What if I told you there was only ONE thing you needed to do this month? Yes, just one. Forget the to-do list. Forget the giant calendar of all the things that the world and yourself are telling you to do. And what if you only focused on one priority. One intention. Could you do it? The rest of it can wait! Sharing with you the ONE thing you need to be sure you are doing this month.

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The Only One Thing You Need to Do This Month

We are cruising through summer over here. Summer for me means the ability to have more time to breathe, and more time to dream. Our schedules can be so busy, full of so many different things as we pour into all the areas of our heart and beyond. Which is exactly why I want to provide you with some encouragement and motivation to help you better prioritize your time this month.

While, this teacher is almost getting ready to go back for pre-planning. For a lot of the world, July is the peak of summer. Yet for me and my mind, when I think of July, I think of back to reality. Back to the hustle and the chaos. Yet, that is the complete opposite of summer.

To Encourage Your Heart and Give You a Message of Hope

My true desire here is to encourage your heart and to give you a little hope. Additionally, I want to be simple and straightforward with you as I share with you the ONE thing you need to add to your schedule. One simple thing to do. Just one little thing to prioritize in your daily life. The hope here is by doing this one thing, you can unlock a world of opportunity. Through doing this one thing, you can open the door to gain so much in your own personal life. 

Currently, if you are walking through the halls of Target (or any other major retailer) turning on the television, or even checking your inbox, everything and everyone is prioritizing the NEXT season. Everything is speaking to you about how you need to prepare for back to school or do this or that. The focus is always on the next thing. The next season. Or the next major event. Unfortunately, it takes our focus away from where we currently are and places it on where we need to be and where we need to go instead.

We Are Exactly Where We Are Right Now for a Specific Reason

But the reality is we’re not there yet. We’re still sitting in the season we are currently in for a very, very particular reason. With all that to be said, the number one thing that you need to be so certain of this month, the number one thing that you need to make sure you are doing, and this starts with you, is to rest. Yes, I am giving you complete and total permission to rest.

The Only Thing to Do this Month – Rest

It’s so cliche and I know that it’s what everybody says to do. Yet, when it actually comes down to the end of the day, we simply don’t do it. It’s that feeling, when you make it through another day and you’re laying in bed at night. You know that the best thing for you to do is to close your eyes and fall asleep.

But maybe you realize you had your last cup of coffee too late in the day. And instead, you lay there on your phone, scrolling through all of the things, creating your own new to-do list of things to occupy your mind with instead of letting your body rest and letting your body reset.

While, I am sharing this message with you today, I’m also speaking to myself. This is something that I need to listen to and I need to abide by. Additionally, I need to accept this as my own personal mantra for the month of July.

Plan with Purpose & Establish Healthy Boundaries In Your Life 

Take a moment to breathe deeply and to plan with purpose and intention. To establish healthy boundaries around what you have going on in your daily life. Actually take a moment and look at your week, look at your planner. Whatever you use to organize your day-to-day functioning and zoom out a little bit.

Give yourself a little bird’s eye view and truly do an assessment on what you have going on in your life. Have little conversations with yourself to figure out what is working really well. What is filling you up with joy? What is filling your cup? Furthermore, what is leaving you motivated, inspired and empowered. Are the things you do in your day-to-day life allowing you to feel that way?

Focus on the Things That Are Working Well

Focus on the things that are working well for you. Make a little star by them and cling to them. Make sure to include those things as part of your daily and your weekly routines. If there are things that are causing you stress, or things that are wearing you down, or things that are heavy to carry. Reconsider and take a deeper look at, is there something else I’m doing that could make this situation a different outcome.

Is there something that I’m doing that could allow this situation to feel lighter? Be honest with yourself. Are you doing too much? How can you slow down to really appreciate and enjoy the beauty of every single day. Truthfully, it’s easy to be consumed with the problems. It is easy to be consumed with the division.

It is easy to be focused on all of the things that don’t feel right. However, if you take a moment and look a little deeper, reflect a little bit more, there’s a whole lot more beauty out there. There’s a whole lot more things that can be agreed upon, more truths that can be spoken to where more ears will understand and hearts will resonate with.

Prioritize Rest This Month So You Can Actually Thrive

Start with your own personal life, with your own personal agenda. Start with the things that you are doing personally each day, moment by moment, minute by minute, hour by hour. Figure out how you can prioritize rest this month so that you can thrive. So that you can live fully! In order to have the energy that is needed to be able to do the things that you want to do. The things that you feel called to do. To be able to love on and pour out all of the riches on the people around you.

It’s no secret what happens when we feel stressed and exhausted. Usually, when I lash out at the people I love the most, it comes from a place of being overtired, operating in a desperate survival mode. In those moments, my body and mind do not know how to respond appropriately. It is going into just quick fix defense mode, and that’s not fair to my people. Additionally, it’s not fair to myself In those situations either. The last thing I do is have grace for myself Instead, I put these crazy expectations of needing to be better all of the time, which is such a lie.

A Message of Hope and Encouragement To Those Feeling Tired and Burnt Out

My point to all of this, my desire and my hope, is really to speak to that part of you that is feeling tired. To speak to those feeling burnt out. To encourage you to take a step back. Take a real hard look at your schedule for this month. What are things that don’t need to be there? What are activities that you can do that can still fulfill you with joy and wholeness and adventure and satisfaction, but don’t have to be that next level of extra.

It’s okay to stay home. It’s okay to have a date night in. Furthermore, it’s okay to spend an afternoon at the pool instead of opting for a grander adventure. It’s more than okay when you have a free 30 minutes to simply sit and to rest. Take a moment to lay down and rest your eyes. To sit and watch something on television that you enjoy without feeling the need to have a computer in front of you or your phone in front of you.

It’s More Than Okay to Rest and to Be Present in That Rest

It’s okay to rest and to be present in that rest. It is okay to wake up early without jumping onto your work. Friend, it is absolutely okay to sip your coffee and DREAM. To journal, to read and to take personal inventory of the things that really make you YOU to your entirety. Take the actual time to do those things and to practice those things. Practice the stillness. And find joy in the little moments every single day,

Rest, embrace the stillness, embrace the quiet, and embrace the moments of the in between. The chunks of time between one thing and the next, where we try to jam pack it with something else. It’s okay to rest in that. Your body needs it. Your heart needs it. And so does your mind and your spirit. Additionally, your people need it.

The Only One Thing You Need to Do This Month

If you only do one thing this entire month for July, I encourage you. Do this. Don’t look forward. Don’t look behind. Look to where you are in your current moment. Embrace where you are. Sit where you are with stillness and gladness and joy. Embrace rest. Give yourself permission to rest and see exactly what that does to your daily life. Be amazed at what that does to your heart, your energy, and to your overall wellbeing, when you start to prioritize rest a little bit at a time.

So how do you do this? Where do you start? Well, start small. Take a moment and think to yourself, okay, what does the rest of my day look like? What are my next couple of days like? What can I do right now today to make sure I am prioritizing rest for myself? Additionally, what is it that you can be doing right now to make sure we are honoring ourselves, respecting our bodies, our energy levels, and prioritizing rest so we can truly be the best version of ourselves?

It is possible. You are capable. The best version of yourself is out there, waiting for you to slow down, rest up, and meet her! And friend, if you are looking for additional encouragement, be sure to check out this message of hope from my heart to yours! As always, cheering you and believing in you every single step of the way!