Episode description

Have you done those exercises where you write out your priorities or values? It is easy for me to put on paper what I care about, but where are my time and energy really going? 

In this season of survival mode for our family, we have really stripped away a lot of what we usually do, and it is easy for me to say that we aren't very consistent in things that I wish we were better at.

But as I sat pondering this one morning during my scripture study, I realized that I actually AM consistent at some things, even in survival mode, and those things are my true priorities. I wrote three different lists to help me get a more realistic picture of what I care about with not just my words but my actions, and then I evaluated and made changes from there. 

In this week's episode, I walk you through the entire process, using my answers as an example to get you started. Once again, I just used a Think and Process page in my Thriving in Motherhood Planner for this exercise.

3 Questions to Determine Your True Priorities:

1. What am I consistent at?

2. What am I almost consistent at but drop the ball quickly when things are hard?

3. What is done occasionally that you wish was more consistent?

Once you've written your lists, ask these follow-up questions to help you evaluate and make changes:

1. Is there anything obvious you would like to change?

2. Is there an easy swap from something that is more consistent that doesn't matter as much to something that is less consistent and matters more?

3. What needs more accountability?

4. What could you create a system around so that it doesn't require as much from you?

I realized that a lot of the things that I drop in a hard season, I am pretty good at picking up again once I have available energy. But there are some things that are done more occasionally that I realized I need to create systems around to give my kids more responsibility to be consistent in certain areas.

After going through this process, it clarified to me where I need to devote more time, energy, and resources to make the biggest impact on consistently living out our priorities.