Are Your Priorities Actually Your Priorities?
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Are your priorities actually your priorities? I know for myself, I oftentimes think something is a priority, yet when I stop and audit my life, I realize I’m not actually prioritizing it. I also know that when I do prioritize it, I feel SO MUCH BETTER.
So, let’s chat about priorities and find out whether our not we are actually prioritizing them AND what we can do to start making them more of a priority.
To start, I need you to look at your life and what you deem your priorities to be. If someone asked you what you prioritize most in your life, how would you answer that?
From there, the easiest way to see whether or not you are actually prioritizing your priorities is by monitoring your time. Because the truth is, how we spend our time is based on what we prioritize, whether we like it nor not.
So, what do you think your priorities are?
How are you spending your time?
Do the two align?
If not, ask yourself if your priorities are actually your priorities. If they are, then ask yourself how you can start making time for them.
If you loved this episode, I know you will also love…
Episode 86: 7 Steps to Setting (And Actually Reaching) Your Goals
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, Hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace Your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body, and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to Embrace Your Real. Let's get it, let's go!
Hello and welcome back to another bonus episode aka it's real talk time. Are your priorities actually your priorities? I know for myself, I oftentimes think something is a priority. I might even say that it's priority, like with my words, but when I stop and audit my life, the actions that I'm taking day in and day out, I realize that I'm not actually prioritizing it. I also know that when I actually prioritize the things that I want to prioritize, I always feel so much better. So let's chat about priorities and find out whether or not you are actually prioritizing what you want to, and if not, what you can do to start making them more of a priority. But before I do, I had to share this super sweet review, comes from, HeyAlPal, she says, "just one of my needs, absolutely a hundred percent, 10 out of 10, recommend this podcast. Julie is such a positive light, and so motivational. I listen to this podcast as I walk and always feel refreshed and motivated after."
Love it so much AlPal, you're the best. So grateful for this community. If you could scooch over to Apple podcast and leave a rating and review, it really does help us reach more women in hopes of helping them to educate and empower them to embrace the real. Okay. So to start off this podcast, I'm going to kind of walk us through a few examples to put it into perspective. When I say, and when I ask are your priorities, actually your priorities? So let's say that you want to lose weight or weight loss is a priority. Are you actually making this a priority? Are you nourishing your body with what it needs? Are you honoring your body with movement daily? Are you working out three to five times a week?
Are you sleeping enough? Are you hydrating enough? Are you actually doing the things you need to do to lose weight? Or are you just saying that it's priority sticking with it for a week, and then going back to your old ways. I know so many women who say that they want to lose weight or build a body that they want, or whatever, fill in the blank physical goal that it is, but then they continue to tell themselves, "I'll start again on Monday, I'll start again on Monday or I'll start again next month." Or you keep just falling into this vicious cycle of not following through and making excuses for every single thing that you're doing. Number two, let's say that God is a priority for you. Are you actually making Him a priority? Are you actually taking intentional time every single day when you wake up to pray, to read the word, to get involved in a community or a church? Are you giving your time to learning more about Him?
I know for me, for so many years you guys, I wanted to make God a priority, and it wasn't until last year, last year that I was like, I am done just reading these devotional books and not ever picking up and reading God's word. I was reading God's word through devotionals, but I wasn't actually reading His word from cover to cover. And so last January 1st, 2021, I decided to sign up for a Bible in 365 devotional. I told myself, I am finishing this through heck and high waters. I am finishing this and you know what I did, I finished it. I finished it by December 31st, 2021. And guess what? I feel closer than ever to God. I feel like I am more empowered in my thoughts. I feel like I have God's word in the back of my head, in my heart, in my mind and my soul.
Like when I'm feeling anxious or depressed or frustrated or whatever fill in the blank emotion I'm feeling there is a scripture for my heart. I am meditating on His word and I can't tell you how good it feels, but it started with me asking myself, is this a priority and then every single day aligning my actions with my priority. And guess what? This year, 2022, I'm doing it all over again, and it's even sweeter than the first time. So I just want to encourage you if this is a priority in your life, you will make it work. Even if that's the Bible app on your phone and you are listening to it as you're driving. There are so many different things that you can do to read God's word. You can of course read it like physically, which I love. I love doing that because I feel like I'm such a visual person, but you can listen to it.
You can find time in your day to make it a priority even if it's 10 minutes, start with 10 minutes doing it. Let's say, for example, money is a priority for you, but are you actually prioritizing it? Are you actually cutting down on your monthly expenses or to start with, are you even budgeting? Do you have a budget that you're going off of? Are you trying to find better deals on the things that you need? Are you minimizing the mindless spending aka just opening up the Amazon app, blacking out, and then in three days being like, "what did I order? Oh my gosh." Are you cutting back on eating out or going out for drinks? Are you searching for maybe a cheaper rent if you're renting? Are you doing things daily that will enable you to save more? Or are you going to these places like Whole Foods, every single lunch or eating out four nights a week and not saving money?
It's one thing to say that this is a priority. It's another thing to have the actions align with the words. Another example, let's say that family is a priority for you. Are asking yourself, are you actually prioritizing them? Are you actually dedicating specific time daily, to your kids, to your significant other, device free? Are you dedicating time to call your mom or dad or siblings on a weekly or biweekly basis? Are you dedicating time to traveling, to go see them to make memories so that you're in the actual same place and you can physically spend time with them? Whatever your family situation is, are you dedicating the time to actually make them a priority in your life, or are you just working long hours, getting home late, going out with friends instead, staying in, ignoring their calls, ignoring their texts and living your life without thinking about them?
Those are just some examples that I wanted to talk about today because I want us this year to actually start prioritizing the things in our life that are important. I want us to get to the end of 2022 and feel proud of what we've accomplished because we not only said it with our words, but we backed it up with our actions. I believe that you can. I believe that when we make something a priority, we make time for it. Whether we have the time or not, we will make the time, we will wake up earlier, we will go to bed later, we will sacrifice things, we will do what we need to do to squeeze it in even if we don't have the time. For me not having enough time is no longer an excuse. When I use that as an excuse, it's a wake up call that I'm not actually prioritizing it anymore.
So what are your priorities? How are you spending your time and do the two align? If not ask yourself, if the priorities that you have are actually your priorities, and if they are ask yourself how you can start making time for them? If you love this episode, I know you'll also love episode 86, "7 Steps to Setting and Actually Achieving Your Goals." I will link that in the show notes below. I love you so much that I'm giving you real talk on this because I am trying to hold us all to a higher standard this year, because I believe that there are so many great things in store for all of us. There are so many goals that are meant to be achieved by us this year, but it starts with putting one foot in front of the other. Okay? I love you. I hope you have a fabulous day.
Start crushing those priorities. I want to see what you are prioritizing this year, so you can screenshot this and post it up on your Instagram story or tag me on social media. I love connecting with you guys. If you have a girlfriend or someone in your life that you feel like would benefit from this episode as well, you can copy the link and send it to them in a text message or wherever you communicate with them. Again, you can do this. We can do this. If it's a priority, we will make the time even if we don't have the time. All right, I will talk to you in the next episode.
All right, sister, that's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following me on the Gram, be sure to do so, JulieALedbetter, yes, it's with an A in the middle, for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple podcast, to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world, and I'm going to leave you with one last thought. The most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface. So go out there and Embrace Your Real, because you're worth it.