Shownotes
Why is it that every time January rolls around, everyone's talking about resolutions, diets, and gym memberships? What if we’re just not feeling it? Or what if we want to do all the things, but life already feels crazy?
In this episode, we’re exploring the tension between that yearly pressure to set new goals and our natural desire to embrace the slower rhythms of winter.
Episode Highlights
- The internal pushback & overwhelm with setting goals in January
- Achieving more vs embracing rest
- The “right” time to set new goals
- Wisdom and guidance from Jon Acuff and Kendra Adachi
- What nature teaches us about rest
- Reflecting on how our goals align with our current life demands
Resources Mentioned
- Soundtracks by Jon Acuff
- Jon Acuff’s Remarkable You Community
- The PLAN: Manage Your Time Like a Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi
Related Episodes For You
- EP 2 - Slow Growth and Capacity with Mary Marantz
- EP 6 - Managing All The Things - Getting Real and Honest About Capacity with Janice Cook
- EP 20 - Reader Review: Soundtracks & Your New Playlist by Jon Acuff
- EP 59 - Rethinking the Proverbs 31 Woman: Inspiration, Not Expectation
- EP 67 - Spiritual Direction 101: How to Tune In and Trust God’s Lead with Cheryl Weaver
- EP 71 - What If You’re Doing Better Than You Think? with Jennifer Renee Watson
Connect with Rachel
- Website: racheldbaker.com
- Instagram: @rachel.d.baker
- Email: rachel@racheldbaker.com
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Transcripts
You're listening to how's all that working for you?
Speaker A:The podcast where we keep it real, ditch the sugar coating, and ask questions that bring actual change, not just more noise.
Speaker A:I'm your host, Rachel D. Baker, helping you create some breathing room, set healthy boundaries, and reclaim your time without the guilt trip.
Speaker A:This is real talk with a bit of sass, and we are always seeking the truth in God's word.
Speaker A:Can we please talk about January for a minute?
Speaker A:I mean, it feels like that's what everybody's been talking about anyway.
Speaker A:And I have big feelings, conflicting feelings.
Speaker A:So just in case I'm not the only one struggling with what the heck to even do with myself in all that is January.
Speaker A:Let's discuss, shall we, the first thing that I want to address, the elephant.
Speaker A:It's not really the elephant in the room, but it's the thing that everybody seems to be talking about right now, is it's time to set goals.
Speaker A:Really, at this point, when you're hearing this episode, it's past due time to set goals.
Speaker A:Your goals should be set.
Speaker A:There's resolutions and your word of the year and your intentions and what are you doing with your life?
Speaker A:It's the new year, the new you.
Speaker A:This is officially the time to get all your ish together, clear the clutter, set the foundations for all that could happen in the next year.
Speaker A:And I, I do love this, if I'm being honest.
Speaker A:There's a part of me, part of me that loves this.
Speaker A:It feels so good to think of getting my whole life organized and planned for the year, to have goals and aspirations and things that I'm working toward.
Speaker A:And if this is your vibe, if you're like, yes, girl, that sounds awesome.
Speaker A:If that's you, if it feels good, I want to make sure you know, John Acuff is your guy.
Speaker A:I've talked about several of his books before in previous episodes.
Speaker A:I mentioned it in one of the books I shared in episode 10, but I really, I went deeper in episode 20.
Speaker A:I'll share the link for that in the show notes.
Speaker A:If you want to go listen.
Speaker A:And I'm even a member of his, his membership, his community.
Speaker A:It's the remarkable you community.
Speaker A:Doesn't that sound nice?
Speaker A:But I notice as part of this community, as everyone is sharing about their big goals and the new year vibes, I also have other deeper feelings that need some space to be felt and dealt with.
Speaker A:And so that's the next thing I want to get into because there's all the January vibes.
Speaker A:It's all over the Internet, right?
Speaker A:All over social media.
Speaker A:It's in your email inbox.
Speaker A:But these other deeper feelings say it's still winter time.
Speaker A:Winter in and of itself.
Speaker A:Like, let's just think about this.
Speaker A:A hot second winter is a season when all of nature settles in, right?
Speaker A:To rest and repair and wait, there's hibernation.
Speaker A:We are preparing for that renewal in the spring that's coming.
Speaker A:I mean think about this.
Speaker A:The plants and the animals do not flip a page in their calendar and suddenly start striving.
Speaker A:Nature does not demand performance during this quiet season of winter.
Speaker A:It requires, actually, literally requires rest and preservation.
Speaker A:So there's this internal conflict between our man made calendar and the natural rhythms of the seasons.
Speaker A:And this has dramatically increased in me over the past couple years.
Speaker A:That internal conflict of those two feelings.
Speaker A:I just, I feel it growing and growing as the years go.
Speaker A:Is this part of aging?
Speaker A:Is this, Am I having a midlife crisis?
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:Somebody tell me the hustler in me, because I am hardcore, always have been.
Speaker A:Get her done, right?
Speaker A:I'm a hustler.
Speaker A:And that part of me knows this is the designated time to set goals, make the plans, do the things.
Speaker A:But my heart and my body really fight that demand to become more and break through new barriers.
Speaker A:I mean, when I think about seeds, right back to nature.
Speaker A:Seeds are not being forced to break through their shells and grow in January.
Speaker A:That is not a thing that is happening.
Speaker A:And what a tragedy it would be honestly for that little plant if the seeds were being forced to break through and grow in January.
Speaker A:It's just not time for that yet.
Speaker A:So if I bring it to a personal level and I do this just to kind of talk it through with you and maybe model what this could look like for you as you're thinking it through, if this is an issue for you, and I'm not completely alone in the world in my thinking, but my current life scenario, I have my oldest daughter.
Speaker A:She is in her last semester of high school.
Speaker A:I can't, I just can't.
Speaker A:She's graduating in May and so we have all these wrap up things trying to get her through the last bit of high school to graduation and all that comes with that.
Speaker A:We have a spring break trip coming up that we're going to take as a family to go visit the college she's going to attend, which is so many states away.
Speaker A:It's so far we're getting plane tickets, it's a whole thing.
Speaker A:But that vibe is a big piece of my life right now.
Speaker A:Getting my Kid ready to graduate and go to college.
Speaker A:My youngest, my other kiddo, he has had a rough couple years of school and we are homeschooling this semester.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Yes, I am back in my full on teacher mode special ed days because he needs a lot right now.
Speaker A:He's amazing, he's brilliant, he's kind.
Speaker A:He's such a good kid.
Speaker A:And also, high school is hard.
Speaker A:It's a lot.
Speaker A:There's big expectations.
Speaker A:Kids are jerks.
Speaker A:This is just all a part of having a kid who has autism and ADHD and social stuff is hard.
Speaker A:So we're homeschooling this semester.
Speaker A:That is a whole big chunk of my life.
Speaker A:And then there's just day to day responsibilities.
Speaker A:Oh, did I mention the whole like health stuff?
Speaker A:Rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune diseases.
Speaker A:There's a lot happening with all of that right now.
Speaker A:So I'm trying to already do my best for my body, for my family, make sure my kids are well tended to and being present right now all the time for all the things and maintaining the household, getting the groceries.
Speaker A:Why are you outgrowing your clothes again?
Speaker A:Those are all day to day things that come in.
Speaker A:So when it comes to goals, what do I want to make happen?
Speaker A:A lot of my goals right now, if I'm being honest, are being present for my family, soaking up what we're in right now, and not letting myself get back into those habits of doing all the things for all the people while shoving myself aside.
Speaker A:I know too much now.
Speaker A:I've learned too much.
Speaker A:I've come too far to exhaust myself and push myself to the bottom of the pile.
Speaker A:I have to have some space too.
Speaker A:And with all those things, I want to honor the season of life that I'm in.
Speaker A:And I struggle to balance all of that with goals that I have for this podcast, for this ministry for business.
Speaker A:And those are still things I definitely am hoping and wanting and striving, you know, hopefully not too hard.
Speaker A:But to keep up with upcoming podcast episodes, I want to keep this going.
Speaker A:I have lots of things to share, lots of guests I want to bring to you.
Speaker A:So that's still a thing on the table.
Speaker A:But all those other big things that I've been wanting to make happen, I feel like kind of have to chill for a little bit.
Speaker A:One of my favorite books recently that I have read was the Plan.
Speaker A:It is by Kendra Adachi.
Speaker A:You may know her as the lazy genius.
Speaker A:Love her.
Speaker A:Would love to have her on here for you guys as well.
Speaker A:But she is one in that book, she talks about honoring your season.
Speaker A:What season of life are you in?
Speaker A:And letting that hold space, letting that speak to what you are doing with your days, with your weeks, with your months.
Speaker A:You know, what matters right now.
Speaker A:So I don't have to completely ditch my goals.
Speaker A:I know that.
Speaker A:But I have to be realistic, too, about where I'm at, the capacity I have, and what this current season needs out of me.
Speaker A:So that's kind of the tension that I'm holding as I live in.
Speaker A:And we've talked about that a little bit, but I just.
Speaker A:I'm having my hands open and I'm living in the.
Speaker A:And because I have goals and I need to hold space for this season and what it can actually be.
Speaker A:So let's sum it all up.
Speaker A:I don't want to jump into the January hype.
Speaker A:Can I call it that?
Speaker A:The January hype.
Speaker A:We're going with it.
Speaker A:And then hate myself mid February.
Speaker A:You might already know this.
Speaker A:That doesn't feel good.
Speaker A:I don't want to do that.
Speaker A:I want to get real about my current season, my actual capacity and desires and goals that I have.
Speaker A:I want all of that in there.
Speaker A:I want to do what feels right for me and my people.
Speaker A:You can start something new, actually, at any point in the year.
Speaker A:Nobody's policing this.
Speaker A:Did you know that?
Speaker A:Is this another permission slip moment?
Speaker A:I give us permission to start new things at different times of the year, not just January there.
Speaker A:Just flipped it through to you there.
Speaker A: ght now was started in May of: Speaker A:The audacity.
Speaker A:I know, but it was.
Speaker A:So when you find yourself writing that new year January goals train, I just want to encourage you to pause and ask our favorite question.
Speaker A:How's all that working for you?
Speaker A:That's what spurred me on to this whole conversation we're having today as I jumped into January and started thinking about all the things.
Speaker A:And it was like, oh, okay, Rachel, how's all that working for you?
Speaker A:Maybe not completely.
Speaker A:Let's sort it out.
Speaker A:That's how we landed here.
Speaker A:So pause and ask yourself, friend, sister, how's all that working for you?
Speaker A:If you connected with this episode or if you have with any of the others, would you please take a moment or two to leave a review?
Speaker A:Just leave a quick review of the podcast.
Speaker A:Doesn't have to be real long, but other people find this podcast when you do certain things like that, like reviewing it to tell the mysterious algorithm, however it works, that this podcast is worth finding.
Speaker A:And I also feel kind of like I'm talking out into the void most of the time.
Speaker A:So your reviews let me know we are actually connecting.
Speaker A:So leave that review.
Speaker A:Share this episode with a friend who needs it.
Speaker A:And above all, please remember, you are stronger than you realize and you are loved more than you know.
