The Restored Mind | Leadership & Rhythms For High-Achieving Moms
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You've got the school pickups, the schedules, and the career handled. So why does motherhood still feel like something's missing?
Welcome to The Restored Mind, a podcast for the high-achieving Christian mom who has the logistics down but is craving the heart, presence, and nurturing that make motherhood feel rich instead of just managed.
Here, leadership isn't just something you practice in your career. It's the heart of how you show up at home, too. And rhythms are what help you pivot through the different seasons of motherhood, without rigid systems that break the moment life shifts. Faith is the foundation everything else is built on. When you anchor yourself to God, He bleeds into every part of your life: your leadership, your rhythms, your home.
I'm Caroline Thao. I used to live in the "misery mommy mindset," feeling like motherhood was too much. Now I see it as one of the greatest blessings, even through every phase and season.
Every other week, you'll get real conversations on leadership, rhythms, and a faith-rooted life. It's practical enough to use this week, and deep enough to actually change how you lead your home. Hit follow so you don't miss one.
In today's episode I talk about the importance of self-discipline in achieving goals and mindset transformation. This episode also emphasizes the need to nurture self-discipline, avoid relying solely on motivation, and learning to say no to things that do not align with your goals. I also share personal experiences and practical tips to help you stay committed and overcome challenges in your journey towards self-improvement.
Hey friend, welcome to the restored mind podcast, where we are going to be talking about various life topics surrounding mindset transformations. These topics are coming from a faith lens and will propel you into a life of peace and joy. My name is Caroline, wife, mom of three, daughter of the one true king. Host of this podcast and certified light coach through the I am system by Painting Vehicles Incorporations. My hope is that this podcast brings God's light into your life and you break free from the chains that are holding you back. Friend, it is time to shift your mindset into one that will help you flourish. Ready? Let's go. Hello and welcome to the restored mind podcast. My name is Caroline, and I'm so excited that you are here today. If you are a new listener, welcome to the restored mind family here at the restore mind, we are looking at mindset transformations, meaning while working on our own mindset transformation that is coming from a faith lens. And what that means is we're looking at scripture to help ground us so that we can move forward into a life of peace and joy. If you are a returning listener, thank you so much that you are making the choice to come back and spend another week with me. At least for the next 20 minutes or so, but yes, I am very honored that you are all here. And I just hope that this episode today inspires you and encourages you to not give up on whatever journey it is that you're working on. And also that you see God's light and glory in your life. I know we can get chaotic because life gets messy sometimes. But as I always say, at the end of each episode, you can do hard things. And I'm going to say in today's episode too, even though I said it here at the beginning, So last week I talked about regaining balance in your routine. This was coming from the perspective of you already having established a routine that's worked for you. And now it's no longer working for you. It's feels like it's working against you for some reason. in this episode, I talked about temptations and distractions that come along with that. Then I shared with you three easy and simple ways that you can regain balance in your routine. So if this sounds like something that is interesting to you, or if you feel like you can relate to that. Topic I would highly recommend that you give it a listen and I hope that it gives you encouragement to move past this hard part in your journey. This week, we are going to be talking about the importance. Of understanding self discipline. I'm also going to touch base on the temptations that can come along with that. And I'm going to share with you. Three things that you can do. To stay the path of success. Because it doesn't matter what journey you're on. There is going to come a day or you'll have many days where you don't feel like showing up and putting in the work that is necessary. For you to get the results that you want. These are just facts. We don't always feel like showing up to work. But it's super easy in the beginning because you have a vision of a. End goal, so to speak. And so you're motivated to get to that particular part in this journey that you're on. But what's not taken into account most times are the challenges and the obstacles that you're going to face. And even if you do think about them, you don't really know what that feels like until you're actually there. And so that's where things can get hard. But what is hard about your journey is that there is a mixture of things that makes it hard. One of them is building a new habit that supports your goal, especially if. You are not already living in lifestyle. That is going to support the habits that you want to implement into your life. So essentially you're starting over from scratch where you're having to learn new things. Or unlearn the things that you've always thought were true, and that is also a journey all on its own. Another reason why it's hard is because being consistent is hard. But it's how you get results. This is where you have to be completely honest with yourself. When you are evaluating your actions and answering this one question. And that is. What do you do? 80% of the time. Right. So if you're asking yourself this question and you being really honest with yourself, it's like, you're auditing yourself. You're auditing your actions to see if you're in alignment with how you're going to achieve the goals that you want to achieve. So when you're asking yourself that question, my friend be completely honest with yourself. I know it's hard because a lot of the times we don't want to admit where we're falling short, It's really when you take a good hard look at yourself is when you make the choice to make the changes or not. Also keep in mind that on this journey. Whether it's mindset transformations or working on your fitness journey or learning to be a better leader. A better parent, whatever it is, know that this journey is not about perfection. Instead you are aiming for progress. And when you put this unnecessary pressure on yourself to be perfect, you are essentially driving yourself to the ground. Because if you keep aiming for perfection, Anything that you do, it's not going to be good enough. But when you aim for progress, it teaches you to be grateful for the small wins that you have. And these small wins add up to the big ones that you are looking for. So, yes, don't aim for perfection. Aim for progress, remove the unnecessary stress that you're putting on yourself to. Do things too. Perfection because my friend did doesn't exist. We are flawed. We make mistakes. And learning to embrace the mistakes and learning to embrace these failures and challenges are also a good way of helping you move forward in your journey. Sometimes overcoming the mindset that. You're established routine is now boring. It can also be what makes your. Journey hard. Right? Because think about it. You've worked really hard to build up a routine that works for you. And then a couple of months after you've gotten yourself into this routine, that's working. You start to feel like your routine is now boring. Right, because you're looking for something new and exciting. And my friend, the answer is not always about the new and exciting it's about the things that you were doing consistently to show up and put in the work. That's going to give you the results that you need. Now. that doesn't mean that you're never going to have to make an adjustment. Right. There are seasons in our life where we are going to have to shift things around, according to what's happening in our life at the moment. And there are some things that we cannot control. Other times we can plan for these changes to happen. But expecting the unexpected is hard about our journey, because we don't know when it's going to happen and we don't know what's going to happen. In life, things come up and change can sometimes be what's necessary to accommodate the shift that is happening in your life. That was last week's topic. So again, if that is something that sounds interesting to you, my friend, I would highly recommend. That you go and take a listen, on that episode. Building self-discipline doesn't come easy. But. How you nurture it is going to matter throughout your journey. Why. Because the more work that you put into building self-discipline meaning showing up when you don't want to and not letting motivation drive you and stop you. Is going to be what becomes. The reason why you show up. On days that you don't want to. Building self-discipline. Doesn't come easy. Because we are wired to take the easy way out. We want to do something that is going to be. Exerting the least amount of energy. And sometimes when we set goals for ourself, we don't realize the amount of work that is going to be involved in us reaching our goals. So, yes, building self-discipline is not easy. And it doesn't come easy. But you can nurture it and how you nurture it is going to matter. Why. Because it teaches you not to give into the temptation of quitting, which is really easy to do, especially when you don't feel like showing up. Or to receive instant gratification. And I know from experience that when you look for things that gives you instant gratification, it is not nearly as satisfying as when you take the time to work for something you don't appreciate it as much. And did the initial joy, the initial and the initial excitement and initial happiness eventually. Dies out. So the question then remains. What do you have after that? If you're always searching for instant gratification. It is so much more worth it when you take the time to work on something and receive that result later on, there's a bigger appreciation for it because you're actually putting in work for it. Showing up is hard, especially when you don't feel like it. But what you are doing consistently is the kind of results that you're going to consistently produce. So, if you say you're going to do something, but you consistently don't do it. You're not going to get the results that you want. And it's just the opposite. If you're say you're going to do something and you show up on the designated days that you set for yourself. Then you're going to see the results over time. it is hard because you don't necessarily see the benefits of today's work immediately. And it's actually your future self that is going to see the results that's going to come. And that's. With time. So yes. A lot of us struggle and the patients departments of waiting and being patient in receiving. The benefits of our work. But it pays off in the end and that's why being, and that's why understanding the importance of self discipline is going to win you in the long run self control also plays a big role in this because you're not giving into an immediate response that is opposite of your goals. My husband and I are in the season where we're trying to instill in our child, our son who gets easily distracted from time to time or most times. We're trying to teach him that he can either work now and play later. Or play now and a work later, but either way, if he's trying to achieve something, there's the work that has to be done. And there are days where he realizes that if he works now, he has more time to play. Whereas if he plays now, he's going to have less time to play because he's got work to do. And the same thing can be learned for us as adults, we can put in the hard work now and enjoy playtime later in a sense of enjoying the benefits of our results later. Or we can play now. And then question why we're not receiving. The results that we want to receive. So again, you're choosing to walk away from something that. will give you instinct gratification. And there are three ways that you can work on self-discipline. I know this is a very short episode today, but there's three ways that you can work on self-discipline. The first one is to be realistic. When you began working on a goal, the temptation is to do everything all at once. But when you do that, You can easily get burnt out. In the beginning of my fitness journey, I wanted to do everything all at once that means completely revamping my diet and implementing things that were not already a part of my routine and what happened. I got burnt out and I binge on food that I enjoyed and I stopped working out. I was losing. The will to want to show up because I kept changing things that were not considered quote normal to me and my everyday routine instead of slowly implementing new habits that would better the overall journey and the experience itself. So. That led me back to the drawing board and trying to figure out how I can make this a lifestyle change for me and not so much an instant gratification. Making mindset, habit, or even lifestyle changes. It's going to take time. So my friend. Set realistic goals that can work into your already existing routine. It has to make sense for you in order for it to be sustainable. Yes, it comes with sacrifices. Sometimes you do have to give up something that you enjoyed. Two. Practice showing up for this new habit that you want to implement into your life. But if you're serious about reaching a particular goal or changing your life for the better, these things are going to be something that benefits you in the long run. Right? Cause you're going to hit these milestones. You're going to stay the course a lot longer. And I would even encourage you to break up this big goal that you have into many goals so that you can make it manageable. And along the way. My friend learn, to celebrate the small wins because that's, what's going to carry you over. The second thing you can do is to stop relying on motivation. It's super easy. I think. We love to rely on motivation to get us to the next milestone. And it feels so good when motivation comes and visits us and it stays with us for a couple of days. But it is. Really wavering and it's very emotional driven. So when we don't feel like doing something, motivation is not necessarily with us because it's something that we have to feel. And there are a lot of factors that play into whether or not we want to show up to do the work that we ought to do for our goals. Right. So don't rely on motivation instead, work on building a discipline. Self-discipline is what's going to drive you further for longer. It is more sustainable than relying on motivation. Now, that's not to say you can't enjoy it when it's there. I ride the waves, a motivation when it's around, but don't rely on it to carry you throughout your journey. If you rely on that, you're going to stop when motivation is not with you. And you're going to have to feel like you're always starting back over and over and over again, after you've made some progress in order for you to. Enjoy your progress. Build on self discipline, which means showing up, even when you don't feel like it and doing the thing that you need to do. And the third thing is learn to say no. If it doesn't align with what you are trying to achieve, it's okay to say no. And if you say yes to everything you end up saying no to the things that. Matter the most to you. It's just something that happens. So this is where you set boundaries, You're going to look at your non-negotiables, the things that you are not giving up, because it aligns with your goals, your morals, your values, those things. It helps you build on self-discipline too. You have to learn to say no. That, that doesn't mean that it's a no forever. It just means that it's a no for now. And sometimes you'll learn that as you say no to these things, you'll find that. You don't necessarily miss it and it can stay a no forever. If you choose to, or it can stay a no for now until you've implemented these strong habits. That's going to. Propel you forward in the lifestyle that you want for yourself. Working towards self discipline is the best investment that you can make on your journey. You're investing time and now for a future harvest in which you're going to be able to benefit from. Temptation will always come your way, but I love how James four seven says submit yourself therefore to God resist the devil and he will flee from you. This is an encouragement for me, and I hope for you as well, that temptation can not overtake you. Yes, it's going to come knocking, but you get to make that choice. On whether or not you open the door. You get to make the choice on whether or not you ride the waves of motivation or start to build a firm foundation of discipline and allow that to carry you through all the hard days. The temptation of quitting gets very real. When things get hard in your journey, it is up to you to decide on whether or not these hard days are going to make you or break you. And yes. Sometimes it knocks you down. Sometimes life knocks you down. It gets hard. It gets brutal. And sometimes it's hard to overcome these challenges. But when you build a character of self-discipline that propels you a lot further. Than motivation ever will. And that is why it's so important for you to understand. Self discipline. I know it's hard. But my friend, you can do hard. things. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to listen in on this episode. I meant what I said. You can do hard things, so don't let the daily challenges stop you from reaching your greatest potential. If you are ready to take the next step in your journey and are finding that you are in need of help and would like someone to keep you accountable, call I would love to offer you my life coaching services. Click on the link in the show notes to get started there. You will also find links to my social media pages where you're able to connect with me as well. My friends, I look forward to speaking with you again next week here on the restored mind podcast. Go in peace.
