Mid-Year Momentum: Simple Strategies to Refocus and Recharge - Rebekah Lara

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00:00 Hey there and welcome to Mid Year Momentum. Simple strategies to refocus and recharge. My name is Rebecca Lara. I'm a certified life and time coach and the creator of the Mindful Momentum Box. I'm so glad you're here. I want you to know right from the start, you are not behind, you're not off track. You haven't missed your chance. We're so conditioned to think that January 1st or the beginning of the month is the only time to start fresh. 

00:32 But that's just a date. You can begin anytime. And today, today is a beautiful day to reset. So let's take a breath together. Take a moment to just inhale through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. Let your shoulders drop, let your body soften and just be here, now. This moment is yours. I do breathing exercises like this or short guided meditations using an app like Happier every single day to help me anchor and be in the present moment. Because truthfully, this moment is all we ever really have. 

01:22 So before we talk about momentum or goals, let's remind ourselves that our life is not A to do list. Beyond all the lists and goals and pressures, life is for living. And this is a mantra that I have been using lately to just help me stay grounded and guide my decisions and my actions. The belief that life is for living. So let me ask you, what does a meaningful life look like for you? Not the version you think you're supposed to live, but the one you deeply crave. What matters to you, truly? If you're able to pause here and grab a notebook or just visualize this in your mind 's eye, I would encourage you to do so. 

02:18 Imagine a bullseye with three circles, or draw it for yourself right now in the very center right down. Or picture the few things that matter most. Get really clear about this. The people, the values, the joys, the why behind your work and your days. This is your anchor. Come back to it when things feel scattered or overwhelming. Next, let's shift your focus from what do I need to do to what do I need to believe? Instead of A to do list, I invite you to create A to Believe list. These are grounding thoughts and affirmations to stay steady in your heart and your mind. 

03:14 So this is a practice that I picked up several years ago. It helped me to shift my focus from making my To Do List the top guiding light in my day, to instead grounding my thoughts and beliefs and what is truly important to help me find value and worth in myself rather than what I accomplish. So some of the beliefs you could borrow. These are beliefs that I have used in the past and currently you can either repeat these after me, write them down or just let the words wash over you. 

04:03
I am exactly where I'm meant to be. Everything is working out in perfect timing and in my favour. I'm creating the life I desire, one step at a time. Slow progress is progress. I don't have to rush to be worthy. I honour where I am in my journey and I appreciate where I am at each step along the way. Let one of those become your mantra for the coming week or more, whatever resonates with you. 

04:45 Or create your own. Post it somewhere that's visible, or whisper it to yourself when you start to feel rushed or behind. Or perhaps just create A to believe list that has several of these, or the ones that you write for yourself. And make that something that you write for yourself every day or several times a week. Because momentum starts inside and our mindset creates a space for action. Now here's something I bet you're not used to hearing in a planning workshop. Plan your time off first. Yes, you heard me. Plan your time off first. Before you schedule another work block or a goal deadline, look at your calendar and carve out time forrest or play or fun or however you like to recharge. 

05:44 You can't grow yourself or your business when you're burned out, stressed out, or constantly giving in to everyone else without restoring yourself. And this is something that I am practicing myself right now. In this current year. I am planning time off and for me that looks like slowing down over the summer while my children are home. We have 3 girls and they are all preteens and teens and we are just in a a hectic, fun, chaotic time of life. And I realized that due to just being a parent and an entrepreneur with additional life circumstances that have popped up unexpectedly for us this year for health and other challenges, that I was approaching burnout. 

06:40 And I know that I can't be of service to anyone in my life, my clients, my family, my friends, my community, when I am burned out, stressed out, or constantly giving to everyone else and not myself. So a quote that really has helped me in the past several years. I'm going to share it here with you, but it allows me to realize that when I take care of myself 1st. And I know self-care is like a hot buzzword and you may be tempted to gloss over it, but I want you to listen to this quote and let it guide you in your next steps. Remember this, when you tend to your own garden first, you have more harvest to share with others. 

07:37 And that allowed me to see that it wasn't selfish at all. When I help myself and care for myself, I can do more, be more, give more. And that was so restorative. So take a minute. Think about when your next true pause will be. Is it a day off, An afternoon? Even an hour with your phone off and your heart open. Schedule it. Put it on the calendar. Protect it because you deserve it now. Now that we've grounded and created space, let's gently step into intention. Ask yourself this question. 

08:23 What's guiding me right now? It's a very simple question, but a very powerful one. Is it a dream you've had on your heart, Perhaps a word of the year that you need to remind yourself and tune into again, or a shift in who you're becoming? Let this help you guide your decisions and what action steps you're going to take next. We don't want to be trying multiple different approaches and strategies and a million projects and just throwing spaghetti at the wall. We want to have a guiding light for our next steps. So if it supports you, pause this recording and think about that. What is guiding me right now? Ok, I hope you took a moment to do that because the next thing we're going to do is we're going to step into that intentional planning space. 

09:26 But we're going to keep things simple and doable. So I like to think of my planning in threes. It allows me to keep it simple and manageable. So I like to schedule the weekly big three for myself, the three things that I am prioritizing for the week. And this can apply to business, it can apply to your career, your family, your household. There are no rules here you use it the way that you think is best for you. But some guiding questions could be what will make this week successful? You get to define success. You get to decide ahead of time. If I do these three things, I will have a successful week and that can look like exercise, but it can also be something related to your business. 

10:21 A second question you can ask yourself is what results am I creating this week? So in other words, can you see the concrete results that you want to accomplish by the end of the week? That may look like I'm going to write 1 email, I'm going to schedule my doctor's appointment, and I'm going to declutter one drawer in my house. Those are just examples, but we get to decide ahead of time those three things that when we get to the end of the week, we will feel accomplished and like we are winning, we are succeeding and we are creating results that we desire. 

11:01 So choose three goals or tasks or projects for the next week or even the next month depending on what phase and season of life you are in. Make it achievable, manageable and sustainable for yourself. And that's it. Just three. These can be, like I said, personal or business or both, Whatever matters most to you right now. And that's the beauty of the system, is you get to decide that each week moving forward. Then one final thing you can do to support your success and create that mid year momentum is ask yourself what small habits or rhythms will support these goals. Maybe it's a 10 minute morning ritual, maybe it's setting boundaries around your phone or your time, maybe it's reconnecting with your creativity or even going to bed earlier. 

12:00 You don't need a perfect routine, you need a rhythm that fits you. So again, there are no rules here, just intention. Because mindset plus small actions equals sustainable momentum. And that's what we're after here. Mid year sustainable momentum. And if building momentum and planning feels a little bit overwhelming to you, you're not alone. That's why I created the five minute momentum reset in this audio challenge you can learn how to reset anytime with simple strategies like we've discussed here that help you release timeline pressure, refocus on what matters most, and build momentum without the overwhelm. 

12:49 You don't need more hustle. You need momentum, the mindful kind. And that's exactly what this free five day Audio challenge will give you. One quick audio, one small action, 5 minutes a day to feel more clear, grounded, and back in charge of your time. All of it's designed to help you create more time, freedom, more peace and more momentum without the hustle and burnout. 

13:15 So remember, you don't have to figure this all out alone. Let this be your gentle reset, A reminder that you're not behind, you're already in motion, you are already enough. Thank you so much for spending these few moments with me. I hope you feel a little bit clearer, a little more centered and a whole lot more supported. So whether you're resetting for the month, the quarter or the year, you have got this, you're capable, you're not behind, you are moving forward even when it doesn't feel like it. Here's to your midyear momentum. You've got this and I am cheering you on.