Lessons from Watering Plants | The Power of Systems and Habits [Episode 326]

When Sierra first discovered the Thriving in Motherhood planner in 2021, she was deep in survival mode. With a three-year-old and an 18-month-old, she had been battling postpartum depression for over a year. “I need something,” she recalled thinking. “I can’t just be surviving anymore.” Like many mothers, Sierra initially hesitated about investing in a planner. But after discussing it with her husband, she took a leap - a decision that would transform not just her approach to motherhood, but her entire outlook on life. One of Sierra’s most profound realizations through using the planner was that “goals can be accomplished in small pieces.” This simple, but powerful insight helped her break free from overwhelm. Using the Thriving in Motherhood Planner’s structured approach, she began setting and achieving goals across different areas of her life, from reading classics with her children to pursuing her passion for drawing. What started as Sierra’s personal planning journey soon created beautiful ripple effects throughout her family life. As she invested time in her own growth and interests through the planner’s guidance, she noticed her children becoming curious and inspired by her examples. Through the planner’s guidance, Sierra found that taking time for personal growth doesn’t detract from motherhood - it enhances it. Sierra offers this wisdom for mothers feeling overwhelmed about starting their journey with the Thriving in Motherhood Planner: “Take it a little bit at a time.” She recommends: Don’t try to fill everything out at once Give yourself time to review your year and set intentions Focus on one domain at a time Remember it’s okay to put it aside during challenging seasons The journey from just surviving to really thriving doesn't happen overnight. But Sierra's story shows us something beautiful - when you have the right tool and give yourself grace to use it in your own way, you can build a life you're excited about.  It really can happen, one small step at a time. As Sierra discovered, you don't have to do everything at once. Start somewhere, focus on what matters most to you right now, and know it's perfectly okay to set it aside when life gets crazy. The planner will be there when you're ready to pick it back up again. If you’re ready to get started on your own journey, order your 2025 Thriving in Motherhood Planner HERE.

Today I’m going to walk you through the the Win Your Week planning system that’s built into the 2025 Thriving in Motherhood Planner. This system is designed to help you navigate the ups and downs of motherhood while still achieving your goals and creating a life you love. Why Focus on Winning Your Week? Let's face it: as moms, our days can be unpredictable. Some days are fantastic, others are challenging, and many are a mix of both. That's why I've found that focusing on "winning the week" is the sweet spot. It gives us enough time to balance productivity, self-care, and family time, even when individual days don't go as planned. So let’s break down how this whole system fits together so you can have a winning week: Vision for the Year: This is where we start. It doesn’t matter how fuzzy it is to begin - you just need to put some ideas on paper. I promise it will become more clear over time. Sandbox/Someday Maybe Section: This is a great spot for ideas you’re not ready to commit to. It’s a way to preserve those ideas without cluttering up your calendar or to-do list. Quarterly Vision: Your yearly vision breaks down into concrete projects, goals, and habits for each quarter. Monthly Planning: Here you have a spot to write down the goals, projects, and habits you want to work on for the next 30 days, based on your quarterly plan. Weekly Plan: This is where we’re really focusing. You’ll have a big three for the week, trying to take that vision and bring it into your week. You’ll also include next actions from your projects, tasks that just come up in life, appointments, and scheduled events. Recurring Tasks and Routines: These feed into your weekly plan too. They’re the things that keep your household running smoothly. Special Features to Note Think and Process Pages: These weekly blank pages are your catch-all for notes, ideas, and brainstorming sessions. They're perfect for corralling all the information that comes at us from different directions. Recurring Tasks and Routines: We've included dedicated spaces for weekly and monthly routines to help you manage household tasks more efficiently. Habit Tracking: There's space to track four weekly habits – enough to make progress without feeling overwhelmed. Looking Ahead Section: A place to jot down future plans and ideas, so you're always prepared for what's coming. Index: Like a bullet journal, this feature helps you quickly find important information you've written down throughout the year. Pre-Order Your 2025 Planner Mark your calendars! The 2025 Thriving in Motherhood Planner will be available for pre-order from October 21st to 26th. When you order during that time, it allows me to do one big bulk order, take it to a local printer, add coils, and then my kids package and ship it to you.  I hope this overview gives you a visual of how the Win Your Week planning system works. It’s designed to take you from where you are now, and help you close the gap to where you want to be with baby steps that filter powerfully through into something amazing!

I’m thrilled to share with you the 12 major updates we’ve made to the 2025 Thriving in Motherhood Planner. These changes are based on the latest productivity research, time management strategies, and systems design. I’ve been diving deep into these topics to bring you a planner that truly supports your journey in motherhood. Let’s explore what’s new! Getting Started Checklist Ever felt lost staring at a brand new planner? Not anymore. I’ve created a step-by-step guide that’s like having a friendly expert by your side. Whether you’re a planning pro or a first-timer, you’ll be up and running in no time. Enhanced Planning Sessions Checklist The planning sessions guide includes detailed checklists for quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily planning. Each session has it’s own acronym to help you remember it’s purpose. Separated Vision Workbook and 2025 Vision Page I’ve split these sections to give you more flexibility in your planning process. Why? Because sometimes you need to get messy with your dreams and sometimes you need a clean snapshot. The workbook is for brainstorming, while the vision page is for your refined goals. Leverage Task List This new two-page spread allows you to note repetitive tasks or pain points that you can improve or automate. It’s like a “to-improve list” that will help you free up mental and physical energy over time.  Energy Map A way to plan your tasks with your natural energy levels throughout the day, week, and month, maximizing your productivity and reducing frustration. No more beating yourself up for not being a morning person (or a night owl)! Personal Life Philosophy Page A dedicated space for you to collect inspiring quotes, scriptures, or ideas that resonate with who you want to be and how you want to live. This page is your personal collection of guiding lights, helping you stay true to your values and aspirations. Quarterly Vision Pages I’ve repositioned these pages to appear before each quarter, making it easier to plan and review your progress throughout the year. No more flipping back and forth! Updated Project, Goal, and Habit Planning Pages These pages now offer more white space for brainstorming and customization, allowing you to plan in a way that suits your style. Scribble, doodle, mind-map to your heart’s content. Monthly Routine Page Say goodbye to forgotten monthly tasks. This new page is designed to capture all those important monthly to-dos that often slip through the cracks.  Improved Monthly Planning Pages I’ve supercharged these monthly planning pages with new sections for habits and weekly routines. Now you can see your big-picture goals, daily habits, and weekly commitments all in one place. It’s like having a birds-eye view of your month. Weekly Reflection Questions Two thoughtful questions at the bottom of each weekly page to celebrate wins and tweak what’s not working. Because you’re awesome and you deserve to know it! Annual Calendars for 2025 and 2026 By popular request, I've included annual calendars for both the current and upcoming year, perfect for long-term planning Mark your calendars for October 21st (my birthday - what better way to celebrate?) through October 26th. That’s when you can get your very own planner coil-bound by me and my family. After that planners will be perfect bound (which works great as well!). Remember, this planner is designed to grow with you as you manage your home, pursue your dreams, and thrive in motherhood. Here’s to creating a life we’re excited to wake up to each day!  

We have had a wonderful summer and a lot going on as we get back into life at home, gardening, homeschooling, and friendships. There has also been a lot going on behind the scenes with the podcast, which is what I want to share with you in this week’s Thriving Thursday email so you can know what to expect. Usually by now I've gotten the next year's planner edited, ordered, shipped to my home, and I've taken photos and gotten ready to share it with all of you. This year I have the draft of the 2025 planner written, but it still needs to be created. What I've been focusing on the last few months is reading the productivity books that have come out in the last few years, taking a few productivity courses, and translating the principles that apply to us as moms into the planner and courses that go along with the planner. I am excited to share these little but effective tweaks with you soon! I also sent an email out earlier this year to everyone who has purchased the Made to Soar: Next 90 Days program looking for feedback about what was working and what wasn't working. Two really important points emerged from that feedback. First, 90 days is a really long time to focus on something and it led to feelings of discouragement when interruptions happened or it took longer to get through the course material. At the same time I've seen so much progress in the lives of the moms I've been working with for nearly 4 years in Soaring Mothers Society (which is the group coaching program that goes along with the Made to Soar DIY course). And the reality is that the baby steps add up to incredible change.  So the first big change I'm announcing in this email is that the Made to Soar: Next 90 Days program name is changing to Win Your Week Academy. With this focus on creating a winning week you will also experience winning months, quarters, and years. Everyone who has already purchased the Next 90 Days program will get access to this update. Second, many moms struggled with working on the program because they were in survival mode, re-entry, or buried in the work of normalizing. Which is absolutely right because that content is really focused on the later stages of normalizing, exploring, and thriving. And this is where I realized that I had a major gap I needed to fill and where the idea of the Surviving to Thriving Toolkit came about. This is something I've been making baby steps of progress on for months and I'm looking forward to announcing the beta launch of this program soon. The women in Mom Matters Too have also been so patient this year as we started that new program and moved around to 3 different tech platforms until we found our home. This was a huge undertaking but I am really thrilled with the results. So much so that I am going to be switching all of the products and courses over to this platform so everything will be in one place. This is a huge project but will smooth things out for everyone moving forward. With all of these large projects on the horizon, I have made the decision to take my first break ever since starting the podcast nearly seven years ago. This way my team and I can divert all of our energy and attention to getting the 2025 planner ready to go, creating the new Win Your Week Academy program, creating the Soaring Mothers Toolkit, and switching all other digital products to the new platform. I already have many more episode ideas and raw footage recorded for the podcast, so there is part of me that thinks I can just keep going with both. But honestly, it is a relief to decide to go all in on one thing and create a really strong foundation with things that will truly serve you and help you in ways that I can't do through the podcast. And once we have solid footing, it will be wonderful to put energy and attention back towards bringing you great conversations and insights on the Thriving in Motherhood Podcast again. During the break you can listen to any of the 330 previous episodes here: https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/podcast/ I will continue sending emails on Thursday to give you behind the scenes progress updates and let you know when episodes will be released again as the time gets closer. I look forward to working with some of you in the Surviving to Thriving Toolkit beta program! You can get on the waitlist here to be the first to know when the doors are opening. 

I went out to harvest cucumbers and green beans with my kids early one morning. The plants looked amazing, with vines reaching everywhere. At first glance, it looked like we would come out with nothing to show for our months of effort water, picking off bugs, and weeding. But after we slowed down and searched for a while, we began to see lots of vegetables (we found 17 cucumbers and an entire colander of green beans!). Just like the vegetables hidden in the garden, sometimes we get so caught up in the daily grind that we miss all the amazing things we're accomplishing as moms. That's why a monthly review is SO important! It is when we slow down and look for all of the fruit that we get to celebrate and enjoy our daily efforts. You can do a monthly review on a piece of paper or journal, or use the Thriving in Motherhood Planner. There's a page each month for doing this monthly review so you never have to remember that it's time to sit down and reflect again. If you want a little more accountability and motherhood camaraderie we'd love to have you join us in our monthly Soaring Mothers Society Calls. These monthly calls are a fantastic way to connect with other moms, share your review progress, and get inspired. And here's my favorite part of the whole process (and a way to battle the mom guilt that so easily creeps in): After your monthly review, share it with your kids and husband at the dinner table! Share the things you are learning and discovering. Share your accomplishments. Reflect and remember the things you've done as a family and the places you've gone. Share what you've been reading. And then ask them about their progress too! Your kids want to celebrate with you, be proud of you, and enjoy seeing your success and growth as much as you enjoy seeing theirs. This is a powerful way to create a strong family culture of motivated, growing individuals who cheer each other on. Grab a piece of paper, join our Soaring Mother Society Calls, or use your planner – whatever works for you. Just take that time to reflect, celebrate, and share your joy with your family. I can't wait to hear about all the amazing things YOU'RE accomplishing! I'm cheering you on! Jessica

As mothers, we often find ourselves navigating the challenging journey from merely surviving our days to truly thriving. Over the years, I've had the privilege of working with many amazing moms, and I've noticed some common pitfalls that can make this journey feel even more daunting.  Today, I'd like to share some insights to help smooth your path. In our latest podcast episode, we dive into the five biggest mistakes moms make as they transition from survival mode to thriving.  Here are the five key mistakes to consider: Focusing on Circle of Concern vs. Circle of Influence: It’s crucial to distinguish between what you can control and what you can’t. By redirecting your focus to your circle of influence, you empower yourself to make meaningful changes. When I was pregnant with my third baby, I found myself overwhelmed by everything outside my control. A wise friend encouraged me to focus on my circle of influence rather than my circle of concern. It was a life-changing moment that taught me to concentrate on what I could truly impact. This shift in perspective enabled me to put my energy into actions that mattered, rather than getting bogged down by things I couldn't change. Phone Scrolling: While it's a common escape, it can hinder your ability to think clearly, connect meaningfully with your family, and solve your problems with God. Reducing phone time can significantly improve your ability to cope and connect. Getting Stuck in Phases: Whether it's survival mode, normalizing routines, or exploring new interests, it's important to recognize when it's time to move on and adapt to new phases in your motherhood journey. I go into great detail about what it looks like to get stuck in each phase. Focusing on Suffering: It's easy to dwell on the hardships of motherhood, but shifting your mindset to focus on what you’re learning and how you’re growing can make a significant difference. Seeing challenges as opportunities for growth fosters resilience. This can't be rushed - it takes time to grieve or work through the emotions and realities of things being hard or different than you anticipated. But I have also learned that it is a skill set and a habit of thinking that can grow stronger with practice. Limiting Strategies to Simplify Life: I spent years thinking there are only a couple of ways to make life easier, like sending kids to Grandma's or eating out. However, there are countless strategies to improve your day-to-day, even without these conveniences. This is why I'm creating a brand new program, The Surviving to Thriving Toolkit! If you want to be the first to know any details and get on the waitlist, you can head over to https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/toolkit. Additionally, if you're seeking more support and community, consider joining Mom Matters Too {https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/mom-matters-too} where we work on micro habits together. These calls are a fantastic opportunity to connect with other moms, share your progress, and gain inspiration. The price is going up at the end of July so now is the perfect time to join! Remember, every step forward, no matter how small, is a victory. Let's celebrate these wins together. I can't wait to hear about all the amazing things you are accomplishing!

Currently, we are in a season in our lives that could be temporary - or we could be here to stay for a long, long time. I'm very good at temporary. Moving has been my lot in life, growing up with my parents (I went to 10 schools by the time I graduated high school) and since getting married (we've lived in 6 homes). But living somewhere where staying is a possibility? Now that has been a hard thing for my mind to grasp.  In this week's episode, I'm sharing a thriving thought that has come out of this struggle for me and also how it applies to motherhood. We love where we live. We love the smaller home that is easy to clean, the updates and DIY projects we've done to customize the space, the huge garden we've put in the backyard, the rock climbing wall we just built, and the space our kids have to roam and play outside. But as we've made each of these changes and have more ideas for the future (front yard orchard and herb garden), I've often wondered if it is even a good idea to put our time, energy, and finances into something if we aren't staying here.  After much prayer and discussion with God for years I got the new understanding that I was seeking: Yes, embrace the current resources you have now to the fullest while you have them. Enjoy the spaces, the yard, the garden, the place to develop skills and do projects. Embrace the hours the children get to roam and create and build and picnic and imagine. Embrace all of it while you have it. And when things change, you don't need to replicate what you had here. You can embrace the new circumstances to the fullest and enjoy the differences. Then I realized that we weren't just talking about houses. We were also talking about my children and the seasons of motherhood. It is going so fast. My oldest is turning 11 and what felt like forever in those early years with 3 kids four and under is now moving at lightning speed. But I don't need to focus on the inevitable changes coming. Instead, embrace the season we are in now. Invest in it fully with my time, focus, and energy. And when this season changes with the children continuing to get older, embrace that one too. And this isn't meant to get us caught up in mom guilt and focus on the limitations we have or the things we can't do that would count as "embracing things to the fullest". If you are in a hard season right now, it can look like just being present and sitting down and watching the same movie with your kids instead of scrolling or consuming your own content. Just BEING together counts. In fact, each step along the five-step path from surviving to thriving will look different. This is why I'm creating the Surviving to Thriving Toolkit - to empower you to embrace where you are to the fullest with all the realities of motherhood and life coming at you. You can learn more at thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/toolkit

It can be so hard to feel like we are just surviving our days and see a huge list of all that needs to happen, but in reality all we need to do is focus on managing today and making tomorrow a little bit better too. Each of the five phases along the path have a specific focus, systems, and skills so that you can dramatically shorten your to-do list and put your energy towards the specific problems you are facing right now.  In this weeks episode I'm sharing the big problems with you along each phase so you can more clearly identify where you are at along the path and what you can let go of in the season you are in. We work on solving each of these problems in the Surviving to Thriving Toolkit. You can learn more and join the waitlist to be the first to know about it here: https://thrivinginmotherhoodpodcast.com/toolkit

We have been working on a huge project to weed all of the garden pathways and lay down weed cloth to hopefully prevent future out of control weeks from taking over. One morning I got out there super early and saw all of the beautiful plants strong, but by 10am they were withering away in the hot sun.  I realized that we've had many hot, dry days and I hadn't done much watering. It was a crazy ten minutes as I had kids melting down and a garden that was on it's way to dead that we had to take care of right then. And it was this moment that I learned a powerful lesson that I'm sharing in this weeks episode. It hit me: just like those thirsty plants, we moms can feel drained if we don't take care of ourselves regularly. But here's the good news! Imagine if you had a drip irrigation system for your garden. No more daily watering, just consistent nourishment that lets your plants flourish. That's the power of micro-habits and systems for moms! Think of these habits as your drip line. Maybe it's a morning routine that sets your day up for success, or a dedicated time for quiet reflection. These small but consistent actions "water" your well-being, freeing up energy for the things you truly enjoy. Just like with that drip irrigation, once you have those systems in place, you can spend more time savoring the fruits of your labor! Imagine ENJOYING your harvest, planting a metaphorical fruit orchard of new goals, or spending more quality time with your family. Ready to ditch the inconsistency and effort of using a watering can and create sustaining micro habits?  Join me in the Mom Matters Too program this July! We'll dive deep into creating those powerful micro-habits and systems that will allow you to have the energy, clarity, and focus to work on the things that truly matter to you. (Plus, the price goes up in August, so don't miss out!) Head over to Mom Matters Too and get started on your journey to a more joyful, fulfilling motherhood!

If you are looking for a fun and new activity to do with your kids I recommend making a jar of sauerkraut this summer! It took me 2 years and five failed batches before I finally figured out all of the nuances of this process, but it was well worth the wait.  Today I'm sharing 6 mistakes to avoid and what to do instead so that your first batch can be successful and a fun check on your summer bucket list. 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Making Sauerkraut Not shredding finely enough: Use a cheese grater or food processor with grating attachment Using not enough or too much salt: Add 2T for every 3 cabbages (2/3 T for one cabbage) Filling the jars too much: Leave 2-3 inches at the top so there is room for the weight and brine Not using the outside cabbage leaf to contain everything: Use the outside 2 cabbage leaves to cover the shredded cabbage and make sure all of the pieces are submerged over the brine Not having adequate weight/pressure to hold things down: Rocks work but the whole process was cleaner, didn't smell or attract fruit flies when I got this weight and self burping lids/ Not waiting long enough: It takes a full two weeks even here in the south where it is hot for the sauerkraut to finish. It will switch from a light green to a light yellow/brown color throughout the entire jar. Tips for Making Sauerkraut with Kids Decide whether this is a good time to work with just one child or do everyone together. Let everyone know what the whole process is ahead of time. Prep everyone to take turns and let them know what their turn is going to be. Know it doesn't have to be perfect and it can be messy. Do it at a time when you aren't stressed or starving because it's not fun to cook with other people then. Turn it into a science experiment and have them track the color until it is done and see how long it takes.