So a month ago we decided to surprise my brother for his 30th birthday by showing up in Newfoundland to celebrate with him and my family! The surprise was successful and he was so excited that we were there… but of course we had to take things one step further…
Read MoreMy dad mentioned a few months ago… “Ashley, a wife, a mom, is like the engineer of the home. You keep everything running smoothly, you set the atmosphere for your family.” And he ended his thought with a… “You can do it!” encouragement as he always has :P (A true “coach” dad!)
Read MoreToday I want to talk about two things.
TONE & DOORS.
TONE.
You get to set it. For your day, your week, your year. So get intentional! You’re in control here.
Read MoreWe all know a cake will only turn out WELL when the right ingredients are mixed in.
It’s important that we take the same intentionality as we do when preparing FOOD as when we’re preparing our actual DAY.
Read MorePeople constantly put labels on us, telling us what we can and cannot become, what we do or don’t have. People will label you “not good enough, too slow, addict, average.” Many times, these labels are not in agreement with what God says about us; but if we don’t know any better, we’ll wear them like they’re the truth.
It’s like when someone says, “oh they’re always late” you almost give yourself permission to be that person, because, well people think it anyway. NO, you be the first one there. SURPRISE people, don’t live up to their negative expectations!
Read MoreI read this week, “Give birth to what God put in you.”
We’re all pregnant (metaphorically) with something inside of us.
Psalm 7 says the ungodly “are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies.”
Let’s hope that’s not you or I, and if it has been, you can always make a different decision, to stop living that way and live in the light of goodness.
With God on our side, we’re not pregnant with trouble, with bad breaks, sickness, lack, or depression.
We’re pregnant with favor, with talent, with victory.
You may not believe that yet, but start speaking that over your life. The minute you get the thought that all that’s in you is negativity, hopelessness, confusion, start speaking the opposite, declaring the opposite over your life.
All through the day, keep saying, “Lord, thank You that I’m pregnant with Your promises. I believe conception has occurred.”
Perhaps your dream looks impossible. It’s been a long time, you gave it your best effort, and it didn’t work out; but deep down, you can’t help it—something keeps kicking, telling you that it’s still on the way. In God’s perfect timing, when everything is ready, you’re going to give birth.
Quit telling yourself that you can never get ahead, that you don’t have enough of this, enough of that. You are pregnant with success, pregnant with ideas, pregnant with your destiny. You’re going to give birth to what God put in you.
A Prayer for Today“Father, thank You that I can put away any worries and discouragements. Thank You that in Your perfect timing, when everything is ready, even what looks to be impossible will be possible with You. I believe that what You’ve started in my life You will finish. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
— Ash
We all hear this, but what does it actually mean.
Did you know that a traditional work week is 5 days but research shows on average only 2 are productive.
Work less & do more = get intentional with your calendar!
Having a planned routine of intentional activities is a lot more productive and less exhausting than an equally full schedule of mindless activities and business.
Creating a schedule and sticking to it is truly the only way to really evaluate where you are truly investing your time and gives you the opportunity to ensure that is aligning with your priorities and vision for life.
ie: something as simple as switching from checking my email every hour or mindlessly while waiting in line for my Starbucks and only checking my email twice a day 10:30 to capture anything that has come up in the morning that may need my immediate attention, and then at 3:00 when I can capture anything of priority that needs attention before the end of the day. This is WAY more productive and I’m checking less “working less” but doing more! I’m freed up to accomplish things when not mindlessly checking emails.
When I do check my emails, I have 30 minutes where it has my FULL attention and i”m not distracted in a different scenario from what I was doing in that moment like enjoying a morning coffee or devo. Having a schedule you stick to on your terms also trains others to be aware that you aren’t at their beck and call rather you are strategic and will get back to them at your strategic time so they don’t actually detract from something you may be doing FOR THEM on your scheduled time.
That’s just EMAIL. Imagine if we take that approach to everything that we do!
OTHER PRODUCTIVE TIPS:
Create your bucket schedule Monday to Friday and fill in the blanks with
1) What’s already scheduled today
2) What could I potentially do from my running list
3) What is most urgent and in line with my goals?
Do what takes most energy first and get it over with so it’s not disrupting the rest of your day in the back of your mind.
Sometimes procrastination is GOOD. “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow!” PRIORITIZE. Maybe it doesn’t have to be done today, so you can delegate it to a different day so you can actually do today what HAS to be done today. Procrastination actually means PRO - “forward” in latin and CRASTINUS “belonging for tomorrow” !
XOXO
Ashley
Time for some border control in life.
You know roughly where the lines is in various areas of your life, right? But would heads of countries be okay just kind of knowing where their border lines were? If they were just roughly drawn?
HECK NO.
It’s time that we start valuing our time, ourselves, our lives enough to but up some strict border control. Here are some categories to start with:
1) OTHERS CANNOT:
2) I HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASK FOR:
3) TO VALUE MYSELF & MY TIME, I CAN :
If you have a workout scheduled that is a part of your intentional “having it all” and a moms group invites your to brunch at the same time the day before, it’s okay to say you have an appointment.
I could give 1,000 examples of ways that sometimes we just allow others to determine the course of our days. We’ve got to keep strong against compromise or it will become constant and your intention setting we talked about on Monday was a royal waste of time. There’s no point in setting intentions if you are going to let anything and anyone push that of course.
It may seem like a little thing, and it’s only once, but then it’s twice and twenty times and three months pass and you’ve made no progress in any goals that you’ve set, and you’re not at all living the life that you set out to live, and you definitely don’t feel like you have it all.
Do it yourself chronic over achievers (like myself) want to crush any commitment they’ve made, but they make too many. Taking on more and more, and there comes a point when too many YES’S will crush you or dilute everything you’re doing.
Say the right no’s so you can say the right YES’s.
TIPS TO SAY NO.
Use an active voice: “I can or can’t” rather than “ I would or I might.” Use a 5 sentence rule. You don’t have to go on and on forever.
Thank you Sandwich: Be appreciative of invitations and opportunities, state what you are alternatively focusing on right now, and end with a suggestion for something that may work in the future, or if you want nothing to do with the invitation or opportunity, offer something of value, an idea contribution, a referral, or a compliment. And then be thankful again.
Gab union once said, I swear the second I learned to say no, that was the best anti-aging I could do for myself.
XOXO
Ash
Thank you so much for reading my blog. I hope you leave inspired! Explore all my content below!
