023: 9 Minutes at a Time | Creating a Life You Actually Want with Jennifer Sise

So many women are doing all the things and still feel disconnected from the life they actually want.

In this episode, Mandi sits down with Jennifer Sise to talk about why that happens and how to change it. From childhood experiences that shape our relationship with time to the pressure of constantly “trying” without committing, this conversation goes deeper than surface-level productivity tips.

Jennifer shares how a simple 9-minute practice can help you reconnect with your priorities, make better decisions, and start living with intention again.

If you’re tired of feeling busy but unfulfilled, this episode will meet you right where you are and help you move forward.

During our conversation, we referenced Fight Hustle, End Hurry by John Mark Comer and Jefferson Bethke—a powerful resource if you’re looking to step out of hustle culture and into a more intentional pace of life. 

Connect with Jennifer:

Website: https://www.jennifersise.com/

Instagram: @JenniferSise

Amazon: (Book) It’s Only a Matter of Time

Podcast: In 9 Minutes with Jennifer Sise

Follow Mandi & The MindHER Company:

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Transcript

Mandi Casey 0:00

You are listening to The Mind Her podcast where mindset, leadership and personal growth come together to help you create a life and business you truly love. I'm your host, Mandy Casey, and I am so excited that I get to share with you today's guest, Jennifer Seiss. She is a time and business coach, speaker, and author of the bestselling book. It's only a matter of time. Jennifer is on a mission to help ambitious women in every season of life get more of what they really want out of both their life and work without sacrificing who and what matters Me. She believes, as do I, that what you want is truly possible. It's only a matter of time and I can't wait to dive more into the concept around time management and priorities with her today. Jennifer, it is so great to have you on. Thank you for being here.

Jennifer Sise 0:42

I am so excited for our. Conversation today. I always love our time together and I think it's just gonna be so fun.

Mandi Casey 0:48

Me too. I would love for you to introduce yourself to those listening who may not know you. Will you tell them what you do both personally and professionally, and how you got here,

Jennifer Sise 0:56

yeah. So I am a time and business coach, and I ultimately started out really focusing on building connection and building intentional connection. And I had women coming to me all the time wanting more outta their life and work and. What I came to find is the bottom line is, is it all about how you set apart your time? And the words set apart means to keep for a special purpose. And so, uh. the more I worked with women, the more I coached people, the more I really discovered that really, like I said, the root is how you set your time apart, and it's been so much fun to get to really, help women do that. I became fascinated about time specifically. As I worked with more and more women and then as I looked back on my own life to really kinda dig into why I'm so passionate about time, why it means so much to me. And growing up, the phrase I heard the most from my parents was, I don't have time for blank. And a lot of time I was. The fill in the blank. It was for me and that, and I didn't realize how that impacted me, how that really drove my passion around time until I dug in more. When I sat down to write. It's only a matter of time and I didn't carry that weight with me growing up. I didn't think, oh, my parents never have time for me. But I really ultimately did because it's what drives me to help women and. Just anyone who wants to get more outta their life and work, understand that they can get what they want. They just have to, you know, get clear, set intentions, make decisions, take action.

Mandi Casey 2:41

Yeah, you said a couple of things there that really resonated with me. One, I love that you used the words set apart I think so often we hear it's how we manage our time. but you have a real philosophy on that. Would you share.

Jennifer Sise 2:55

Yeah, for sure. So I think that we really ultimately need to aim to own our time because if you think about the difference between owning and managing something. And I like to use a restaurant as an example. A restaurant manager, they're doing the job for someone else on behalf of someone else. And so if a better offer comes along or a better opportunity, they are probably gonna jump ship and go towards that opportunity. The owners, however, are doing everything they can to make the experience really good for the customer and really invest fully in the restaurant and in everything that goes into it. And when we own our time, we really make it more personal and we're gonna put more safeguards in place. We are going to stop doing things that don't serve us and the people we love the most, and the people who need us the most. And we're really gonna take different action because ownership is so much more powerful than just managing something.

Mandi Casey 3:54

Absolutely. I, when I first heard you say that, it was like a light bulb went off, and I have used the phrase with my clients specifically about managing their time, and I was like, oh. That's a completely different way of approaching how you use the minutes we have in the day.

Jennifer Sise 4:11

For sure. And I think when we manage things, we move them around and we never settle in. But when we own something, we have to make a decision. And you know this too, to decide means to cut off all other options. And so when we decide what we're gonna set apart, our time for, then we really start to own it and we are gonna make more, um, intentional and really firm decisions.

Mandi Casey 4:35

Yeah. Yeah. You use that word intentional and I love it.'cause I, I use that word a lot too. I think so many women specifically are on autopilot. Probably men too. But being intentional changes the game. So I would love to know from you, is like the number one thing you hear from clients and the advice that you give them about being intentional with their time.

Jennifer Sise 4:55

Yeah, so the word intentional means to be done on purpose and. I really try to help women get clear on what they really want. So often you asked this question of your clients too, but so often no one asks people what they really want

Mandi Casey 5:11

Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 5:12

then walks through that process of really unpacking what that is and what that can look like. And if you don't know what you really want you, you can't be intentional. You're just trying things all the time and you're really, I feel like. When you don't set intentions, you're looking at what other people are doing, and you are kind of swimming in this pool of comparison and you are aiming at someone else's targets. And so I think one of the big things is, is to like really decide what you really want, get clear on it, and give yourself permission to go at it. No matter what, be relentless about it. Be relentless about taking the action and safeguarding that time, and really allowing yourself to move through life the way that you feel called to move through life. Like move towards who you wanna become without looking to the left and the right. Except to seek, I mean, I think people should seek wise counsel and have conversation and community and things like that, but when you really get intentional, then you aren't going to be so swayed by what other people are doing all the time.

Mandi Casey 6:19

And I think that's hard in today's world. I mean, tell me where I'm wrong, but when I scroll Instagram, which you were saying, you caught my story this morning, um, where I doom scolded for almost an hour. Um, so many people, and maybe it's just my feed, but so many people are like, here's the way to lose weight. Here's the way to eat healthy. Here's the way that I grew a business. Here's the way that I raise my kids. I just got a puppy. Here's the way to treat your dog and to, to train your dog. And it's like everybody has their best practice. And I mean, I do too, right? But everyone has their best practice, their way of doing things, and they're selling you on their way or saying, buy these clothes or eat these foods. And if we buy into that, suddenly we look up, I feel like, living their life, not mine. How do I distinguish their wants or my wants and keep them separate?

Jennifer Sise 7:08

Yeah, that's so true. I mean, it is a chronic thing, and I fall into that trap too. We all do. I mean, we can all look up and go, why am I even doing this? Do I even buy into this belief? Do I even believe what I'm fighting for? And I think so often you have to do these. I like to tell people to do daily reset. You have to check in with yourself. So when you get really clear on what you really want, you set your intentions, you make decisions, and you take action towards that each day, you need to evaluate that. So often we evaluate monthly or quarterly or annually instead of each day. And if we just take. Nine minutes is my favorite length of time. But when we take nine minutes to do that you know, evaluation, then we can get so much closer to who we wanna become so much faster and we'll recognize things faster. If we've been doing something for 90 days, we've kind of get lost in the minutiae of it, and we don't even recognize that. We're like, oh, I've been doing what I think I should do.

Mandi Casey 8:12

Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 8:13

Based on what all these other people are saying. And the world is so loud and there are so many ways to do so many things. And sometimes you just have to make a decision like this is how I'm gonna do it for 90 days. I'm gonna evaluate every day. I'm gonna edit consistently, and then I'm gonna see how it's going, and then I'm gonna decide if it's working or not. Instead of staying stuck and like, oh my gosh, I don't know what to do because there are 9 million options.

Mandi Casey 8:38

Yeah. So a couple of things I wanna touch on there. I wanna get to nine minutes in a moment.'cause you said that I'm, I'm really curious about it, but. I tell my clients to check in. I'm the like, Hey, monthly and quarterly. But I

Jennifer Sise 8:50

Mm.

Mandi Casey 8:50

the daily because you're right. So often we can get into that autopilot and just do it because we think we should be doing it. And I love to tell, um, women, just because you can doesn't mean that you should. And

Jennifer Sise 9:01

1000000%.

Mandi Casey 9:03

yes, it's so important. So tell us why. Nine minutes.

Jennifer Sise 9:07

So years ago when I started coaching, I found that there were specifically mothers who felt guilty about working and not spending enough time with their kids, and they felt disconnected and they felt like they were never doing enough. And so I started researching. How to build intentional connection with your kids specifically. And what I came to find is that there was a great study that was done where if you spend. Three minutes in the morning connecting face-to-face with your child. Three minutes at the end of the day, whether you like when you reconnect with them at the end of the day, after school, after daycare, after work, whatever that is. And then three minutes before they go to bed, you can do it in nine minutes. And so much more intentional connection can happen that way than if you have this distracted, sort of you're in the same space with them all day or for several hours. Then I got fascinated about the nine minute number, and I did some more research and found that eight to 10 minutes is kind of the average attention span.

Mandi Casey 10:11

Oh.

Jennifer Sise 10:12

then I started having clients do things that they'd been resisting for nine minutes at a time and build up that muscle a little bit every day. And what we came to find is that if you invest nine minutes at a time for say 10 days.

Mandi Casey 10:28

Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Sise 10:29

math says that's 90 minutes of time, but really because it's focused, it's a short burst of work. That 90 minutes, the investment of those nine minutes has compounded to so much more than 90 minutes. It's three to four hours of work, and you move the needle so much further, so much faster with those short focus burst of work. And then I started having them test it out with their husbands, with other people that were important to them in their life. And doing nine minutes of something they were excited about but had been putting off because they felt like they didn't have time. And I don't have time is the number one excuse for not doing anything. And if we had a dollar for every time someone said, I don't have time for that. Or if we a dollar for the amount of times we've heard someone say that, we would all be bajillionaire.

Mandi Casey 11:19

for sure.

Jennifer Sise 11:21

And so I just kept digging into it, researching it, putting into practice myself, putting it into practice with my clients, and came to find that nine minutes is sort of this beautiful number that can change your life if you invest it in these short focus burst of work.

Mandi Casey 11:36

I absolutely love that. So get started you are saying try something that you've been putting off.

Jennifer Sise 11:43

Yes. Something you've been resisting, something you've been like. I mean, it can be something like. Um, putting a new offer together in your business, or it can be something like cleaning out the kitchen cabinet that every time you walk past that cabinet there's friction and sandpaper and you're just like, oh, and you just feel bad or you just don't like it. Just start with nine minutes and then see how far you get because we're terrible at guessing how much time things take

Mandi Casey 12:11

Absolutely.

Jennifer Sise 12:11

and we think, oh, that's gonna take forever. And it sometimes it takes nine minutes. That's it.

Mandi Casey 12:16

Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 12:17

so start with something you've been resisting or putting off, or that thing that's just kind of been at the edge and you're like, I don't have time for that All the time.

Mandi Casey 12:25

I know the exact drawer that you're talking about, and you're exactly right. I walk by every time I'm like, And I try to get something out of it and it won't open.

Jennifer Sise 12:32

Yes.

Mandi Casey 12:33

do this today. Nine minutes. I've got nine minutes I can give it.

Jennifer Sise 12:36

Yeah. I love it. I love it. I think you'll be glad you did.

Mandi Casey 12:39

So I wanna circle back to something that you said earlier I am curious from you, is there something wrong with trying all the things? Like what's your perspective on that?

Jennifer Sise 12:49

So I think it's great to try things. It's great to test them out, but when you feel like you're constantly spinning your wheels, the trying things out isn't effective. It's just trying things out for the sake of trying things out.

Mandi Casey 13:01

Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 13:02

So when you get clear on what you want, you might need to try three, four, or five different ways to bring it to life. And that's awesome. And like I encourage people to do that. But so often what happens is we try different things all the time and we try them for one day. Or we, we eat differently for one day and we're like, I don't feel better. Or we try to get dressed intentionally one day and we're like, me, that wasn't that awesome. Or we exercise for one day, or we sit down and write the blog post and we write one blog post, and we're like, eh. That wasn't, eh, nobody liked it. It didn't get very far. And we just. Stop trying instead of really digging into why isn't it working? Or maybe, maybe it's not working because it's not yours to do.

Mandi Casey 13:49

Right. So what's interesting, I wonder if you've ever, um, realized this. I've seen not opposites, but kind of opposites in some of my clients. Um, one, they try it for one day and they're like, man, that was amazing. And they call it success. They're like, check did it did. They still give up. You know what I mean?

Jennifer Sise 14:07

Yes.

Mandi Casey 14:07

like, uh, I did it. It was great. I'm gonna go back to the old way because there's that pattern there. And then the other thing that I've seen, and I'm curious if you've ever experienced this, is, um, that the trying becomes procrastination. So I'm still in the trying phase. I'm still in the experimental phase, and they're not ready to commit. And it's like that becomes the excuse at that point. It's no longer I don't have time. It's like, oh, I'm just trying.

Jennifer Sise 14:31

Yeah, I'm testing it out. I'm just, I'm just waiting to see. I'm just waiting to see. I, I, I'm trying it, I'm just testing it. And they, they stay in that phase. I've seen it so many times too. Yes. They get stuck there. They get stuck in the trying and the testing it out and they think that they're taking action, but really they're just trying, and they're not measuring it in any way. They aren't, um. Looking at it to see is this really effective? Is this working? Is this helping the people that I wanna help? Is this changing the trajectory of my business? Is this moving the needle in my life? And they again, yes, they're just trying, or, or a lot of people I find like to try a lot of different things so that they don't have to look themselves in the mirror and say, Hmm, that wasn't the right move.

Mandi Casey 15:22

Yes, I've seen that too. I've

Jennifer Sise 15:24

Yeah. And it's sad.

Mandi Casey 15:26

it is, and I, I think this goes back to what you said about that daily gut check

Jennifer Sise 15:31

Yep.

Mandi Casey 15:32

Resetting the thing that I'm trying, the thing that I'm doing isn't moving the needle. Is it in alignment with where I wanna go? And when we get that, no. Giving ourselves permission to let it go. We don't have to keep trying anymore.

Jennifer Sise 15:45

A hundred percent. A hundred percent. And you have to be honest with yourself and say, am I really trying? Like, did I really do it? Did I really do it? Am I really trying? Have I tried long enough? And I think also so much more in life is the long game than the short game.

Mandi Casey 16:02

Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 16:03

And I think deciding to play the long game is something that can really serve people so well. But it's really hard to do and you have to do those daily resets so that you can build evidence in your life that you can do the hard thing, that it is worth it. That two years ago you were in a different spot, and while it might not be dramatically different to someone else's. In someone else's view for you, you're like, oh man, I am so glad. I am not where I was two years ago, and other people might not be able to see it, but that's okay.

Mandi Casey 16:39

You know, that's interesting because I have found myself, and I don't know if you've ever experienced this, I would hope that maybe some of the women on here are gonna tell me I'm not alone in this. when somebody's like, Hey, so what have you been up to lately? Like, I almost feel guilty for saying more of the same,

Jennifer Sise 16:55

Hmm.

Mandi Casey 16:56

Because there was a season in my life when I traveled a lot, and so every time I had a news story to tell, so much was going on. And so now that I'm in this era of where I want to feel rooted and connected and settled, I feel guilty for saying more of the same. But internally, I've changed a ton, which is why I'm so content right now. But you're right, other people don't see that. And so then I feel like, I feel like there's a disconnect there. Have you ever experienced that?

Jennifer Sise 17:24

1 million. Percent. 1000000%. And I love that you said that out loud because I think that's where a lot of people are sitting. There's so much transformation going. That isn't obvious to everybody else, and I think we just have to get okay with that and really kind of almost embrace that and, and look ourselves in the mirror again and say, man, the change that's happening is building longevity in your life and in your work, and like slowing down can. Change everything in your life. I,

Mandi Casey 18:00

for sure.

Jennifer Sise 18:01

I just got done reading the Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, which is a book that will wreck your life, but it's so good. And there was a chapter on, um, slowing down. And what I found myself doing is I wanted to read it so quickly because I was like, oh my gosh, how do I do this? And I thought, isn't that interesting that I am reading this book about slowing down and I wanna get through it? And so I just had to kind of pace myself. When the more clear, so you obviously got really clear on what you really wanted the next year or two years to look like, and that's where you gave yourself the permission to do more of the same because you have so much evidence in your life that it's working and, and so often it makes other people uncomfortable when people aren't moving and shaking.

Mandi Casey 18:48

Yeah. Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 18:49

They're like, oh, what? Well, what are they doing? I mean, they're not moving and shaking, so what could they possibly be doing? And the most beautiful work is happening, and they're changing people's lives. I mean, the clients that you coach, you've been coaching for a long time, they're experiencing a new version of you. You are able to coach from such a different place. And not that all of your coaching hasn't been effective and helped people change their lives for sure, but now you can do it while you are being transformed too, and that makes a huge difference. And it's gonna be so interesting for you to look back like in a year or two on this season and go, man, that was awesome, or It was a great season and I'm not gonna stay there. You'll get to decide.

Mandi Casey 19:33

I've definitely felt like I am a different coach and I have told some of my previous clients, I'm like, you got exactly what you needed in that moment. And I'm so grateful for our time together and I'm really grateful for the type of coach I am now.'cause it's very different.

Jennifer Sise 19:47

Yeah. Yeah. It makes a big difference.

Mandi Casey 19:49

As well.

Jennifer Sise 19:50

Oh, for sure. Yes. I, um, in 2024, we had a lot of loss in our family and it was just a hard year and I was, it was probably one of my busiest years for work.

Mandi Casey 20:02

Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Sise 20:03

The craziest year in my, not immediate, but right next to my immediate family and one of the things that I went to a counseling appointment, I have this back pocket counselor. I think everyone, I would encourage everyone to seek counsel. One of the best things she told me, one of the best pieces of advice that I still clinging to now was say no to everything you don't wanna do for a year.

Mandi Casey 20:28

Ooh, okay.

Jennifer Sise 20:29

When she said that, I was like, are you insane? Like that isn't possible. And yeah. But when I got in the car after that appointment, I put it into practice immediately. I said no to something the next day. That was happening the next day that I didn't wanna do. And. Well, there are things that we have to do in life. She didn't mean say no to, you know, emptying the dishwasher or say no to communicating with people that matter to you. It wasn't that, but it was just, there are a lot of things that we do that are fine to do, but we don't necessarily want to do them. But that permission gave me. A really good like moment to step back and say, okay, I really, I talk to my clients all the time. Like if you get clear on what you don't wanna do, that will inform what you want to do and you will move through your work so much more effectively and with so much more light. And that is where I've really gotten to the point where I'm very selective on the clients that I take on. I'm very selective about what I do and what I don't do as far as deliverables and things like that, and

Mandi Casey 21:35

Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Sise 21:35

it's a game changer. But I also think because I assigned more limits, so to speak, to what I do and what I don't do, I show up so much better and so much more effectively for my people, and I can coach them better and guide them better because I practiced what I really want for them too. So much more.

Mandi Casey 21:55

yeah. We call that, um, in the coaching world that I come from, live it to give it,

Jennifer Sise 22:00

Mm, I love that.

Mandi Casey 22:02

effectively talk about it, there's this element of authenticity and you have to have, the willingness to live the very thing that you're telling your clients to do.

Jennifer Sise 22:11

Yeah, I love that. And, and that's my goal all the time. But I just needed, I and I have always been good at boundaries. I just needed to shift the way I approached them because I needed to put more in place.

Mandi Casey 22:23

Yeah. You know, it's interesting. I say we just got a puppy. We also took on, um, my elderly dog last summer and fascinating. I feel like when the student is ready, the teacher appears kind of thing.

Jennifer Sise 22:34

Oh yeah.

Mandi Casey 22:35

Dog took so much time and energy and care, that I had to give to her. I suddenly had a new appreciation for the working moms and the women with children who were learning. I wanna balance my time with my kids and work. Before I didn't have children. I didn't have any obligations that needed me necessarily, and so my work could be my kid. I could pour into it in that way. I feel like I have more empathy and more respect, and so

Jennifer Sise 23:04

Hmm.

Mandi Casey 23:04

still, I continue to evolve in the way that I coach. And I don't think how I coached was bad. It just continues to shift as, as I have life experiences.

Jennifer Sise 23:12

Yeah, and it, that's such a gift to your clients and it's a gift to your soul too. And it's okay to do that. In fact, it if you didn't, if you weren't changing and evolving and growing and all of those things, you'd be stuck. And that's no place to live.

Mandi Casey 23:27

No. So you mentioned the book, ruthless Elimination of Hurry. Right,

Jennifer Sise 23:31

Yes.

Mandi Casey 23:32

okay. Now who's the author?

Jennifer Sise 23:34

John Mark Comer.

Mandi Casey 23:36

Yes. And he did a podcast with another author.

Jennifer Sise 23:41

Okay.

Mandi Casey 23:41

I dunno it, I'll put it in the show notes. It is so phenomenal. So, um, one was about, um, like less hustle and then less hurry. So they had very similar kind of topics. So Good. I mentioned that because, um, I know that you listen to podcasts. I'm gonna put it

Jennifer Sise 23:56

Yes.

Mandi Casey 23:56

should check it out.

Jennifer Sise 23:57

I can't wait.

Mandi Casey 23:58

was, it was a game changer for me. Have you, are you an Eckert toe fan? you ever read

Jennifer Sise 24:03

I've, I've never heard of that person.

Mandi Casey 24:06

love, love him as an author. Um, he has a book out called The Power of Now,

Jennifer Sise 24:11

Mm. I think I might have put that book in my notes from one of our conversations. Okay. The power of now.

Mandi Casey 24:18

I am reading it right now, and it's so good. And it, it kind of goes back to what you're saying about the only moment that exists is right now.

Jennifer Sise 24:27

Yep.

Mandi Casey 24:28

And the suffering that a lot of us experience this unhappiness is unease is when we're thinking about the past or when we're thinking about the future. And so really the presence is the gift, and that's where the moment exists. Um, so I have really wrestled with, and I love that he addresses this in the book of, I'm a big goal setter and I wanna

Jennifer Sise 24:47

Hmm.

Mandi Casey 24:48

And how do you effectively push toward goals while still remaining present? would you

Jennifer Sise 24:55

Yeah. I love this question because I like to talk about targets instead of goals because, um, there are strategies to hit moving targets as well as still targets.

Mandi Casey 25:08

Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 25:09

And we need to allow ourselves to address moving targets in our life. They're gonna shift because our season shift, and the thing about it is, is that when we set goals, which are important. For sure

Mandi Casey 25:24

Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Sise 25:24

can attach ourselves so fiercely to the goal that, like you said, we miss everything on the way. All we're doing is moving towards the goal and trying to reach the goal, and we are missing everything that's happening and we cannot show up fully present in the day-to-day because we're trying to show up five years from now when we reached the goal that. Might shift and we have no idea the seasons of our life that are coming between now and when we set the goal. So when you, when you can sort of allow yourself. To establish targets and move towards those targets, then you can give yourself permission. Like, okay, if I wanna hit this target, these are the things I need to do every day. You need to do that with a goal too, but these are the things I need to do every day. And you can include softer things like watching the sunrise. And going for a walk after dinner and having a FaceTime conversation with a friend who lives out of town on a regular basis. And you allow yourself to, uh, include your life, your day-to-day life in the pursuit of those targets, and therefore you hit your goals. You know what I'm saying? And so I feel like sometimes when we set these goals and we hold so fiercely to them, we don't live our life, we just live towards the goal. And, and we miss the present. And so that's when the shift to aiming at targets allows us to live our life because we can use things like, if you think about target practice, I think of a bow and arrow all the time. A person who shoots a bow and arrow has to do so many things and the most important they do thing they do before they shoot for the target is take a deep breath.

Mandi Casey 27:11

Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Sise 27:12

They have to relax.

Mandi Casey 27:13

the same thing. Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 27:15

And so when we're, when we're aiming at a goal, sometimes we don't, again, live our daily life. Take that breath and it gets really almost so regimented. And I think it's important to make sure that we're living our life like we have to live our life or reaching the goal's. Not gonna matter at all.

Mandi Casey 27:36

Right, right. I love that. Um, even when you said like the sunrise or the walk after dinner, one of the things I realized, I mentioned my, my era of traveling. I thought it was about the travel. I thought it was about the destinations I was gonna go to. And it

Jennifer Sise 27:52

Mm.

Mandi Casey 27:53

cliche, but I was like, it's not about the destination. It was who I became I traveled and as I took a big exhale and as I settled into this new skin that I was in and the joy of life return. Uh, and I think that that's so important for people to realize is that yeah, when you're holding so rigidly to the goal. I've been there and I've done that.

Jennifer Sise 28:15

Yep.

Mandi Casey 28:16

there's um, a stiffness that comes and when you allow yourself to become by being really present in the moment, taking things nine minutes at a time, um, checking in with yourself daily, that there's a softness that returns and a joy that returns. Um, and I think you get so much richer in relationships, in experience, in wisdom, and that's what I want for my life.

Jennifer Sise 28:43

100%. That's gonna make an amazing book. I cannot wait for you to write a book someday. I hope that's on your radar because it's gonna be so good, and I think like we have to. They talk about the power of pause in public speaking all the time, the power of the pause. But I think there's power in the pause in our life. That's why a reset is so good. That's why when you do it every day, you start to work the muscle of looking for the things that were good that happened, or the thing that. Felt like sandpaper that you couldn't fix the next day instead of having 30 days of that sandpaper experience. And if you think about it, like think about rubbing sandpaper on your skin for 30 days. You are gonna have like a road rash. It's gonna be terrible. But if you can recognize it in one day and go, oh yeah, that timing did not work. I'm not doing that again. Like I know it's not gonna work. You just make those adjustments. It gives space in your life for the margin. And margin is the overflow of margin, is love and availability. And when you have margin in your life, which comes from taking those moments to look at what's going on and what you wanna change and what you wanna do again, then the overflow is, is love.

Mandi Casey 29:58

Yeah, and I, you mentioned this earlier, but it's worth repeating that when you take that time for yourself and you have that margin, you show up as a completely different mother, as a completely different leader, as a completely different sister or friend or daughter. And I would argue that not enough women stop to think about how they're showing up. I think we live perpetually in this place of overwhelm, thinking we have to give, give, give, give, give. But we can't pour from an empty well. And taking that time to pause and really understand, like you said, what you want, be willing to say no to things, be willing to try and, follow through on a few things and give it enough time to work. Man, we become completely different people and the of that in other people's lives, that ripple effect is totally different.

Jennifer Sise 30:47

Completely different. And I love what you said about like just, you know, taking that time to look at what you're doing, what you're not doing. And the thing is, is that. Women are constantly trying to do more

Mandi Casey 31:01

Yes.

Jennifer Sise 31:02

and, and also they're measuring themselves against the more, and I, I may have shared this before, but I have a talk coming up and the title is You are More Than What You Haven't Done yet.

Mandi Casey 31:16

That's a

Jennifer Sise 31:16

And I think it's so important for women to understand that like you are so much more than what you haven't done yet and you've done a lot. You've already done a lot and, and you wanna be present for the things that you're gonna do tomorrow

Mandi Casey 31:32

Exactly. Exactly.

Jennifer Sise 31:33

day. And the next day. Yeah. It's so important.

Mandi Casey 31:36

Mm. I would love to be a fly on the wall when you give that talk. So good.

Jennifer Sise 31:40

It's gonna be fun.

Mandi Casey 31:42

Okay. So I have a couple of fun questions for you. Um, I wanna know for you specifically, Jennifer, when life is hectic or busy that season, like what are the habits and rituals that you come back to over and over again?

Jennifer Sise 31:55

Yep. So one of my favorite things to do is I love to red light. I have a red light box and I do it every single day, and it kind of just gives me some time to just simmer down. I love to, um. I'm in this season of detoxing, I guess, and I, um, love to do an Epsom salt bath.

Mandi Casey 32:17

Mm.

Jennifer Sise 32:17

Love to just get outside, get some fresh air, things like that. And I love to spend time with my family. Anytime I can spend time with my husband and my kids, I love it so much.

Mandi Casey 32:27

Okay.

Jennifer Sise 32:27

Yeah.

Mandi Casey 32:28

love that For you. Um, tell me, if you look back in 10 years, let's say we're 10 years from now and you were to look back, what impact do you hope that your work, talking to women about time and, and owning their time, what impact do you hope that that has made?

Jennifer Sise 32:44

Mm. Wow. That's a really good question. I, my heart is that they can really sit in their life and two things. One, they've gotten out of their notes app. So all of their ideas and the things that they want to do are not in their Notes app anymore.

Mandi Casey 33:01

guilty. I'm guilty of that.

Jennifer Sise 33:02

I mean, our notes app can get really full because the storage is unlimited, right?

Mandi Casey 33:07

Yes.

Jennifer Sise 33:07

And, um, so I hope they're doing more wi, more doing over wishing, and I hope that they can really sit down with a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, and think I am getting more of what I really want outta my life and work. And I am not sacrificing who and what matters most to get it.

Mandi Casey 33:26

I love that and I, I truly believe in my core, Jennifer, that when we have more women living that way, like that, just like an investment in money, right? Like that's gonna compound and think about the next generation, if they're being led by a group of women and mothers and leaders who operate that way, what does the next generation look like?

Jennifer Sise 33:47

Yeah, it's gonna be beautiful. I really think it is, and I think that we kind of. Coaches like us who think like that have a responsibility to help people do that because there are a lot of coaches who operate differently and we have to be the change we wanna see in the world. I mean, that sounds like a cliche, but It's so true.

Mandi Casey 34:05

it's

Jennifer Sise 34:05

And we ha we just have to do it. We are responsible to the women who want to follow our lead to lead that way.

Mandi Casey 34:15

Yeah, I agree. Okay, so one question I like to ask every guest that I have is, what is a piece of leadership advice that has stuck with you?

Jennifer Sise 34:25

Wow. That's a good question too. There've been a lot. Um, honestly, this is a new way of hearing something, but James Clear says Time will magnify what you give it. And that to me is one of the most profound and important reminders that we can speak over ourselves, that we can remember and live out every day. And I would say that if people can understand that that is true, that time will magnify what you give it. Their whole life will change.

Mandi Casey 34:59

Mm. I love that. Where would you suggest they start to like really grasp that concept?

Jennifer Sise 35:07

Yeah, I do a time audit with all my clients and I have them take two weeks and write out everything they're doing, stopping, starting the time they're taking, when they're switching tasks, all of those things. It's very, um, I always tell people You're gonna hate it, and then you're gonna love it. Because doing it is brutal, but once we can speak into the results and make shifts, it can change everything. And so I think it's really important to really take some time to look at what you're actually doing and how long you're spending doing things, how long you're really just sitting and thinking and wondering, not wondering in a way, wonder is very important, but wondering like, I don't know what to do next. And you're like letting yourself stay stuck. Overwhelmed and confused, you know? Um, so I think it's really important to take a good, really clear look of what you're doing. Write it down, start in the morning, go till you go to bed. Even when you stop to eat, when you're going to the bathroom, when you're filling your water bottle, when you're, um, getting in the car, when you're going somewhere. Maybe, maybe you are a, you're an entrepreneur and you run errands throughout the day. That's probably not the move, I don't think, um, you know, things like that. And you don't recognize it until you sit down and look at it from the perspective of how am I using my time? How am I setting it apart? Who and what am I setting it apart for? And if you wanna be more present with certain people, are they even in your schedule?

Mandi Casey 36:39

Yeah. Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 36:41

And I schedule everything. Like, I mean, I, I have like when I'm gonna take an Epsom salt bath on my schedule, I know it sounds obnoxious, but it, since I do that, it happens.

Mandi Casey 36:51

Yeah. Oh, I love that.

Jennifer Sise 36:54

Yeah.'cause it's quick to go, oh, I'll do that later. But if it's on my schedule, and also I love to encourage people to do things at different times of day. So like if you, everybody thinks you have to take a bath at night. You know, at 9:00 PM when you're going to bed at 10, it has happened at nine. What? Why not? Why can't it happen at 4:00 PM

Mandi Casey 37:13

yeah. That's a

Jennifer Sise 37:14

dinner? Like if your meetings are done and you're like not helpful to anyone at 4:00 PM like, I don't have meetings with people at 4:00 PM they don't want my brain at 4:00 PM

Mandi Casey 37:24

Right. Mine

Jennifer Sise 37:25

you know, nobody wants that. So I'm gonna do other things that are gonna help me show up for other people more fully at 4:00 PM.

Mandi Casey 37:33

I love that. Okay. I love it. And I think you're exactly right. You kind of mentioned this earlier too, of sometimes we think something's gonna take five minutes. I'm the worst about that of like, oh, it's just across town. It'll take me 10 minutes to get there.

Jennifer Sise 37:45

Mm-hmm.

Mandi Casey 37:46

I don't think about stoplights. Um, and I think other times, like today I was like, I'm gonna take five minutes on Instagram and then I'm gonna get into my quiet time and read and journal. And 45 minutes later I was still on Instagram. So really tracking that because the story we tell ourselves is often very different than the reality of what we're living.

Jennifer Sise 38:04

1000000%. And we literally think that if our schedule looks good on paper, that we are living that schedule.

Mandi Casey 38:14

No, we

Jennifer Sise 38:15

No, it takes a lot of practice to do that, and you have to get relentless about it almost in a way, like I talk to people about this too. People who are entrepreneurs are like, well, I want a flexible schedule and I just wanna be able to do what I wanna do when I wanna do it. But are you, are you doing that or are you just wasting a lot of time? Pursuing flexibility when really just a little bit of structure and order in your life will breed more flexibility, which will actually give you what you want.

Mandi Casey 38:46

It's the flexibility you actually desire. Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 38:48

hundred percent.

Mandi Casey 38:49

Yeah.

Jennifer Sise 38:50

Yeah.

Mandi Casey 38:50

have loved our conversation. Jennifer. Thanks for being here today. Where can our listeners find more of you if they wanna learn about your book or speaking engagements? How do they follow you?

Jennifer Sise 38:59

They can find me on Instagram just at Jennifer se and I also have a podcast called In Nine Minutes, and I, each episode is nine minutes and my book, it's only a matter of time, is available on Amazon.

Mandi Casey 39:10

Awesome. Okay. We will link all of those in the show notes so that you can find them. Again, thank you for being here. Listeners, we have loved this conversation. We hope that you've loved it as well. That's all we have time for today. Until next time, sending you so much love and gratitude.