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How to Prioritize: A Key Element in Maximizing Your Time

Hey there! Welcome back to Episode 12 of the Mom-entum Podcast – your go-to place for all things mom-life! I'm Tanya Valentine, your host, and I'm thrilled to have you here with me today!

So, let's get real – how's everyone doing? With the holidays creeping in, it's that time when we feel the pressure to make everything just perfect, am I right? We're decking the halls, buying gifts, trying to be all Martha Stewart, and it's... well, let's say, not always as serene as we imagine it in our heads. Ever found yourself stepping on a Christmas light and creating chaos? Yep, that's the reality!

But can we just agree to let go of these picture-perfect expectations? Because seriously, they're not always a reality. And honestly, that's okay! In this episode, I'm diving into priorities. Why? Because life's too short to stress about sending the perfect Christmas cards or nailing every holiday tradition.

Let's talk about what's important. I mean, really important to YOU! What brings you joy? What values drive your life? Spoiler alert – it's not always what society expects, and that's perfectly fine.

I'll be dishing out a sneak peek into my own prioritization framework. Think of it as your personal mom-life hack. We'll chat about planning – not just for the week but also for JOY! Yeah, we're putting that on our to-do list too!

You know, there's immense power in figuring out what really matters to you and shaping your tasks around those values. I'll even share a quick exercise at the end of this episode to help you identify those values. So tune in and make sure you stick around until the end! It's all about reducing the stress, increasing the joy, and embracing the chaos of the holidays!

As we gear up for this festive season, remember: it's not about perfection. It's about finding your unique way to celebrate and making the most of what truly matters to YOU. And hey, if you found this episode helpful, share it with your mom friends who could use some good vibes!

Wishing you all a fantastic, stress-free, and joy-filled holiday season. Until next time, remember, your values are your guiding stars to a holiday season filled with warmth, love, and a whole lot of happiness! Take care!

Resources Mentioned In Show

• Need help organizing your time?  A great way to start is by doing a time audit.  Don't know where to start?  I've got you covered! For access to my FREE TIME AUDIT TOOL click here.

• ​Click here to join The Mom-entum Podcast Private Facebook Community

• Please subscribe, rate and review the show to help me reach and support more amazing moms just like you! Click here to learn how.

Tanya: Hello and welcome to episode 12 of the momentum podcast the show dedicated to inspiring, uplifting, and empowering women on their journey through motherhood.

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Tanya: I'm your host. Tanya Valentine, and I'm so glad you're here. So how are you all doing like, really?

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Tanya: How are you all doing, because I know the holidays are coming, and we can all tell ourselves that it's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year.

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Tanya: But actually well, yes, it is. It is the most wonderful time of the year.

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Tanya: and it can actually be quite stressful. Right? We put so much pressure on ourselves. We want to do everything right.

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Tanya: We send out Christmas cards. We're decorating our homes. We're buying gifts for our children, family members, friends, teachers. and it's not enough to just buy a gift. Right? It's gonna be a thoughtful gift.

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Tanya: And we are all just trying to keep up with one another. And we want to create special moments for our children.

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Tanya: I know for me every year I've had this idea of how decorating the house for Christmas will go.

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and how it looks in my head is like

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Tanya: that fireplace is going. Christmas music is playing in the background. We're all sipping hot chocolate and getting along. But in reality

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Tanya: what it looks like is, there's shit all over the place the kids are arguing over who will get to put the star on top of the tree, and I step on and break

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Tanya: the Christmas lights, shattering glass all over the floor just like pure chaos. Right?

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Tanya: But can we just let go of the expectations. We all have expectations of how we imagine or want things to go. But how many times does it actually pan out that way?

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Tanya: My guess is almost never.

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Tanya: And then we end up all upset about the fact that things didn't go as planned.

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Tanya: But that's just life right. We must get used to dealing with and being okay

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Tanya: with the fact

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Tanya: that our expectations are not going to be met sometimes.

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Tanya: and when we do this we move into acceptance of what our life is.

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Tanya: and it's much more peaceful and calm in this place. You really are able to just enjoy life for what it is from this place.

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Tanya: and what I want to offer is. what if there's no right way to do things like? Can we just all stop telling ourselves that there's a right way.

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Tanya: Do it your way.

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Tanya: You don't want to send Christmas cards. Don't send Christmas cards if that will take some of the stress off you this holiday season, and if it will allow you to enjoy yourself more.

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Tanya: I know plenty of people that don't send Christmas cards.

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Tanya: Remind yourself you don't have to do any of it.

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Tanya: because you don't

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Tanya: take this time right now and get honest with yourself. What is important to you.

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Tanya: and that's what I'm going to be talking about in this episode is priorities.

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Tanya: We will be identifying what priorities are.

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Tanya: Why, it's important to prioritize and how to prioritize so that you can find more joy this holiday season, and in life in general.

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Tanya: be sure to stick around until the conclusion of this episode, where I'll guide you through a quick exercise designed to enhance your prioritization skills.

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Tanya: This exercise will provide practical insights to help you better identify and manage your priorities effectively.

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Tanya: So get out a pen

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Tanya: or pencil and paper now, and get ready to take notes

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Tanya: so to start priorities. What are they?

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Tanya: I went to the Googles for a definition, of course, and found that a priority is something that is regarded as more important than another, and prioritizing means, determining the order for dealing with a series of items or tasks, according to their relative importance

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Tanya: and relative importance, refers to the degree of significance or priority assigned to something in relation to other things.

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Tanya: So this could be in relation to what your values are, or in relation to maybe the events that are planned in your life.

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Tanya: Now, why is it important to prioritize.

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Tanya: We look at our to-do list, and maybe some of you don't even have a to-do list written out. Maybe it's just all in your head. That's fine. But we think about all the things that we have to do, and it's so easy to get overwhelmed and not know where to start.

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Tanya: and then what happens is we don't start. We are paralyzed in confusion and overwhelm. We procrastinate.

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Tanya: The truth is, we can't do all of the things we want to do it all, but we can't. We can only do one thing at a time when.

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Tanya: and we can only be in one place at a time. So we need to decide what's important.

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Tanya: It is important to prioritize, because when you do this, you don't waste time on things that aren't important or things that drain you of your energy.

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Tanya: Taking the time to prioritize helps to reduce stress and increase productivity. It helps you avoid procrastination.

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Tanya: It can give you more time to relax.

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Tanya: It allows you to decide ahead of time what's important. So you are doing the task, the tasks that are in line with your values. You're taking care of things with a deadline first. So you don't have the stress or worry of something not being done on time or not having what you need in order to complete a project because you didn't prioritize.

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Tanya: I'm going to give you an example. Now, in case you don't know. I used to be a nurse. So this is a nursing example. But in nursing, prioritizing is of huge importance. In fact.

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Tanya: it is something that we're actually tested on when we take our boards. Did you prioritize tasks correctly, and in nursing you are juggling so many different things and under high pressure

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Tanya: situations. Many times. So in nursing, we need to prioritize patient care and how to figure out which patient you should see first.

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Tanya: And there are times when all of your patients need you at once.

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Tanya: but in reality you are only one person, and you can only be in one place at a time. So you must learn how to prioritize.

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Tanya: So first, you must know how to prioritize. You must have a system to follow. and in nursing the system we follow is the Abcs. So ABC. Stands for the A stands for airway. B stands for breathing, and C stands for circulation.

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Tanya: So you take care of the person who can't breathe before seeing the person complaining of chest pain. For example.

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Tanya: then, once all of the Abcs are taken care of, or everyone's good there we prioritize, based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. and if you're not familiar with this, Maslow's higher give needs looks like a pyramid, and you always want to start from the bottom of the pyramid and go up.

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Tanya: So at the bottom of the pyramid, you see your basic physiological physiological needs.

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Tanya: And that's where you start. So you must take care of the basic physiological needs, like breathing, food, water, clothing, sleep. Before you address someone's love and belonging needs. For example.

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Tanya: now, understanding the critical nature of prioritization. Let me draw a parallel between nursing and our everyday lives.

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Tanya: just as in nursing, where prioritizing patient care is paramount under high pressure situations.

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Tanya: our personal lives demand a similar skill set

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Tanya: learning from these principles, I'm excited to offer you a sneak peek into my framework for prioritization.

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Tanya: This framework, which will be a key part of my upcoming time management for moms. 101 course launching in January

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Tanya: draws on these fundamental principles to help you navigate and manage your priorities effectively in daily life.

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Tanya: So here it is. Number one. Pollan.

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Tanya: you need to actually sit down and take the time to plan.

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Tanya: You need to schedule time to plan your week ahead of time

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Tanya: this way. You know what's coming, and you can feel prepared. You can think things through and figure out what needs to be done. In order to complete your project, you will be less likely to spend your time on time wasting activities or things that just aren't important to you, and you're more prepared to handle the distractions and the things that seem to come out of left field

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Tanya: number 2. You're going to review any activities or events that are planned for the week.

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Tanya: You ask yourself what needs to be done for those activities? For example, do you have a birthday party planned. What needs to be done for the birthday party. You need to order and pick up the cake, play in the menu. You need to make a grocery list. You need to do the grocery, shopping, wrap the gifts, etc.

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Tanya: Number 3. Plan your joy. You have got to intentionally plan things that are going to light you up. Think of this like charging your battery.

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Tanya: Think of how your phone operates when it is at 100% when it's a hundred percent charged

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Tanya: is able to handle multiple apps open at once. You can stream and download no problem.

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Tanya: Now think of how it operates in low battery mode, it's much slower, and it essentially starts to shut down.

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Tanya: This is what happens to us when we are not doing the things that bring us joy, and the way we can ensure we do is by prioritizing our joy.

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Tanya: Number 4 is values.

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Tanya: Become aware of what your values are, and then prioritize things that are in line with your values. I would say to even look at your to do list

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Tanya: and take things off of your to-do lists that are not in line with your values.

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Tanya: You can do this, you know, you get to decide what's important in your life. This is your life. And what is important to you

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Tanya: matters.

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Tanya: Maybe some of you are thinking. But what exactly are values, and how do I figure out what my values are

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Tanya: well, I will do a quick exercise with you today to help you connect with your values. So take a minute right now and get out a pen or pencil and paper, and write a list

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Tanya: numbered, one through 3, leaving plenty of space in between for you to jot down your answers.

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Tanya: So first.

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Tanya: what are values? Values are individual beliefs that motivate people to act one way or another. They guide your decision making and how you live your life.

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Tanya: Some examples of values are family connection.

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Tanya: health.

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Tanya: contribution, kindness.

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Tanya: honesty, integrity, authenticity.

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Tanya: harmony. confidence.

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Tanya: patience, self discipline, organization, and flexibility.

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Tanya: So question number one. Think of the most meaningful moments in your life.

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Tanya: What made those moments meaningful to you?

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Tanya: Maybe it was the birth of your children getting married, graduating from college.

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Tanya: or maybe it was supporting a friend or holiday spent with family and friends. Or maybe it was getting a raise or getting hired at your dream job.

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Tanya: Look for a theme as you list. Your meaningful moments, and this will help you reveal your values.

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Number 2.

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Tanya: Think of the moments in your life when you were dissatisfied. What were some of the worst life experiences?

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Tanya: Maybe it was losing a job or just dissatisfaction in a job.

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Tanya: Think what was it about the job that made you feel dissatisfied. Your answers will reveal your values.

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Tanya: For instance, maybe you are a stay at home, Mom, and you have a value of validation or acknowledgement and contribution.

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Tanya: and you find yourself deeply dissatisfied, because, despite all of the work you do, maintaining a home, raising children, being a nurse to those babies, a cook, a cleaner, a chaos coordinator, a therapist, and that sense of achievement doesn't last because most things you do

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Tanya: seem to get undone rapidly after they are finished, laundry is never ending. You organize the toys in the house, and the kids come behind you, and everything becomes jumbled. A jumbled mess in just a fraction of time that it took to put in order. And there's no measurement tool of all of the things you get done in a day that would help. You see all that you were able to accomplish

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Tanya: the way having a job would I mean having a job? You earn money, you might get acknowledged by being awarded the employee of the month. You don't get this kind of acknowledgement as a stay at home, Mom, so if validation acknowledgement and accomplishment or achievement are strong values of yours, and if you are a stay at home, mom, then maybe you are feeling a little dissatisfied.

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Tanya: Number 3,

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Tanya: think of what inspires you? Is it art, food being out in nature?

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Tanya: Who are the people that inspire you? What about them is so inspiring?

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Tanya: How is it about the way they are showing up in the world and what they are doing with their life. That is so inspiring to you.

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Tanya: what movies shows, podcasts, books inspire you. Consider why these people and things are so inspiring to you, and this will help unveil your values

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Tanya: so as a quick recap

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Tanya: prioritizing is important to ensure that you are taking care of the important things first.

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Tanya: and that those important things get done. It helps you to feel less overwhelmed, reduce stress prevents procrastination increases productivity, and it helps you live a more peaceful life.

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Tanya: My framework to prioritization is number one.

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Tanya: You plan. You take the time to plan ahead of time. Number 2, you review any activities or events planned for the week. And you ask yourself, is there anything that I need to do to prep for these events or activ

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Tanya: number 3, you plan your joy.

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Tanya: Number 4, you prioritize tasks based on your values.

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Tanya: which are basically the things that are important to you, not the things that are important to anyone else, not the things you think you should do, or you should want to do, but genuinely, what is important to you.

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Tanya: As we approach the holiday season.

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Tanya: it's easy to fall into the trap of striving for perfection and

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Tanya: adhering to societal expectations.

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Tanya: However, what truly matters is not

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Tanya: flawless execution of every festive tradition, but rather the authenticity and joy we bring into our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

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Tanya: Remember, there's immense power in letting go of the shoulds and musts, and embracing our unique way of celebrating.

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Tanya: by prioritizing what aligns with our values. We pave the way for a more fulfilling and stress-free holiday experience.

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Tanya: As we wind down to day's episode, I encourage you to take a moment for introspection.

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Tanya: Reflect on what truly brings you joy this holiday season and beyond

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Tanya: embrace the chaos, accept imperfection and prioritize what matters most to you?

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Tanya: It's through this intentional focus on our values, that we can create moments that are authentically ours, fostering a sense of fulfillment and peace. Thank you for joining me on this episode of the momentum podcast

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Tanya: I hope these insights into the power of prioritization and aligning actions with values, help you navigate the holiday season with a renewed sense of joy and purpose.

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Tanya: If you found value in today's episode, please consider sharing it with your mom friends who could use a little encouragement today.

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Tanya: and if you haven't already be sure to subscribe.

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Tanya: Be sure to subscribe to this, podcast to stay inspired with more empowering stories and insights.

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Tanya: If I could kindly ask a favor. I would greatly appreciate it. If you could take a moment to leave a rating and review for the monetum. Podcast

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Tanya: your support means the world to me as it plays a crucial role in helping more amazing moms like you discover the show. I understand that the journey of raising children can be incredibly challenging, and many of us feel isolated in this journey.

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Tanya: My goal is to remind these mothers that they are never alone in this tough gig of motherhood.

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Tanya: This podcast is all about introducing fresh perspectives and effective strategies to help you navigate the challenges of motherhood is about delivering messages of hope and inspiration, so that you can be the best mom you aspire to be.

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Tanya: I know that fulfilling this role as a mom and guiding your children through this life is important to so many of us.

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Tanya: Your ratings and reviews will assist in spreading this message in providing support to more moms who could benefit from it.

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Tanya: wishing you all a wonderful and fulfilling time ahead until next week. Remember your values are your compass. Let them guide you to a season filled with genuine warmth, love, and happiness.