How to Pace Yourself

Episode Transcript

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The Mom Training Podcast with Diana Ballard

 

Diana:    Whoa… the first week of January of 2021, can you believe it? Wow, I'll tell you, there were times when 2020 was as slow as mud. But man, it feels like it went by pretty quick, now that we're out of it, right?

 

  So, Happy New Year! Hope you had a great holiday season, enjoy time with your family. And now, let's get to work. This is exciting. This is a new year, we're moving forward. We're going to work on what we can control on. We’re setting goals. This is going to be a great year. I'm super excited about it, I'm pumped. I'm ready to go.

 

  Today, we’re going to talk about something that is really important when you are highly motivated. It's going to sound kind of like an oxymoron. You're going to be like, “That…” I mean, at least for me, I don't see… I don't like it, and I don't see how it fits. But I've practiced it enough and I've seen the results of doing it, enough, that it is something that I do on a very regular basis, especially when I'm driven. And it takes a huge amount of self-control. It takes a huge amount of discipline to practice, what we're going to talk about today.

 

  So, I want to ask you when you're motivated, when you're driven, when you're like on top of it, you’re like, “Rahhh… I’m just tearing things up… I’m the boss, I can to do this”. How long does that last for you? How long does that power, and that determination…? Is it a couple days? A couple weeks? couple months? Does it last you a whole year? You know what I'm saying? How long does it last?

 

  Now, what if I could tell you, there is a way that you could stretch that motivation, you could stretch the determination. You could stretch the passion and the power that you're feeling right now, as we start the new year. “I'm going to do this. I'm going to focus on what I can control it's going to be the best year, no matter what's happening around me. I can do this.”

 

  A lot of people get hit with a hard time. They get distracted, they lose focus. They burn out before they reach their goal. And that's why some people just don't set goals, they're like, “I never reached them. I don't work towards them because they've never happened.”

 

  Well, there could be a piece that is missing. There could be a piece that, “Hey, maybe you might need to try something a little bit different.” The reality is that when we have consistent pacing of ourselves, when we are going through a hard time, when we're on fire, when it's an average day… If it's possible for us to keep a consistent pace through those times…

 

  As we've talked about, on recent podcasts, about just slowing down a little bit. Like if we’re hitting turbulence, hitting the brakes a little bit, still moving forward, still being consistent at a pace. Maybe pulling back a little bit, to rest a little more or whatever… That our consistent pace is what is going to get us to the destination, get us to the accomplishment, get us to the result faster, than if we push and give it everything we have and just, “Rahhh…” [chuckle] Just tearing it up.

 

  And then all of a sudden, we find ourselves exhausted. We find ourselves like, “Man, this is dumb… This is dumb. I just can't… This isn't worth it, man… I'm worn out. I'm exhausted. I can barely focus on anything”, and you throw in the towel.

 

  So, burnout is something that we want to prevent. We want to prevent those moments of, “This is dumb. I'm not doing this anymore. Nothing's working anymore, I'm just putting in all this work and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah… I’m killing myself off, and I just haven't reached it yet.”

 

  The main key is consistency. So, today's topic is our day of rest; our moments of rest. And when you think about drilling things, like pushing, “I'm going to accomplish this crap. I'm just going to… Rahhh…” Which is, I love. I love feeling like that. I love creating moments like that. Building passion and excitement and moving… And that's how I feel right now. Starting this new year, I'm like, “This is bomb. I am on top of this. We are going for it with everything we got.”

 

  But along with those high emotions has to come stillness, has to come rest.

 

  So, when we came back from our family vacation for Christmas, me and my husband started a new routine. I had set goals the whole drive. I’m like, “Hey, I've been thinking about them the whole trip. I finally set them. We got this plan. This is going to be it. And I'm going to start the plan, like the day we're back.”

 

  So, we drive… The second I wake up the next morning, is the beginning of a new focus, a new routine. Something else that I'm trying, and passion, and power… All that kind of stuff that’s lovely, it’s fun. Right?

 

  But here, I have all this passion, here I have all this power behind, determination… Rise up like a phoenix. Step out of the mud, let's do it. And my first day of my tear-it-up routine is to rest. And I'll tell you, that took more self-control, more discipline [chuckle] than, anything I've done in a long time.

 

  Because when we have these high emotions, when we have these goals and we're like, “I am going to get this. I am determined. And I am going to excel and I'm going to soar.” Our first inclination is to run. Our first idea is to push, push, push.

 

  But I'm going to invite you to think differently. I’m going to invite you to think about how to pace yourself. “But Diana, I'm scared that I'm going to lose it. I'm scared that I'm going to lose my passion, that I’m going to lose the power. I'm going to lose determination.”

 

  Look. Those are real thoughts. Those are real concerns. And I mean, I've had them myself. But you have to realize that taking a moment to be still is actually giving you more power, is rebooting you to become the person that you need to become to achieve those goals.

 

  If I would have hit the ground running… Now, did I accomplish a crapload of stuff? That day after I came home from vacation, I did. But if I didn't want to do it, I didn't do it. That's kind of how I do with my days of rest. Sometimes, I've done my taxes. [chuckle] Other days, I've cleaned my whole house. But I've done what I wanted to do. There was no force. There was no setting goals that I'm going to clean this area, I'm going to cook this meal… No. We might cook something out of the freezer. [chuckle] …

 

  My days of rest, include doing what I want to do. That could be napping, for a couple hours, which then messes up my sleeping schedule later, but anyway [chuckle]… It could be watching a movie with my kids. It could be sitting around and just watching them play. It could be talking to someone on the phone. It could be doing something absolutely productive, like accomplishing tons of goals without even having to set them. But it is important for us to take a moment to reboot, to be still, to get up and start with a clean slate.

 

  Now, these days of rest, these moments of rest, you don't need them all the time. Now, that is something that I have ran into with people, who struggle accomplishing things, is they take too many moments of rest. Too many like, “Oh, I need to just relax… Every day after work, I need a certain amount of time to relax.”

 

  Now, maybe that's true. But in my experience with working with people, more often than not, a lot more time is wasted, than it used productive. Now again, I tread that lightly because, spending time with your family is a valuable time. Getting your rests, spending your time with your husband, your spouse, is valuable time. Watching movies all the time, being on your phone all the time, reading gossip... There are things that take us away from the time we could utilize for other things.

 

  Now, that other things could be, getting to bed early enough, so that you could get up earlier. That relaxation time that we think we need, “Oh, I’m so exhausted.” Could be used for sleep. To get a better routine, wake up and exercise and have a ton more energy. You get what I'm saying?

 

  So, for me, I will have, usually, a full day of rest. Now, it changes all the time because, my routine could be, I kill it in the morning… I'm drilling, I got home school, I got cleaning. And then by the time lunchtime happens… Bam! I am off. I am off, and I can do whatever the heck I want the rest of the evening, all through the night. Usually it's on Fridays and so, I have date nights with my husband and it just makes it kind of a fun evening.

 

  But when can you take a moment to yourself? Could it literally be an evening that you have of? An evening that either you get the dishes done earlier or you say, “I'm going to do them in the morning… I'm going to take a bath tonight… I'm going to read my favorite book… I’m going to write in my journal... I'm going to call a friend…” Hey, maybe it is the time when you actually watch a movie. Sometimes, I do that too.

 

  If you want to accomplish what you desire this year, you have to rest. You have to reboot. And as you keep your goals and your focus, and you let yourself step back a minute, and relax, recharge yourself… Keep those goals. There they are. I'm still doing it. I'm so driven. This is why and I've written up, why I'm doing this; my purpose. This is my plan. I'm going to focus on it.

 

  You will increase your chances of reaching those goals this year, if you do that.

 

  So, as we're stepping into this brand-new year, step into it with a clean slate. And on that slate, include rest. Include time for your brain to be still. Maybe you turn on some music, some chill music, and kind of get your grove on. Maybe dance in your kitchen, which I’ve been loving lately…

 

  At night time, once the kids go to bed, it’s all my Donkey Kong. Me and that music and dim lighting… [chuckle] I am getting jiggy with it, all by myself in that kitchen. I’m like dancing around, just feeling that music. Hey, that’s rest for me. That's, letting my body feel something good, and letting go of all my responsibilities.

 

  What can you do to let go for a minute? What can you do to recharge? If you haven’t set your goals, get on it, girl. They can be simple. They can be simple - they can be for your family, for your home. Again, who you want to become? What skill sets you want to increase? Make a list. Create a plan. Create a why. And let's make this year, the best year we've ever had. I know that I'm shooting for that, and I'm rooting you on.

 

  You got this. So, excited for this year. Jump on board, let’s tear it up. Let’s love life. And also, rest in the meantime. Have a great rest of your day. We'll see you next week on The Mom Training Podcast.

 

 

Diana:     This is it. This is our year, girls. Let’s do it.

 

  Hey, look, if you want to succeed this year, if you want to take motherhood, and your home life, and being a housewife to a whole new level, you got to come join me in Mom Training. This year, we are going to kick butt in what we’re doing, and you need to be there. You need to be a part of this. Come over to DianaBallard.com. Join us in Mom Training, and let’s do this girl friend.