:29  Now, it wasn't all bad. We had some wonderful visits with family and friends. I did manage to complete four chapters of my book, which, by the way, I'm going to share a little preview of next in the next episode of the Discovering Your Calling podcast, so don't miss next week's episode. We did catch some beautiful sunsets and heard some local bands, but you know, as we're about to change into this new season, I can't help but notice that I didn't make it to that yoga on the beach, and I'm still chasing that renewed feeling I was hoping for. And you know, I recently told my husband, Tom. I recently told my husband, Tom, that I feel like the key to actually doing all the things we imagine in our heads that we want to do is to be super intentional about fitting them in. We can't just think about doing them. We have to be deliberate in our actions. Can you relate? I mean, did your summer just fly by too? Or has your whole entire life been feeling like this lately? And if we aren't intentional about our lives, they will just sneak by just like the summer does.

Speaker 1 00:03:49  And I don't know about you, but I don't want another month, year, or even a week to slip by without living up to my purpose and calling. I don't want to waste any more precious time not living up to my true potential. Now, I know that it's not what you want either. Or you probably wouldn't be listening to this podcast. So whether you've been dreaming of starting that side hustle, creating lasting memories with your family, finally taking that yoga or dance class, maybe it's just enjoying sunsets with a glass of wine. Or maybe you have big dreams of stepping away from a career that leaves you feeling burned out and bored, and creating a life that feels fulfilling and free. But you know, all too often, despite having all these big visions for our lives, one day rolls into another. Weeks turn into months, and before you know it, years have flown by and we're still stuck in the same place. But what if you could change that? Now, we can't slow down the hands of time.

Speaker 1 00:05:00  I wish we could. But what if you could be super intentional about your career, about your life, your dreams, and your purpose? Now, as I thought about all of this, I came up with three action steps that I'm going to take. And maybe you might just want to grab on to these as well. Number one is create a weekly intentionality plan and also review your progress daily. So have weekly intentions and review the progress towards those intentions daily. So you could start each week by setting specific intentions of how you want to spend your time. Identify the top 3 to 5 things. Yes my friend 3 to 5, not 10 to 20 things that you want to accomplish or experience that week Whether it's related to your career, your personal life, or your self-care. And remember 3 to 5, not 10 to 20. This will help in making sure you're not just going through the motions, but actively prioritizing what matters most. So, for example, you could take 15 20 minutes every Sunday night to plan out your week.

Speaker 1 00:06:21  Write down the key things you want to achieve, and block out time on your calendar. That's key to make sure they happen. So whether it's working on a passion project, scheduling time for family, or even just making space for relaxation. Being intentional about it is key and getting it on the calendar so that it will happen. Now, I personally love to use the Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt, to help me stay on track. And they also really help you focus in on just 3 to 5 main goals and have show you where you can plug it into your calendar. So be intentional about planning your week. Step number two is take one small step daily towards those goals. Whether it's your passion project, side hustle, or whatever you wrote down above. So even though I wasn't able to devote as much time on my writing as I had hoped, I learned the power of taking small steps every single day towards my book. Do you have a dream to start that side hustle this year or passion project? Maybe you've been wanting to start your own blog or hobby, but you feel like you can't because you don't have the time.

Speaker 1 00:07:45  So think about what's the one small step you can do daily to work on it? Now, I used to think if I didn't have two hours to sit down and write. I couldn't do anything. But my writing coach told me to never go to bed without writing at least one sentence, and another writing coach I like to follow. Shelley hits. Shelley hits. Hits if you want to look her up, shares the power of writing 15 minutes a day. And when I took her challenge to commit to 15 minutes daily for five days in a row, I was shocked at how much I could get done if I focused on little chunks of time. Now I'm high focus from from my cliftonstrengths, so my preference is always going to be longer chunks of time. But I am amazed at when I don't have that space that if I just say, okay, I don't have two hours, but can I do 15 minutes today and commit to at least 15 minutes minimum each day? How much can actually get done? So instead of thinking that you don't have time to do anything towards these goals you have for your life.

Speaker 1 00:08:57  What can you do that will take you 15 minutes or less and just surprise yourself and what you can accomplish in daily activity? The third tip I have for you today is identify and leverage your strengths in your current role. So take the time. What does this look like? This would be taking the time this week to reflect. So make this one of your top 3 to 5 projects. Okay, so take the time this week to reflect on your top strengths, those things that come naturally to you or make you feel energized. Whether you have done the formal assessment like Cliftonstrengths, you know I'm passionate about that and recommend you do. And if you haven't yet, just think about that through self-reflection. What things come naturally to you and make you feel energized Then find ways to incorporate these strengths more intentionally in your current job, your side hustle, or your daily activities. This step will help you align more closely with your natural talent talents, which can lead to greater success and set the foundation for building your ideal career.

Speaker 1 00:10:14  So, for example, once you've identified what those top strengths are. Think about how you can leverage those strengths in your current role or even a side project. So for instance, if you're great at connecting with people, how can you bring more of that into your work? So how can you connect with others this week and be very intentional on that? And when you start aligning your daily tasks with your strengths, you're already taking the steps to are creating your ideal career. Even if it looks like just staying in your current job. So I did these things this past week. I had what I like to call a come to Jesus business meeting. And it was one of those moments where I get, you know, real with myself and real with God. And during that time, I was inspired to review my Cliftonstrengths report. And as I did that, it reminded me of my purpose. And as I reviewed my own strengths, I read these things about myself based for my Cliftonstrengths report that I love to help others see things differently.

Speaker 1 00:11:36  I love to inspire and to prevent people from losing their hope and confidence. My report reminded me that I need to spend time with visionary thinkers, that I need to be bold and courageous and to stop being average. And by the end of the meeting it was very clear that I, along with finishing my book, I need to run a new Discovering Your Calling cohort, because that's where I get to use my gifts to help you use your gifts. So, my friend, if you're ready to be bold and courageous and intentional about creating your dream career and life, if that's something that you're thinking about as part of those 3 to 5 goals that you have for yourself, whether it's working towards a fun and fulfilling side hustle, finding a purpose driven career that aligns with your dream life, or just learning how to use your strengths to fall in love again with your current career. I want to personally invite you to join me for the Discovering Your Calling Academy fall cohort. Inside this academy, we will take a 90 day journey to together, and all while learning what makes you unique and how to fully utilize your talents to create a career that not only are you highly successful at, but it gives you fulfillment along with a life you love.

Speaker 1 00:13:06  We marry the two together. Really, it's marrying the three together. Your strengths, your career and a life you love. So I want you to imagine for a moment, my friend, stepping into 2025. Because you know what? We're going to flip the entire year sooner than you can imagine. You know how quickly August went by. The next few months are going to fly by as well. So what have we got really intentional this fall so that you could be stepping into 2025 with clarity and a strategy to make the changes necessary to live the life of your dreams. No more wandering through life and letting time slip slipped by for you. So as I'm wrapping this up, if you are ready to be intentional about your career and your life, let's connect. And let's just see is the Discovering Your Calling Academy right for you? And are you a fit for this next cohort? Because I'm very picky about who I want to work with. So if you're curious, head to my website. It's just Sheri Miter co comm s h e r I'm I t e r c o comm one r and Sherry one I and Sherry an mit e r code comm so Sheri Miter co com.

Speaker 1 00:14:31  And on that website you can read a little bit more about the Discovering your calling Academy. It might just be for one on one right now. But believe me the fall cohorts coming soon. Or better yet, let's book a call or send me a message right from the website and let me know that you're ready and you're just curious to know more. I'll also put the link in the show notes. And my friend, as we wrap up this episode, I hope that you can take some time this week to savor a sunset, laugh with some friends, and just truly enjoy these final few days of warmer weather here in the United States. And let's just be intentional about the time we have left this year, and make sure that we're living up to our fullest potential. And until next time, keep discovering your calling and I'll see you next episode. Where again, I'm going to share some actual notes from the Discovering Your Calling book. So it's like a sneak peek not only at the book, but the actual steps that you'll learn inside the Discovering Your Calling academy.

Speaker 1 00:15:40  I can't wait to see you and possibly hear from you this week. Have a blessed when my friends.