Episode 9
09 | No Time for Your Purpose? Try These 3 Steps to Take It Back
Are you ready to reclaim your time and live with intention?
Today, we’re diving deep into the importance of carving out time to discover your unique purpose. I truly believe that if we don’t intentionally set aside moments for ourselves, we risk living life by default—just going through the motions instead of embracing the beautiful design God has for us. I get it; life can be a whirlwind, and it often feels like there’s just not enough time to focus on what truly matters. But don't fret! I’ve got a simple three-step framework that will help you identify those sneaky time-wasters and redirect that energy into meaningful actions that align with your God-given calling. So grab your notebook and let’s get ready to ignite your purpose together!
I pray that this episode blesses and encourages you!
Michelle
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Transcript
If we don't intentionally set time aside, we'll end up pushing it off again and again and living life by default, not by God's design.
Speaker A:But he didn't create us to simply just go through the motions.
Speaker A:He created us to live with purpose, on purpose, according to the unique plan that he lovingly designed just for you.
Speaker A:Today, we're going to ignite your journey towards your purpose and carve out that time just for you.
Speaker A:I know how challenging it can be to find time in the midst of your busy life.
Speaker A:Juggling all the things family, work and everything in between.
Speaker A:It's easy to feel like there's just never enough time for what really matters to you.
Speaker A:That's why I put together a simple three step framework to help you take back your time and focus on your unique purpose.
Speaker A:These steps are designed to help you create intentional space in your day so you can start living the purpose you were made for.
Speaker A:If you're ready to block off that time and take action towards living out your purpose, grab your notebook and pen because we're about to dive in.
Speaker A:Are you ready to break free from feeling stuck, gain clarity and take steps towards discerning your unique purpose, all while following God's guidance to become the person he created you to be?
Speaker A:If so, you're in the right place.
Speaker A:Hello, I'm Michelle, a mom, wife, Catholic discernment mentor and spiritual coach who went from feeling lost and questioning my purpose to confident in my unique calling, using a Catholic based strategy to discern my purpose in life by hearing God's voice.
Speaker A:I want to help you do the same.
Speaker A:Grab your pen and notebook and get comfy, open your heart and mind and invite God in.
Speaker A:It's time to ignite your purpose and live the life God created you for.
Speaker A:Let's do this.
Speaker A:I completely understand how challenging it can be to find time for yourself.
Speaker A:In the midst of all the responsibilities we carry as moms at balancing all the things, the family, the work and everything in between.
Speaker A:It's easy to feel overwhelmed, especially when you're running on empty.
Speaker A:You're trying to keep your household afloat and meet everyone's needs, you're being pulled in all the directions and it can feel like it's just never enough time for what really matters to you.
Speaker A:You wish more than anything that you could just carve out time for yourself.
Speaker A:But here's the truth.
Speaker A:You don't have to sacrifice your well being to meet all your obligations or sacrifice your well being and not be able to work on your unique purpose that we struggle trying to find time to work on.
Speaker A:I know firsthand how tough it can be.
Speaker A:When I was juggling all the household responsibilities and caring for my daughter and now both my daughter and son, outside of what my husband was taking care of for us or is taking care of us, I felt the same way.
Speaker A:Even now at times it sneaks back up on me as I'm trying to find time to live my unique purpose while helping others out through this podcast.
Speaker A:The minute one of my kids, 19 months old and a 3 year old wake up, especially when they are both awake, they keep me busy with diaper changes, feeding them and settling their sibling disputes because we know those happen.
Speaker A:Along with caring for my Yorkie, then balancing the laundry, the dishes and everything in between until they are both in bed.
Speaker A:This does not leave me a lot of time for myself, especially for glorifying God and His kingdom by living my unique mission that he created me for.
Speaker A:And as someone with a melancholic temperament, I've come to realize that God designed me to have alone time.
Speaker A:I need that alone time, especially time to reflect.
Speaker A:It's how I recharge.
Speaker A:It's during that alone time that I hear God's voice more clearly.
Speaker A:We'll dive deeper into your God given temperament in a future episode because understanding how God uniquely wired you is such a powerful key to understanding your unique purpose for me.
Speaker A:I have to carve out time for myself to talk with God, sit in His Word, stay consistent in my prayer routines, invest in my spiritual growth, do the mindset work, and of course pour into this podcast for you.
Speaker A:It's not always easy, but it's necessary for me to live my life aligned with the purpose that God has called me to.
Speaker A:It's through my own experience, navigating the overwhelm, the busyness and the constant pull in every direction that I found a way to make it work.
Speaker A:And that's exactly what I want to share with you today.
Speaker A:I'm walking, walking you through the three step framework that helped me to find balance and create space for what truly matters and take real steps towards living my unique God given purpose.
Speaker A:Before I dive in, I want to share this with a warm and loving heart.
Speaker A:Please know that what I'm about to say comes from a place of care and not of judgment.
Speaker A:You first need to ask yourself and reflect on this question.
Speaker A:It's very important.
Speaker A:Do you truly want to discover and live out your purpose?
Speaker A:Take it to heart and honestly answer this question.
Speaker A:I ask this because if you truly desire to discover and discern your unique purpose.
Speaker A:You'll find a way to carve out that time, no matter how small, to take meaningful steps forward.
Speaker A:Each small step is a stepping stone guiding you toward the life that God is calling you to live.
Speaker A:I'm here to help you to take action by identifying the unproductive pockets of your time, of your day and turning them into purposeful moments that move you closer to your unique purpose.
Speaker A:If we don't intend intentionally set time aside, we'll end up pushing it off again and again and living the life by default and not by God's design.
Speaker A:But he didn't create us to simply go through the motions.
Speaker A:He created us to live with purpose, on purpose, according to the unique plan that he lovingly designed just for you.
Speaker A:Alright, so let's start with the three step framework.
Speaker A:Now the first step is to reflect and review your daily tasks.
Speaker A:So let's pray and invite Jesus and the Holy Spirit in to help guide you on this self reflection.
Speaker A:Jesus, as she reflects on her day, please help her and with the help of the Holy Spirit, call to mind all her activities that she accomplished yesterday.
Speaker A:Help her with this self reflection exercise as she reviews her activities that she may find pockets of time to help her ignite and discern her unique purpose that you are sending her out on.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Alright, so grab your notebook and let's start reflecting on what did you do yesterday?
Speaker A:Jesus, please help me to call to mind all my activities of yesterday.
Speaker A:Pause me as you write this down.
Speaker A:Now let's reflect on what you did yesterday afternoon.
Speaker A:Jesus, please help me to call to mind all the activities from yesterday afternoon.
Speaker A:Pause me again until you're ready.
Speaker A:And then finally what did you do yesterday evening?
Speaker A:Jesus helped me to call to mind all my activities from yesterday evening before falling asleep.
Speaker A:Pause me one more time.
Speaker A:All right, so now we're going to move on to step two and I want you to take and look at your list of activities that you wrote down in your notebook.
Speaker A:Now go through your list and circle the activities that were non essential, the ones that didn't meet the needs of your family or yourself, that didn't help you grow closer to God or didn't contribute to working on your purpose and ask yourself as you're going through this and self reflecting, did this activity distract me from working on my purpose?
Speaker A:Was I mindlessly scrolling on social media?
Speaker A:Was I watching TV or movie out of habit or to escape rather than just being more intentional with my time?
Speaker A:What could I have done differently in that moment to move me closer to God's calling for me.
Speaker A:What activities could I have been more intentional with with my time to help achieve the results I want so, such as finding and discerning my purpose?
Speaker A:The goal here isn't to feel guilty, but to just become more self aware.
Speaker A:This step, it helps us to gently identify what's pulling our attention and time away from what truly matters so that we can begin to realign with the purpose God is calling us to.
Speaker A:And as you were looking back and reflecting on that list, you'll most likely find that there was at least one task or activity you did that wasn't essential and it may have been a distraction from your unique purpose because you were too tired, exhausted or just simply wanted to unwind after a long day instead of working on your purpose.
Speaker A:So here for the last step for those activities, ask yourself how can I repurpose that time?
Speaker A:How can I redirect it towards an activity that will move me closer to my purpose and deepen my relationship with God?
Speaker A:Maybe it's turning 15 minutes of scrolling into 15 minutes of prayer, journaling or reflecting on scripture.
Speaker A:Or maybe it's replacing TV time with listening to a podcast that encourages your faith or gives you clarity that you are seeking.
Speaker A:Maybe it's simply just sitting in silence letting God speak into your heart.
Speaker A:Alright, so here's a quick recap of what you'll do.
Speaker A:So number one, you're going to reflect and review.
Speaker A:You're going to take time to review your daily activities and reflect on how you spent your time.
Speaker A:Invite Jesus and the Holy Spirit into this process as you're self reflecting and asking them to help you uncover any unproductive activities.
Speaker A:Step two is you're going to identify non essential activities.
Speaker A:You're going to identify which activities on your list are non essential.
Speaker A:They do not serve your purpose, grow your faith or meet the needs of your family or yourself.
Speaker A:And you're going to ask yourself was this a distraction helping me work on my purpose?
Speaker A:Was it essential or could it have been avoided to help me gain back more time?
Speaker A:Number three, you're going to repurpose your time for every non essential activity.
Speaker A:Ask how can I repurpose this time to move me closer to my purpose and deepen my relationship with God?
Speaker A:Redirect that time that would have been spent on distractions into meaningful intentional activities that align with your calling.
Speaker A:And the next takeaway that I want you to remember is it is creating space attentionally.
Speaker A:Like carve out time each day, no matter how small, to focus on your purpose and spiritual growth.
Speaker A:Recognize that each small Step forward is a stepping stone towards living the life that God has designed for you.
Speaker A:And takeaway number five is Live with purpose, not by default.
Speaker A:Set time intentionally rather than living life by default.
Speaker A:God created you to live with the purpose on purpose, not just to go through the motions.
Speaker A:Because when you ignite your purpose, you shine his light.
Speaker A:Let us pray in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:Our heavenly and loving Father, we come before you asking for your guidance and strength as she reflects on how she spent her time.
Speaker A:I know that you have a beautiful calling for her life, but sometimes she gets distracted, overwhelmed or unsure of how to take the next step.
Speaker A:Help her by showing the areas in her life where she may be spending time on things that are not aligned with your unique purpose for her.
Speaker A:Help her to identify the non essential activities that are keeping her from fully living out the life that you've designed for her.
Speaker A:I ask you to help her repurpose her time, turn those distractions into moments of growth and help her to focus on what truly matters.
Speaker A:Growing in faith, serving her family and living out the calling that you've placed on her heart.
Speaker A:Help her to carve out time in her day, even in the small steps to invest in her relationship with you to grow spiritually to take actions towards discovering her unique purpose.
Speaker A:Help her to shine your light in all that she does and live on purpose, not by default.
Speaker A:Father, we make this pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
Speaker A:Amen.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Knowledge is powerful, but true transformation occurs when it's paired with consistent daily action.
Speaker A:We cannot take intentional steps forward each day and we cannot gain the clarity needed to move forward and ignite the lasting change.
Speaker A:So with this in mind, I invite you to take the next step by reviewing your day yesterday and just reflect on those activities to help you identify which activities on your list are non essential and that do not serve your purpose.
Speaker A:Grow your faith or meet the needs of your family or yourself, Ask yourself, was this a distraction helping me to work on my purpose?
Speaker A:Was it essential or could it have been avoided?
Speaker A:To help gain back more time and come on over inside Finding My Purpose Discernment and Strategy for Catholic Moms Facebook Group and share what's one thing you realized you could swap out in your day to make more space for your purpose, it doesn't have to be huge, just one small shift that can help you move forward.
Speaker A:We're cheering each other on and I'd love to hear what came up for you and Remember, my beautiful sister in Christ, that God uniquely created you for a unique purpose.
Speaker A:You were made to do great things.
Speaker A:God is within you and you will not fail.
Speaker A:Go out and ignite your purpose.
Speaker A:God's not done writing your story.
Speaker A:I look forward to continuing this journey with you.
Speaker A:I'll meet you next Tuesday for another conversation.
Speaker A:Until then, may God bless you.
Speaker A:Thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker A:I pray that today's episode blesses and encourages you.
Speaker A:If so, would you please share it with someone you know that would be blessed by it?
Speaker A:If you felt inspired or learned something Today, please take 30 seconds to leave a written review on Apple Podcasts.
Speaker A:This is the number one way to let me know that you are liking the show and for me to reach other Catholic women like yourself.
Speaker A:If you're feeling uncertain or lost on your discernment journey, you're not alone.
Speaker A:Join us over in the free Facebook community where Catholic women just like you are sharing, supporting and growing together in faith.
Speaker A:I look forward to continuing this journey with you.
Speaker A:God bless.
