October 29, 2024 • 34 mins
In this episode of The Charging Station, Tracey discusses effective goal-setting and aligning one's aspirations with God’s purpose. As 2024 winds down, Tracey reveals her personal practices for planning the year ahead, sharing how she transforms chaos into clarity and moves closer to her dreams.
Discover her step-by-step approach to breaking down big ambitions—whether it’s writing a book or mastering a new skill—into achievable, actionable goals. With strategies for goal tracking and accountability, this episode empowers you to turn intentions into reality, guided by faith and purpose.
Check out the resources below to reach your goals:
Recommended Books:
The 12-week Year
Atomic Habits
Cut the Fluff Matrix-Use this to help you organize and delegate tasks.
Seasons of Goal Slaying-Use this to brainstorm goal ideas for each season.
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Thank you for listening! Please be sure to subscribe, follow, rate, and leave a review so others can find this podcast too.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
What's good everybody .
Welcome to the Charging StationPodcast.
It's your girl, tracy Massey ofLiving my Empowered Life.
Hello, hello, hello, hello,hello.
I hope that you are having afun, fabulous day, afternoon,
evening, whatever time it is,wherever you are listening to
this episode, welcome.
If you are new here, welcome tothe couchy couch.
(00:46):
Come on in, make yourselfcomfortable, have a seat, take
your shoes off, tap the handsanitizer, you know, have a
little drink.
If you are returning, you knowI love me some, you, I love all
of y'all, but it's just thereturning listeners.
Welcome back, boo, welcome backY'all.
Go ahead, grab your coffee,grab your tea, grab your water,
grab your wine, whatever yourbeverage of choice is.
(01:07):
Go ahead, grab that thing andlet's sit down have a little
chit chat on the couchy couch.
If you're not following me onall the socials, you know what
to do.
Go ahead, look me up onInstagram, facebook TikTok
Threads, facebook TikTok Threads, youtube, living my Empowered
Life on all of them.
Just follow, comment, share,interact and, if you are,
(01:34):
whatever preferred platformyou're listening to this podcast
on, make sure that you followor subscribe whatever the
instructions say and also makesure that you rate and leave a
review.
Let know why you love this,this episode, why you love this
podcast, if you've been rockingwith me for the last seven years
.
Seven, a whole seven number ofcompletion.
(01:54):
Let me know you know what youlike, let me know how you feel
about it.
So y'all it is um.
Actually, next week is November,so at the time of the recording
of this podcast it's almost theend of 2024.
And I don't know about you, butfor me this is like the perfect
(02:16):
time of year for me to bethinking about the next year.
And so, truth be told, Iactually started thinking about
the new year in August.
I'm a little weird like that.
I'm always thinking ahead, andI started planning for things
(02:37):
like on my calendar in August,because if it's not on my
calendar, it doesn't exist.
I have to put everything on mycalendar because I'm 48 and I
forget things and also life isbusy.
So if it's not on my calendar,it will not get done, it will
not get acknowledged, it justdoesn't exist.
So on this episode, I'm goingto share with you guys a few
(03:02):
things that I do to prepare forthe new year, as well as what I
do to set goals and how I amable to achieve every single
goal that I set in the year andjust a few little things, that
little tricks and tips that I'velearned over the years with you
guys, in the hopes that itinspires you to prepare for your
(03:24):
2025.
So, like right now, I alreadyhave stuff on my calendar for
2025.
And, you know, I'm trying to bereal mindful about saying dates
and times and years, because Irealized that this, this podcast
, will live on even when I havegone on to glory to be with the
Lord.
So, even though I'm saying it's2025, because that's the time
(03:46):
period that I'm in at the timeof the recording of this podcast
, you can use this beyond.
So, even if you are in the year2030, you can use these things
for future planning and I'm aplanner future planning and I'm
(04:09):
a planner.
I'm pretty organized.
I have an administrative gift,so I can actually see things and
administratively think, okay,how can we make this better?
Like I should be a projectmanager, honestly, but I think
that would just get on my nerves.
Like I don't.
I don't like for my gifts to.
I know my gifts are going tomake room for me, but I don't
like to be like having to usethem.
That sounds weird, notnecessarily.
Let me rephrase I don't like tohave the pressure on using my
(04:32):
gifts.
There we go, but yeah, I'm, I'mvery gifted in organizing and
planning and in the friend groupI'm the one that plans trips.
I'm the one that you know doesthings like that and I love it
when I meet other people that dothat.
So I don't have to do it.
Shout out to my friend Claire,she plans the trips and finds
(04:54):
the restaurants and does allthat.
And I just like thank you, boo,because you know it's hard
being that person in the group,but I really appreciate it.
So I'm just going to go aheadand get started and, as always,
this is an interactive podcast.
So if you hear something thathas inspired you, if you try
some of the tips you know, letme know.
You have an option to text mein the show notes and you can
(05:16):
always email me at hello atlivingmyempoweredlifecom, and
you can always hit me up on thesocials.
I'm on Instagram all the time.
I'm on TikTok all the time.
I'm starting to love threads.
So, you know, not hard to find,I'm not hard to find, y'all.
All right, as I said, I'malready planning 2025.
(05:38):
My books are open for speakingengagements in 2025.
I've got some like myappointments for, like doctor's
visits, and things are alreadyon the books for 2025.
And please don't let this scareyou or overwhelm you.
Again, the reason why I do thisis because if it's not on my
calendar, it doesn't exist.
(05:59):
And I also realize that life isnot going to be perfect and
there are going to be timeswhere things are going to come
up.
So you have to rearrange and dothings like that.
But in the rearranging, thereason why I put everything on
my calendar and kind of havethings in place is because if,
by chance, there is a monkeywrench that comes up, I don't
(06:20):
get rattled, I don't getdistracted, because what's on my
calendar I know.
Okay, well, I can't do thatthis day, let's find another day
where I can reschedule it.
So that's why I primarily dothat.
And, being a busy woman, I gota lot of stuff going on and I
don't like dropping balls andthings like that.
Now, I'm not saying that I'mperfect, because things can slip
(06:42):
through the cracks, but atleast I know if I have it on my
calendar it minimizes the chanceof it being forgotten.
So here are a few things that Ido to help plan out my year.
First of all, I don't look atmy year as 365 days.
That, to me, is superoverwhelming.
(07:03):
So what I have to do is breakthings down by quarters.
So I look at first quarter,second quarter, third quarter,
fourth quarter almost like abusiness.
You know what's going on withthis season.
Um, first quarter, there are alot of preliminary things that
need to get out of the way.
Second quarter is like checkingup on what I what happened in
the first and third, checking upwhat worked well in the second
(07:25):
and the first.
Where do I need to adjust?
And fourth quarter is like theroundup of the culmination of
the entire year.
What worked well, what didn'twork well, where do I need to
change, what needs to beadjusted, what needs to be added
, what needs to be taken away.
So it's like a whole inventoryof the year, but I'm doing it
quarterly.
That makes sense.
(07:46):
And so the first thing I do,before I even sit down to even
write a single goal, I pray, Ipray and I ask God what is it
that you want me to accomplishin the next year?
And the reason why I do this isbecause I have been not
consulting God in areas of mylife and it has been a total
(08:08):
disaster and a I'm not going tosay a waste of time.
It's been a learning experiencewith my time.
There are things that I shouldnot have gotten into that I got
into and it distracted me and Ihad to, you know, kind of go all
the way around Robin Hood'sbarn, as the old folks say to
get to the goal that was meantfor me.
And so now I have learned sitdown and I have a meeting with
(08:33):
the Lord.
He is my CEO of the TracyMassey Corporation.
Okay, he is the boss.
So I sit down and I pray.
I usually fast too, so I willfast.
Um well, it depends on the timeframe of my fast.
(08:55):
I can still go off that, butsometimes I've done one day
where I fasted and then had myprayer time, and then I've done
40 days fasting and then did theprayer time.
It just depends on what Godsays.
So I first thing is I sit downand I consult God and ask what
is your will for me, yourperfect will for me for the next
year?
So I've asked the question God,what is your will for me for
(09:17):
2025?
And in my prayer time I alsothank him for allowing me to
accomplish the things in theprevious year.
So this year I sat down I saidGod, thank you for allowing me
to accomplish so many things in2024.
Thank you for doors that opened.
Thank you for doors that haveclosed.
Thank you for keeping thingsaway from me that were
(09:39):
detrimental to my well-being.
God, thank you for newfriendships, thank you for old.
Like I'm going through thiswhole gratitude thing and just
thanking God for what he hasdone for me and those connected
to me in this time frame.
Y'all, I'm giving you theblueprint of how I do this, so I
hope that you're writing thisdown and listening, but I do
(09:59):
that.
Have that prayer time and then Iwill say I will ask God well,
what is it that you want me?
What is your perfect will forme for 2025?
And the reason why I say whatis your perfect will?
Because there is a thing calledpermissive will and that
permissive will and perfect willare two different things.
Permissive will is what Godallows you to have because,
(10:20):
basically, you begged him for itand even though he knows that
you either, you really don'twant it.
You need a little more clarityon what you're asking for, but
he knows what's best for us.
So he will sometimes give usthat thing that we are hammering
him about, just to show us likehuh, huh, yeah, you really
didn't want that.
It's like you have a kid andthey want, like kids do this all
(10:44):
the time.
I don't know what it is, butchildren are fascinated by ovens
for some reason.
Well, at least the kids that Igrew up with, these new age
children, they different.
But the kids that I grew upwith, they were fascinated by
ovens.
And even my daughter was like,fascinated by the oven.
So I would have to teach herit's hot.
I would say it's hot, and shewould repeat hot and she will
(11:05):
repeat hot, yes, hot.
Don't you know?
That little girl will touch theoven anyway and she didn't
realize that it was hot untilshe got burned.
Now, it wasn't a severe burn,but she felt the heat of the
oven.
So think about permissive willis like that.
It's you're getting what youhave asked for, and God's
perfect will is that thing thathe wants for you.
It's different.
(11:25):
He will grant you a littleextra grace, a little extra
anointing, a little extra oomph.
He will put his stank on thatperfect will.
So that's what I want for mylife, because even perfect will
doesn't come without challenges.
But at least with thatchallenge, baby, I'm ready for
it, I can take it on because Godhas grace to me for it.
(11:47):
So I pray for God's perfectwill over my goals and things
like that for the next, theupcoming year.
Another thing I pray is Godbless the work of my hands and I
pray that whatever he allows meto create, produce, speak on,
(12:08):
whatever he allows me to bringforth in this earth, that he
blesses the work of my hands andlet his anointing be felt on it
.
I really want God's people tofeel God.
Whenever I do a thing, it isnot about me Because Tracy is
flawed and imperfect.
She will stutter, she, you know.
(12:29):
She might cuss a little bit,you know.
So Tracy is flawed, but whenI'm doing something for God and
for God's people, I want him tobe felt in it Like it's really
not about me.
Yeah, I'm grateful for theopportunity to do it.
You know, people recognizingwhat I do, that's, that's great,
like that's just the whippedcream on the cherry on top of
(12:50):
God is ice cream.
So it's never about me.
So I ask him to bless the workof my hands.
I ask him to bless my voice sothat, in my words, so I will be
able to speak to all people youknow, and all of this is
scripture y'all.
So in the show notes, I'mactually going to create a
(13:12):
little PDF for y'all in the shownotes.
And in the show notes I'm goingto give you the tools that I
use and I'm going to write downthe prayer.
I'm going to try to articulateand write down the prayer that I
pray.
Now, of course, you don't haveto pray this prayer exactly the
way that it is.
You know cater it for you, butI'm going to put in the prayer
that I pray and also the toolsthat I use and the scriptures
(13:34):
that I use to pray this prayerand back up what I'm saying.
Okay, so that was.
That was just a littlecommercial break.
Once I get done praying, youknow, I kind of sit for a minute
before I move on to the nextthing and, um, I give space for
Holy Spirit to speak.
So whatever Holy Spirit issaying to me, you know, oh, oh,
oh wait, oh, I forgot the mostimportant part.
(13:56):
Lord, I'm sorry.
Um, I pray that my the, thedesires of my heart, align with
God's desires for me.
So again, that's praying hisperfect will.
And a lot of times y'all thistakes a lot of pressure off of
you too, because if God tellsyou to do something, I'll be
like Lord.
If you're telling me to do this, then this is on you, and I
(14:19):
learned this from my mentor, bigSister Dr Three.
She's like if God's telling youto do something, you don't have
to worry about if it's going tosucceed, because if it doesn't,
it's going to look.
You know it's going to be onhim, and God ain't trying to be
out here looking crazy, allright.
So of course it's going to workif you do it the way that he
(14:43):
tells you to do.
So I also pray, god, let thedesires of my heart align with
your desire for me, and I alsoask him to give me the wisdom
and the discernment to move whenI'm supposed to move and stand
still when I'm not supposed tobe moving, because even in the
standing still you're stillworking.
Because I've said this a fewtimes, it's not necessarily like
God will download ideas for meall of the time, like I have
(15:04):
notebooks of stuff.
It's ridiculous, but sometimesit's not a now thing, it's a God
thing.
But he doesn't mean for you todo it right now, and so that's a
hard lesson that I've had tolearn is to sit down and wait
for the Lord to say all rightnow, move now.
So I pray that he shows me histiming and that I'm in sync with
his timing.
(15:24):
So once I do all that, I justsit for a minute.
Sometimes I'll play worshipmusic and I was just sitting in
the prayer and just listen forHoly Spirit to talk, and this
whole time I have my journal ornotebook right beside me so I
can write down what comes to mythoughts, because a lot of times
I brain dump Before I evenstart taking action on a goal or
(15:47):
even organizing the goals.
I just sit and brain dump andI'll also have what I've done
the previous year.
Now, the last couple of years, Ihave accomplished everything
that I've set out to do, butsometimes it's not like that
because again, it could be alater on thing.
(16:08):
It's a God thing, but it couldbe a later on thing.
So I go back and see whatwasn't accomplished and then I
pray is this supposed to be inthis season?
If it is, it goes on the list.
If it's not, it goes back tothe waiting list, and so once I
sit and just wait to hear fromHoly Spirit, what pops up in my
(16:29):
mind or whatever, then I get towriting.
I start to write down everythingthat the Holy Spirit tells me,
all of these dreams and goalsand things like that.
Oh, one thing I also pray.
Sorry y'all, I'm not.
I didn't bring my notes thistime, so I'm really going off
the top of my head.
So forgive me, but one of thethings I also pray is God, bring
(16:53):
back to my remembrance thosethings that you told me to do
that I didn't do, and show mewhen it's time to do them.
So even if I don't havesomething written in my notebook
which nine times out of ten itis he will remind me of those
things, because there's somethings that God showed me that I
was supposed to do in childhoodthat I haven't done yet,
(17:16):
whether it be because of age ortiming or whatever.
So I'm asking him to remind meof those things.
Okay, now back on track.
So I start writing downeverything and it's really just
basically a brain dump.
Usually a brain dump for me issometimes it's three things.
I've had where it's been fouror five pages of things.
(17:37):
So it just depends on, I guess,whatever the season is for me
to do these things.
So I would write, I would justbrain dump and not even thinking
about how to even get thesethings accomplished Because
again, it may not be the time orthe season to do those things.
So I would write everythingdown, get it out my head, so my
head is clear, and then I willsit and I will pray again well,
(18:00):
god, which of these things doyou want me to do in the
upcoming year?
And there was one season where Ihad written down all these
things and God was like don't doany of them, because this is
the season where I need yourested.
That was hard.
That was hard because I really,as somebody that is very
goal-oriented and driven, it washard for me not to accomplish
(18:25):
something.
But God actually taught mepatience and peace in that
season and that resting.
I see why he had me rest,because I didn't realize that
the season coming up was aseason I was going to be
fighting for my life, literally.
I didn't realize that theseason coming up was a season.
I was going to be fighting formy life, literally.
So sitting down in that prayertime is really helpful because
God will always show you andprepare you for what's coming.
(18:47):
You just got to listen.
So once we get the brain up outof the way and God shows me what
he wants me to accomplish forthe upcoming year, that's when I
start to come up with astrategy, and so I will break
those goals down.
And I've done a goal-settingepisode before, way back when,
(19:09):
maybe about three or four yearsago, I'm not quite sure when,
but this is the updated version.
Okay, because we are evolvingand you know life be life and
God be God, and life is evolving, so we're evolving, evolving
and think, you know, life belife and God be God, and life is
evolving, so we're evolving.
So I still have maybe one ortwo, no more than three big
goals that are going to beaccomplished.
(19:30):
But again, I don't look at thatgoal as I have to get it done
in the first quarter.
No, I look at the big goals and, strategically, throughout the
entire year, I'm working towardsthat big goal.
So by the end of the year thatgoal is accomplished.
So here's how I break it down.
I have my three goals, orhowever many goals I have, for
(19:52):
the sake of time today.
Let's say I have this one goaland so it's a big goal.
Um, say you want to publish abook this year, so your big goal
is to have your book publishedby the end of the year.
It really doesn't take thatlong to publish a book, y'all.
I'm just using this, so don'tcome for me all you published
authors and people like that outthere.
(20:13):
Okay, we're just using this asan example.
So say you want to have yourbook written and published by
the end of the year.
So that's the big goal.
So what am I doing to get tothat big goal?
First thing I'm going to do isfigure out the concept of the
book.
Then I'm going to figure outlike I'm going to set aside time
(20:38):
to actually sit down and write.
So it could be once a week,once a month, 30 minutes a day,
whatever your schedule allows.
That's the time sitting downand write.
What if I have no idea how towrite a book?
I may need some educationbehind it.
So I may be researching awriting coach or an editor or
(21:00):
whatever.
I need to write a book, I mayneed some education behind it,
so I may be researching awriting coach or an editor or
whatever I need to get this bookpublished.
I'm setting a goal for that.
Like I need to have, say, Ineed to have an editor by second
quarter.
Then I'm setting goals to findan editor, what qualities I'm
looking for in this editor,what's my budget, things like
(21:21):
that.
And by the end of the secondquarter the goal is to have an
editor lined up.
So you get what I'm saying.
I'm breaking down each goalinto tiny bites so it doesn't
feel overwhelming.
So, like for me.
Let me use myself as an examplebecause again, I can talk about
me, I can't talk about you.
I have set a goal.
(21:41):
I've known for a while that Iwanted to go to the Caribbean.
I've known for a while that Idid not know how to swim.
So I set a goal last year byNovember of 2024, I would know
how to swim.
So what did I have to do?
I had to find a swim lesson,swim class.
(22:04):
I had to sign up for the swimclass.
I had to put on my calendarthat once a week I was going to
be in the swim class from 8,8.30 to 9.15.
I had to make sure that I hadspace on my calendar if there
were any things in advance thatI was going to be doing.
Ok, I'm going to miss this day.
I'm going to miss this day.
So if I knew that I was goingto be missing a swim class, then
(22:26):
I knew that I had to get in thegym and get to the pool at some
point to get that practice inthat I missed from the class.
So then I knew that by Novemberof 2024, when I get on a plane
to go on my trip I would be ableto swim.
And so that has happened.
(22:51):
I upped my game.
So I knew that, taking the swimlessons, I knew that eventually
I was going to get advanced.
So I would have to up the antea little bit.
So there was a point where Ihad written in the goal after X,
y, z, after so many lessons, Iwas going to get a private
(23:12):
instructor.
Okay, so that increased my timeat the pool.
So instead of once a week, Ihad to make room for twice a
week.
I had to make room for twoextra hours in a week to be at
the pool for my swim lessons,and I also had to make extra
time to be at the pool to getpractice in.
(23:33):
So you see how that's working.
I'm laying out everythingindividually so I will know what
the heck I'm doing and inmoments where we may have had a
weather delay or anything canhappen.
I may have been sick orwhatever.
I knew that I had missed Xamount of days, so this is how
many days I had to make it backup in the gym, in the pool.
(23:55):
So I hope this is making sense.
I hope this is resonating foryou.
Okay?
So after I get all of my goalsdown, I actually have a
whiteboard in my office and Isit in the whiteboard.
I break it up into quarters, soit's just four sections, and on
that board I will put what themain goals are at the bottom.
(24:17):
So in the fourth quarter, whatare the main goals?
And I work backwards and putdown items like action, items
that I need to be doing in orderto reach those goals, and once
a week I check in with myself.
So every Sunday I sit down andI go over okay, what has worked
well, what do I need to adjust?
I'm taking inventory.
(24:38):
So you're taking inventorythroughout this entire process
just to make sure that you're ontrack, because it's easy to see
that you're off track whenyou're at the end, but by that
time it's too late.
Doing an inventory weekly weeklyworks best for me, but whatever
works best for you, you can doa monthly inventory, you can do
(24:59):
bi-weekly.
Whatever works best for you,figure it out.
But weekly works good for mebecause that gives me time to
adjust if and when necessary.
So I get on my whiteboard and Ihave my action items up and I
like checklists.
I like to see little checkmarks on my whiteboard because
that makes me feel like I'mmoving along.
(25:20):
I need a visual representationof what I'm doing.
So on my whiteboard I wouldcheck off I did this this week,
I did this this month, blah,blah, blah, and that helps me to
stay on track as well.
So when I do inventory I canvisually see where, what
progress we're making.
So I put everything on mywhiteboard and then I go pray
(25:43):
again and this time I pray God,help me to be disciplined, help
me to stay motivated, you know,help me to love what I'm doing,
help me to stay focused, thatkind of thing.
And once I have all my goalsand everything written down,
here's how I get reallysuccessful at it.
I find scriptures to back upwhat I'm doing.
(26:05):
I find scriptures to help mestay focused on what I'm doing.
So most of the time and I willput the scriptures in the show
notes as well, but a lot oftimes it's mostly things that
like scriptures that help me tofocus, scriptures that help me
(26:28):
to whenever I'm having a bad day.
They make me feel joy, theyhelp me remind me of why I'm
doing what I'm doing, helps meto commit my way to the Lord,
helps me to trust in the Lordwith all my heart and lean out
unto my own understanding thosekind of scriptures.
So I do that and refer back tothose whenever life starts to
(26:48):
come at me real fast.
So once I do all that I knowthis sounds like a lot, y'all,
but you really just do youreally the setup is what takes
the longest.
Once you set it up, you canjust refer back to it.
So then I used this thing calledthe Eisenhower Method.
Now, the Eisenhower Method wascreated by Dwight D Eisenhower,
(27:11):
one of the United Statespresidents, and he was
considered to be one of the mostorganized presidents in history
, and his method was basicallyteaching you, teaching us, how
to delegate things.
So it helps to determine whatis urgent, what's not urgent,
what can be delegated, whatneeds to be tossed away, and
(27:32):
it's a four-quadrant kind ofthing.
So I'm going to put that in theshow notes as well.
It's going to be a nice littlePDF y'all.
I really should charge for this, but I'm not.
But I use that to help like moldnot mold, but bring together my
goals along with my life.
So whenever there are thingsthat come up in my life, then I
(27:57):
know, okay, okay, is this theweek that I need to be focusing
on this goal, or do I need to betaking care of something in my
life so that helps me to to seevisually, because I'm a visual
person.
It helps me to visually seewhere I am and what I need to do
in that moment, outside ofpraying from God, praying to God
.
So I use the eyes of howmethods as well.
I also use the eyes of how aswell.
(28:20):
I also use the Eisenhowermethod.
Well, I don't have to use it asmuch now on my current job, but
I use it a lot just to help mestay organized.
And so, excuse me, even in thisprocess, as I'm going through
and accomplishing these goals, Ijournal everything every step
of the way, because you willhave some emotions that come up.
You're a human being, so you'regoing to have some emotions
(28:41):
that come up.
Um, for me, it is frustratingwhen I don't get something done.
So I have to journal and remindmyself Tracy, you're a human
being, you're not perfect.
You're not a robot.
You'll get it done.
Grant yourself grace.
So I journaled throughout myentire process just to help
myself along the way.
I have to be.
(29:02):
Let me put it like this Nobody,nobody on this earth, can
criticize me more than myself,and so I have to put in place
protections for me from me.
But I have to say all right,girl, stop beating yourself up,
(29:22):
it's fine, let's move on.
So if you heard yourself when Isaid that journaling is
probably the best thing for yououtside of therapy and prayer,
so I journal everything, andagain I check in with myself
once a week just to see where weare.
And so, even with my dailytasks because, again, I have a
(29:47):
full time job, I have a wholelife.
I got friends, I got family, Igot a no, I stopped myself, but
I have a life.
So I'm not so goal oriented anddriven that I don't sit here
and have fun.
You know, life is to be enjoyed.
So how do I do daily things?
(30:08):
Well, I'm glad you asked.
I use a sticky note and I gotthis from a former mentor of
mine, amber.
Shout out to Amber.
She taught me this and I stilldo it.
She taught me this years ago.
But I keep sticky notes and youknow the regular square, small
sticky notes and for my dailytasks I write on that sticky
(30:30):
note what needs to be done inthat day, and it ranges from
paying a bill, going to get ahaircut, make sure I go get some
gas, whatever needs to be donein that day, it goes in the
sticky note and if it does notfit on that sticky note it won't
get done that day.
When I tell you that is sosimple but so profound the
(30:55):
anxiety and overwhelm.
I don't have that no more whenit comes to daily tasks.
So if it doesn't fit on asticky note it won't get done
that day and I'm perfectly finewith it.
I may have to talk to myself,talk myself off the ledge, but
it got easier.
And so the sticky note methodreally does help and I keep that
(31:17):
sticky note on my workstation.
I'll take a picture of it, putit on my phone just in case, I'm
up from my desk so I can havethat thing there and I can just
check it off.
I put notes in my phone becauseideas will come throughout the
day.
There may be something that I'mworking on goal-wise and then
somebody gives me a great ideaor leads me to a person that I
(31:41):
may need to talk to to help meget to that goal.
I keep notes in my phone too,for those very reasons.
So those methods have been veryhelpful for me to be able to
accomplish so many things, and Iinclude everything, like I'm a
(32:02):
whole human being.
So there are things goals thatI have for my faith and
spiritual life.
There are goals that I have formy fitness.
Of course you know, fit, fineand fabulous by 50.
That's still going.
I have to include those goalsbecause I have benchmarks for my
weight loss and it helps me tosee progress because if I relied
on the scale I will be so madbecause that scale muscle weight
(32:24):
is more than fat, so the scalecan have you like yo what is
happening.
But there are differentbenchmarks that I have, like
going down the size of myclothes or, um, if I see a cute
little outfit, I'm gonna go buythat outfit.
You know things like that justlittle benchmarks and so um,
having a checklist there justhelps me to visually see that
(32:45):
I'm making progress and I reallyget proud of myself for doing
the work.
Maybe, if you do the work, thework will work for you, amen.
So I hope those things arehelpful for you.
I feel like I went through themreally, really fast, but I'm
passionate about it.
But that's the good thing aboutyou listening to this podcast,
because you can always rewind it.
You can always rewind it andlisten to it later on, and you
(33:11):
also have show notes and thingslike that.
So there's really no excusey'all.
And if you are on a journeywhere you are, I used to call it
slaying goals slay life withoutapology.
The OGs who listen to me knowabout that.
But if you're wanting help withslaying goals, this is what I
used to do.
I'm a certified life coach too,so I used to teach people how
(33:31):
to do this.
But, yeah, let me know how youare if you have created any
goals for 2025, if you eventhink about 2025 right now.
I realize there's a lot tothink about in this world, so
you may not be, but preparationit just it's like the magical
(33:53):
thing in life you can beprepared, you can get ready, you
can stay ready.
So stay ready, so you don'thave to get ready.
But I hope that this has helpedyou in some way, shape or form.
As always, you know, I don'tlike coming on here and just
talking and running my mouth fornothing.
I always try to come and bringyou something for your head, for
your heart, for your spirit,you know, whatever, whatever you
(34:15):
need, because we need a lot.
But I hope that this has helpedyou in some kind of way.
Just let me know.
You know, reach out, let meknow if this was helpful.
If you need me to expound alittle bit more, let me know.
I don't mind answeringquestions.
I'll probably put a sticker orsomething in Instagram just to
(34:37):
ask you know what you thoughtabout this episode.
But again, y'all, I will beback next week with another
episode of the Charger Station.
Thank you for joining me thisweek and always remember God
loves you, I love you, and thereain't nothing you can do about
it.
Boo Bye.
What's good everybody .
Welcome to the Charging StationPodcast.
It's your girl, tracy Massey ofLiving my Empowered Life.
Hello, hello, hello, hello,hello.
I hope that you are having afun, fabulous day, afternoon,
evening, whatever time it is,wherever you are listening to
this episode, welcome.
If you are new here, welcome tothe couchy couch.
(00:46):
Come on in, make yourselfcomfortable, have a seat, take
your shoes off, tap the handsanitizer, you know, have a
little drink.
If you are returning, you knowI love me some, you, I love all
of y'all, but it's just thereturning listeners.
Welcome back, boo, welcome backY'all.
Go ahead, grab your coffee,grab your tea, grab your water,
grab your wine, whatever yourbeverage of choice is.
(01:07):
Go ahead, grab that thing andlet's sit down have a little
chit chat on the couchy couch.
If you're not following me onall the socials, you know what
to do.
Go ahead, look me up onInstagram, facebook TikTok
Threads, facebook TikTok Threads, youtube, living my Empowered
Life on all of them.
Just follow, comment, share,interact and, if you are,
(01:34):
whatever preferred platformyou're listening to this podcast
on, make sure that you followor subscribe whatever the
instructions say and also makesure that you rate and leave a
review.
Let know why you love this,this episode, why you love this
podcast, if you've been rockingwith me for the last seven years
.
Seven, a whole seven number ofcompletion.
(01:54):
Let me know you know what youlike, let me know how you feel
about it.
So y'all it is um.
Actually, next week is November,so at the time of the recording
of this podcast it's almost theend of 2024.
And I don't know about you, butfor me this is like the perfect
(02:16):
time of year for me to bethinking about the next year.
And so, truth be told, Iactually started thinking about
the new year in August.
I'm a little weird like that.
I'm always thinking ahead, andI started planning for things
(02:37):
like on my calendar in August,because if it's not on my
calendar, it doesn't exist.
I have to put everything on mycalendar because I'm 48 and I
forget things and also life isbusy.
So if it's not on my calendar,it will not get done, it will
not get acknowledged, it justdoesn't exist.
So on this episode, I'm goingto share with you guys a few
(03:02):
things that I do to prepare forthe new year, as well as what I
do to set goals and how I amable to achieve every single
goal that I set in the year andjust a few little things, that
little tricks and tips that I'velearned over the years with you
guys, in the hopes that itinspires you to prepare for your
(03:24):
2025.
So, like right now, I alreadyhave stuff on my calendar for
2025.
And, you know, I'm trying to bereal mindful about saying dates
and times and years, because Irealized that this, this podcast
, will live on even when I havegone on to glory to be with the
Lord.
So, even though I'm saying it's2025, because that's the time
(03:46):
period that I'm in at the timeof the recording of this podcast
, you can use this beyond.
So, even if you are in the year2030, you can use these things
for future planning and I'm aplanner future planning and I'm
(04:09):
a planner.
I'm pretty organized.
I have an administrative gift,so I can actually see things and
administratively think, okay,how can we make this better?
Like I should be a projectmanager, honestly, but I think
that would just get on my nerves.
Like I don't.
I don't like for my gifts to.
I know my gifts are going tomake room for me, but I don't
like to be like having to usethem.
That sounds weird, notnecessarily.
Let me rephrase I don't like tohave the pressure on using my
(04:32):
gifts.
There we go, but yeah, I'm, I'mvery gifted in organizing and
planning and in the friend groupI'm the one that plans trips.
I'm the one that you know doesthings like that and I love it
when I meet other people that dothat.
So I don't have to do it.
Shout out to my friend Claire,she plans the trips and finds
(04:54):
the restaurants and does allthat.
And I just like thank you, boo,because you know it's hard
being that person in the group,but I really appreciate it.
So I'm just going to go aheadand get started and, as always,
this is an interactive podcast.
So if you hear something thathas inspired you, if you try
some of the tips you know, letme know.
You have an option to text mein the show notes and you can
(05:16):
always email me at hello atlivingmyempoweredlifecom, and
you can always hit me up on thesocials.
I'm on Instagram all the time.
I'm on TikTok all the time.
I'm starting to love threads.
So, you know, not hard to find,I'm not hard to find, y'all.
All right, as I said, I'malready planning 2025.
(05:38):
My books are open for speakingengagements in 2025.
I've got some like myappointments for, like doctor's
visits, and things are alreadyon the books for 2025.
And please don't let this scareyou or overwhelm you.
Again, the reason why I do thisis because if it's not on my
calendar, it doesn't exist.
(05:59):
And I also realize that life isnot going to be perfect and
there are going to be timeswhere things are going to come
up.
So you have to rearrange and dothings like that.
But in the rearranging, thereason why I put everything on
my calendar and kind of havethings in place is because if,
by chance, there is a monkeywrench that comes up, I don't
(06:20):
get rattled, I don't getdistracted, because what's on my
calendar I know.
Okay, well, I can't do thatthis day, let's find another day
where I can reschedule it.
So that's why I primarily dothat.
And, being a busy woman, I gota lot of stuff going on and I
don't like dropping balls andthings like that.
Now, I'm not saying that I'mperfect, because things can slip
(06:42):
through the cracks, but atleast I know if I have it on my
calendar it minimizes the chanceof it being forgotten.
So here are a few things that Ido to help plan out my year.
First of all, I don't look atmy year as 365 days.
That, to me, is superoverwhelming.
(07:03):
So what I have to do is breakthings down by quarters.
So I look at first quarter,second quarter, third quarter,
fourth quarter almost like abusiness.
You know what's going on withthis season.
Um, first quarter, there are alot of preliminary things that
need to get out of the way.
Second quarter is like checkingup on what I what happened in
the first and third, checking upwhat worked well in the second
(07:25):
and the first.
Where do I need to adjust?
And fourth quarter is like theroundup of the culmination of
the entire year.
What worked well, what didn'twork well, where do I need to
change, what needs to beadjusted, what needs to be added
, what needs to be taken away.
So it's like a whole inventoryof the year, but I'm doing it
quarterly.
That makes sense.
(07:46):
And so the first thing I do,before I even sit down to even
write a single goal, I pray, Ipray and I ask God what is it
that you want me to accomplishin the next year?
And the reason why I do this isbecause I have been not
consulting God in areas of mylife and it has been a total
(08:08):
disaster and a I'm not going tosay a waste of time.
It's been a learning experiencewith my time.
There are things that I shouldnot have gotten into that I got
into and it distracted me and Ihad to, you know, kind of go all
the way around Robin Hood'sbarn, as the old folks say to
get to the goal that was meantfor me.
And so now I have learned sitdown and I have a meeting with
(08:33):
the Lord.
He is my CEO of the TracyMassey Corporation.
Okay, he is the boss.
So I sit down and I pray.
I usually fast too, so I willfast.
Um well, it depends on the timeframe of my fast.
(08:55):
I can still go off that, butsometimes I've done one day
where I fasted and then had myprayer time, and then I've done
40 days fasting and then did theprayer time.
It just depends on what Godsays.
So I first thing is I sit downand I consult God and ask what
is your will for me, yourperfect will for me for the next
year?
So I've asked the question God,what is your will for me for
(09:17):
2025?
And in my prayer time I alsothank him for allowing me to
accomplish the things in theprevious year.
So this year I sat down I saidGod, thank you for allowing me
to accomplish so many things in2024.
Thank you for doors that opened.
Thank you for doors that haveclosed.
Thank you for keeping thingsaway from me that were
(09:39):
detrimental to my well-being.
God, thank you for newfriendships, thank you for old.
Like I'm going through thiswhole gratitude thing and just
thanking God for what he hasdone for me and those connected
to me in this time frame.
Y'all, I'm giving you theblueprint of how I do this, so I
hope that you're writing thisdown and listening, but I do
(09:59):
that.
Have that prayer time and then Iwill say I will ask God well,
what is it that you want me?
What is your perfect will forme for 2025?
And the reason why I say whatis your perfect will?
Because there is a thing calledpermissive will and that
permissive will and perfect willare two different things.
Permissive will is what Godallows you to have because,
(10:20):
basically, you begged him for itand even though he knows that
you either, you really don'twant it.
You need a little more clarityon what you're asking for, but
he knows what's best for us.
So he will sometimes give usthat thing that we are hammering
him about, just to show us likehuh, huh, yeah, you really
didn't want that.
It's like you have a kid andthey want, like kids do this all
(10:44):
the time.
I don't know what it is, butchildren are fascinated by ovens
for some reason.
Well, at least the kids that Igrew up with, these new age
children, they different.
But the kids that I grew upwith, they were fascinated by
ovens.
And even my daughter was like,fascinated by the oven.
So I would have to teach herit's hot.
I would say it's hot, and shewould repeat hot and she will
(11:05):
repeat hot, yes, hot.
Don't you know?
That little girl will touch theoven anyway and she didn't
realize that it was hot untilshe got burned.
Now, it wasn't a severe burn,but she felt the heat of the
oven.
So think about permissive willis like that.
It's you're getting what youhave asked for, and God's
perfect will is that thing thathe wants for you.
It's different.
(11:25):
He will grant you a littleextra grace, a little extra
anointing, a little extra oomph.
He will put his stank on thatperfect will.
So that's what I want for mylife, because even perfect will
doesn't come without challenges.
But at least with thatchallenge, baby, I'm ready for
it, I can take it on because Godhas grace to me for it.
(11:47):
So I pray for God's perfectwill over my goals and things
like that for the next, theupcoming year.
Another thing I pray is Godbless the work of my hands and I
pray that whatever he allows meto create, produce, speak on,
(12:08):
whatever he allows me to bringforth in this earth, that he
blesses the work of my hands andlet his anointing be felt on it
.
I really want God's people tofeel God.
Whenever I do a thing, it isnot about me Because Tracy is
flawed and imperfect.
She will stutter, she, you know.
(12:29):
She might cuss a little bit,you know.
So Tracy is flawed, but whenI'm doing something for God and
for God's people, I want him tobe felt in it Like it's really
not about me.
Yeah, I'm grateful for theopportunity to do it.
You know, people recognizingwhat I do, that's, that's great,
like that's just the whippedcream on the cherry on top of
(12:50):
God is ice cream.
So it's never about me.
So I ask him to bless the workof my hands.
I ask him to bless my voice sothat, in my words, so I will be
able to speak to all people youknow, and all of this is
scripture y'all.
So in the show notes, I'mactually going to create a
(13:12):
little PDF for y'all in the shownotes.
And in the show notes I'm goingto give you the tools that I
use and I'm going to write downthe prayer.
I'm going to try to articulateand write down the prayer that I
pray.
Now, of course, you don't haveto pray this prayer exactly the
way that it is.
You know cater it for you, butI'm going to put in the prayer
that I pray and also the toolsthat I use and the scriptures
(13:34):
that I use to pray this prayerand back up what I'm saying.
Okay, so that was.
That was just a littlecommercial break.
Once I get done praying, youknow, I kind of sit for a minute
before I move on to the nextthing and, um, I give space for
Holy Spirit to speak.
So whatever Holy Spirit issaying to me, you know, oh, oh,
oh wait, oh, I forgot the mostimportant part.
(13:56):
Lord, I'm sorry.
Um, I pray that my the, thedesires of my heart, align with
God's desires for me.
So again, that's praying hisperfect will.
And a lot of times y'all thistakes a lot of pressure off of
you too, because if God tellsyou to do something, I'll be
like Lord.
If you're telling me to do this, then this is on you, and I
(14:19):
learned this from my mentor, bigSister Dr Three.
She's like if God's telling youto do something, you don't have
to worry about if it's going tosucceed, because if it doesn't,
it's going to look.
You know it's going to be onhim, and God ain't trying to be
out here looking crazy, allright.
So of course it's going to workif you do it the way that he
(14:43):
tells you to do.
So I also pray, god, let thedesires of my heart align with
your desire for me, and I alsoask him to give me the wisdom
and the discernment to move whenI'm supposed to move and stand
still when I'm not supposed tobe moving, because even in the
standing still you're stillworking.
Because I've said this a fewtimes, it's not necessarily like
God will download ideas for meall of the time, like I have
(15:04):
notebooks of stuff.
It's ridiculous, but sometimesit's not a now thing, it's a God
thing.
But he doesn't mean for you todo it right now, and so that's a
hard lesson that I've had tolearn is to sit down and wait
for the Lord to say all rightnow, move now.
So I pray that he shows me histiming and that I'm in sync with
his timing.
(15:24):
So once I do all that, I justsit for a minute.
Sometimes I'll play worshipmusic and I was just sitting in
the prayer and just listen forHoly Spirit to talk, and this
whole time I have my journal ornotebook right beside me so I
can write down what comes to mythoughts, because a lot of times
I brain dump Before I evenstart taking action on a goal or
(15:47):
even organizing the goals.
I just sit and brain dump andI'll also have what I've done
the previous year.
Now, the last couple of years, Ihave accomplished everything
that I've set out to do, butsometimes it's not like that
because again, it could be alater on thing.
(16:08):
It's a God thing, but it couldbe a later on thing.
So I go back and see whatwasn't accomplished and then I
pray is this supposed to be inthis season?
If it is, it goes on the list.
If it's not, it goes back tothe waiting list, and so once I
sit and just wait to hear fromHoly Spirit, what pops up in my
(16:29):
mind or whatever, then I get towriting.
I start to write down everythingthat the Holy Spirit tells me,
all of these dreams and goalsand things like that.
Oh, one thing I also pray.
Sorry y'all, I'm not.
I didn't bring my notes thistime, so I'm really going off
the top of my head.
So forgive me, but one of thethings I also pray is God, bring
(16:53):
back to my remembrance thosethings that you told me to do
that I didn't do, and show mewhen it's time to do them.
So even if I don't havesomething written in my notebook
which nine times out of ten itis he will remind me of those
things, because there's somethings that God showed me that I
was supposed to do in childhoodthat I haven't done yet,
(17:16):
whether it be because of age ortiming or whatever.
So I'm asking him to remind meof those things.
Okay, now back on track.
So I start writing downeverything and it's really just
basically a brain dump.
Usually a brain dump for me issometimes it's three things.
I've had where it's been fouror five pages of things.
(17:37):
So it just depends on, I guess,whatever the season is for me
to do these things.
So I would write, I would justbrain dump and not even thinking
about how to even get thesethings accomplished Because
again, it may not be the time orthe season to do those things.
So I would write everythingdown, get it out my head, so my
head is clear, and then I willsit and I will pray again well,
(18:00):
god, which of these things doyou want me to do in the
upcoming year?
And there was one season where Ihad written down all these
things and God was like don't doany of them, because this is
the season where I need yourested.
That was hard.
That was hard because I really,as somebody that is very
goal-oriented and driven, it washard for me not to accomplish
(18:25):
something.
But God actually taught mepatience and peace in that
season and that resting.
I see why he had me rest,because I didn't realize that
the season coming up was aseason I was going to be
fighting for my life, literally.
I didn't realize that theseason coming up was a season.
I was going to be fighting formy life, literally.
So sitting down in that prayertime is really helpful because
God will always show you andprepare you for what's coming.
(18:47):
You just got to listen.
So once we get the brain up outof the way and God shows me what
he wants me to accomplish forthe upcoming year, that's when I
start to come up with astrategy, and so I will break
those goals down.
And I've done a goal-settingepisode before, way back when,
(19:09):
maybe about three or four yearsago, I'm not quite sure when,
but this is the updated version.
Okay, because we are evolvingand you know life be life and
God be God, and life is evolving, so we're evolving, evolving
and think, you know, life belife and God be God, and life is
evolving, so we're evolving.
So I still have maybe one ortwo, no more than three big
goals that are going to beaccomplished.
(19:30):
But again, I don't look at thatgoal as I have to get it done
in the first quarter.
No, I look at the big goals and, strategically, throughout the
entire year, I'm working towardsthat big goal.
So by the end of the year thatgoal is accomplished.
So here's how I break it down.
I have my three goals, orhowever many goals I have, for
(19:52):
the sake of time today.
Let's say I have this one goaland so it's a big goal.
Um, say you want to publish abook this year, so your big goal
is to have your book publishedby the end of the year.
It really doesn't take thatlong to publish a book, y'all.
I'm just using this, so don'tcome for me all you published
authors and people like that outthere.
(20:13):
Okay, we're just using this asan example.
So say you want to have yourbook written and published by
the end of the year.
So that's the big goal.
So what am I doing to get tothat big goal?
First thing I'm going to do isfigure out the concept of the
book.
Then I'm going to figure outlike I'm going to set aside time
(20:38):
to actually sit down and write.
So it could be once a week,once a month, 30 minutes a day,
whatever your schedule allows.
That's the time sitting downand write.
What if I have no idea how towrite a book?
I may need some educationbehind it.
So I may be researching awriting coach or an editor or
(21:00):
whatever.
I need to write a book, I mayneed some education behind it,
so I may be researching awriting coach or an editor or
whatever I need to get this bookpublished.
I'm setting a goal for that.
Like I need to have, say, Ineed to have an editor by second
quarter.
Then I'm setting goals to findan editor, what qualities I'm
looking for in this editor,what's my budget, things like
(21:21):
that.
And by the end of the secondquarter the goal is to have an
editor lined up.
So you get what I'm saying.
I'm breaking down each goalinto tiny bites so it doesn't
feel overwhelming.
So, like for me.
Let me use myself as an examplebecause again, I can talk about
me, I can't talk about you.
I have set a goal.
(21:41):
I've known for a while that Iwanted to go to the Caribbean.
I've known for a while that Idid not know how to swim.
So I set a goal last year byNovember of 2024, I would know
how to swim.
So what did I have to do?
I had to find a swim lesson,swim class.
(22:04):
I had to sign up for the swimclass.
I had to put on my calendarthat once a week I was going to
be in the swim class from 8,8.30 to 9.15.
I had to make sure that I hadspace on my calendar if there
were any things in advance thatI was going to be doing.
Ok, I'm going to miss this day.
I'm going to miss this day.
So if I knew that I was goingto be missing a swim class, then
(22:26):
I knew that I had to get in thegym and get to the pool at some
point to get that practice inthat I missed from the class.
So then I knew that by Novemberof 2024, when I get on a plane
to go on my trip I would be ableto swim.
And so that has happened.
(22:51):
I upped my game.
So I knew that, taking the swimlessons, I knew that eventually
I was going to get advanced.
So I would have to up the antea little bit.
So there was a point where Ihad written in the goal after X,
y, z, after so many lessons, Iwas going to get a private
(23:12):
instructor.
Okay, so that increased my timeat the pool.
So instead of once a week, Ihad to make room for twice a
week.
I had to make room for twoextra hours in a week to be at
the pool for my swim lessons,and I also had to make extra
time to be at the pool to getpractice in.
(23:33):
So you see how that's working.
I'm laying out everythingindividually so I will know what
the heck I'm doing and inmoments where we may have had a
weather delay or anything canhappen.
I may have been sick orwhatever.
I knew that I had missed Xamount of days, so this is how
many days I had to make it backup in the gym, in the pool.
(23:55):
So I hope this is making sense.
I hope this is resonating foryou.
Okay?
So after I get all of my goalsdown, I actually have a
whiteboard in my office and Isit in the whiteboard.
I break it up into quarters, soit's just four sections, and on
that board I will put what themain goals are at the bottom.
(24:17):
So in the fourth quarter, whatare the main goals?
And I work backwards and putdown items like action, items
that I need to be doing in orderto reach those goals, and once
a week I check in with myself.
So every Sunday I sit down andI go over okay, what has worked
well, what do I need to adjust?
I'm taking inventory.
(24:38):
So you're taking inventorythroughout this entire process
just to make sure that you're ontrack, because it's easy to see
that you're off track whenyou're at the end, but by that
time it's too late.
Doing an inventory weekly weeklyworks best for me, but whatever
works best for you, you can doa monthly inventory, you can do
(24:59):
bi-weekly.
Whatever works best for you,figure it out.
But weekly works good for mebecause that gives me time to
adjust if and when necessary.
So I get on my whiteboard and Ihave my action items up and I
like checklists.
I like to see little checkmarks on my whiteboard because
that makes me feel like I'mmoving along.
(25:20):
I need a visual representationof what I'm doing.
So on my whiteboard I wouldcheck off I did this this week,
I did this this month, blah,blah, blah, and that helps me to
stay on track as well.
So when I do inventory I canvisually see where, what
progress we're making.
So I put everything on mywhiteboard and then I go pray
(25:43):
again and this time I pray God,help me to be disciplined, help
me to stay motivated, you know,help me to love what I'm doing,
help me to stay focused, thatkind of thing.
And once I have all my goalsand everything written down,
here's how I get reallysuccessful at it.
I find scriptures to back upwhat I'm doing.
(26:05):
I find scriptures to help mestay focused on what I'm doing.
So most of the time and I willput the scriptures in the show
notes as well, but a lot oftimes it's mostly things that
like scriptures that help me tofocus, scriptures that help me
(26:28):
to whenever I'm having a bad day.
They make me feel joy, theyhelp me remind me of why I'm
doing what I'm doing, helps meto commit my way to the Lord,
helps me to trust in the Lordwith all my heart and lean out
unto my own understanding thosekind of scriptures.
So I do that and refer back tothose whenever life starts to
(26:48):
come at me real fast.
So once I do all that I knowthis sounds like a lot, y'all,
but you really just do youreally the setup is what takes
the longest.
Once you set it up, you canjust refer back to it.
So then I used this thing calledthe Eisenhower Method.
Now, the Eisenhower Method wascreated by Dwight D Eisenhower,
(27:11):
one of the United Statespresidents, and he was
considered to be one of the mostorganized presidents in history
, and his method was basicallyteaching you, teaching us, how
to delegate things.
So it helps to determine whatis urgent, what's not urgent,
what can be delegated, whatneeds to be tossed away, and
(27:32):
it's a four-quadrant kind ofthing.
So I'm going to put that in theshow notes as well.
It's going to be a nice littlePDF y'all.
I really should charge for this, but I'm not.
But I use that to help like moldnot mold, but bring together my
goals along with my life.
So whenever there are thingsthat come up in my life, then I
(27:57):
know, okay, okay, is this theweek that I need to be focusing
on this goal, or do I need to betaking care of something in my
life so that helps me to to seevisually, because I'm a visual
person.
It helps me to visually seewhere I am and what I need to do
in that moment, outside ofpraying from God, praying to God
.
So I use the eyes of howmethods as well.
I also use the eyes of how aswell.
(28:20):
I also use the Eisenhowermethod.
Well, I don't have to use it asmuch now on my current job, but
I use it a lot just to help mestay organized.
And so, excuse me, even in thisprocess, as I'm going through
and accomplishing these goals, Ijournal everything every step
of the way, because you willhave some emotions that come up.
You're a human being, so you'regoing to have some emotions
(28:41):
that come up.
Um, for me, it is frustratingwhen I don't get something done.
So I have to journal and remindmyself Tracy, you're a human
being, you're not perfect.
You're not a robot.
You'll get it done.
Grant yourself grace.
So I journaled throughout myentire process just to help
myself along the way.
I have to be.
(29:02):
Let me put it like this Nobody,nobody on this earth, can
criticize me more than myself,and so I have to put in place
protections for me from me.
But I have to say all right,girl, stop beating yourself up,
(29:22):
it's fine, let's move on.
So if you heard yourself when Isaid that journaling is
probably the best thing for yououtside of therapy and prayer,
so I journal everything, andagain I check in with myself
once a week just to see where weare.
And so, even with my dailytasks because, again, I have a
(29:47):
full time job, I have a wholelife.
I got friends, I got family, Igot a no, I stopped myself, but
I have a life.
So I'm not so goal oriented anddriven that I don't sit here
and have fun.
You know, life is to be enjoyed.
So how do I do daily things?
(30:08):
Well, I'm glad you asked.
I use a sticky note and I gotthis from a former mentor of
mine, amber.
Shout out to Amber.
She taught me this and I stilldo it.
She taught me this years ago.
But I keep sticky notes and youknow the regular square, small
sticky notes and for my dailytasks I write on that sticky
(30:30):
note what needs to be done inthat day, and it ranges from
paying a bill, going to get ahaircut, make sure I go get some
gas, whatever needs to be donein that day, it goes in the
sticky note and if it does notfit on that sticky note it won't
get done that day.
When I tell you that is sosimple but so profound the
(30:55):
anxiety and overwhelm.
I don't have that no more whenit comes to daily tasks.
So if it doesn't fit on asticky note it won't get done
that day and I'm perfectly finewith it.
I may have to talk to myself,talk myself off the ledge, but
it got easier.
And so the sticky note methodreally does help and I keep that
(31:17):
sticky note on my workstation.
I'll take a picture of it, putit on my phone just in case, I'm
up from my desk so I can havethat thing there and I can just
check it off.
I put notes in my phone becauseideas will come throughout the
day.
There may be something that I'mworking on goal-wise and then
somebody gives me a great ideaor leads me to a person that I
(31:41):
may need to talk to to help meget to that goal.
I keep notes in my phone too,for those very reasons.
So those methods have been veryhelpful for me to be able to
accomplish so many things, and Iinclude everything, like I'm a
(32:02):
whole human being.
So there are things goals thatI have for my faith and
spiritual life.
There are goals that I have formy fitness.
Of course you know, fit, fineand fabulous by 50.
That's still going.
I have to include those goalsbecause I have benchmarks for my
weight loss and it helps me tosee progress because if I relied
on the scale I will be so madbecause that scale muscle weight
(32:24):
is more than fat, so the scalecan have you like yo what is
happening.
But there are differentbenchmarks that I have, like
going down the size of myclothes or, um, if I see a cute
little outfit, I'm gonna go buythat outfit.
You know things like that justlittle benchmarks and so um,
having a checklist there justhelps me to visually see that
(32:45):
I'm making progress and I reallyget proud of myself for doing
the work.
Maybe, if you do the work, thework will work for you, amen.
So I hope those things arehelpful for you.
I feel like I went through themreally, really fast, but I'm
passionate about it.
But that's the good thing aboutyou listening to this podcast,
because you can always rewind it.
You can always rewind it andlisten to it later on, and you
(33:11):
also have show notes and thingslike that.
So there's really no excusey'all.
And if you are on a journeywhere you are, I used to call it
slaying goals slay life withoutapology.
The OGs who listen to me knowabout that.
But if you're wanting help withslaying goals, this is what I
used to do.
I'm a certified life coach too,so I used to teach people how
(33:31):
to do this.
But, yeah, let me know how youare if you have created any
goals for 2025, if you eventhink about 2025 right now.
I realize there's a lot tothink about in this world, so
you may not be, but preparationit just it's like the magical
(33:53):
thing in life you can beprepared, you can get ready, you
can stay ready.
So stay ready, so you don'thave to get ready.
But I hope that this has helpedyou in some way, shape or form.
As always, you know, I don'tlike coming on here and just
talking and running my mouth fornothing.
I always try to come and bringyou something for your head, for
your heart, for your spirit,you know, whatever, whatever you
(34:15):
need, because we need a lot.
But I hope that this has helpedyou in some kind of way.
Just let me know.
You know, reach out, let meknow if this was helpful.
If you need me to expound alittle bit more, let me know.
I don't mind answeringquestions.
I'll probably put a sticker orsomething in Instagram just to
(34:37):
ask you know what you thoughtabout this episode.
But again, y'all, I will beback next week with another
episode of the Charger Station.
Thank you for joining me thisweek and always remember God
loves you, I love you, and thereain't nothing you can do about
it.
Boo Bye.
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