[00:00:00] Christine: You know that you’re going to be PCSing in the next six months, or maybe you see that deployment looming on the horizon and you realize there’s this underlying sense of anxiety that you’re feeling not just about a big change, but about how you’re going to manage all the. Specifically, if you have a side hustle, if you have a work from home business, if you have a passion project that you love, if you’re trying to chase this dream on your heart.

[00:00:32] How is this big change going to affect your ability to do that thing? Will your side hustle end up on the back burner again? Will you have to put that dream aside? Is there a way to still maintain consistency, make progress on your goals in a season of chaos and. You better believe there is. So let’s dive into five things you can do to prepare for an upcoming season of chaos.

[00:01:06] You, my friend are made for more, more than the managing of schedules. Keeping up with kiddos and holding down the home front. Welcome to the mill spouse mastermind show. I’m here to help you navigate life as a military spouse, get unstuck and craft a life with. Hi, I’m Christine, a military spouse of over 10 years.

[00:01:26] Mom of littles and coffee, conno sore. You have something valuable to offer. And when you pursue the things that light your heart on fire, you trade frustration for fulfillment and isolation for a life of impact. If you feel stuck waiting for some future season to chase your dreams, then it’s time to discover who you are meant to be.

[00:01:48] Because together we can change the world. Welcome back to the mill spouse mastermind show. If this is your first time joining us, I am so excited that you jumped inside this community because we are a community. This is more than just a podcast where I share. Helpful tips to help you thrive as a military spouse.

[00:02:09] This is about creating a community of military spouses who want to live with purpose in their current season of life. We have a free Facebook community where we unpack each episode after it airs. And I would love to see you inside of there. Come inside, introduce yourself to the community and really become a.

[00:02:32] Of helping encourage each other on this journey of military life. You can access that community just by going to milspousemastermind.com/community. I would love to see you in there. I also want to let you know. That I offer one on one coaching to help you get unstuck and craft a life with purpose as a military spouse.

[00:02:57] Now these sessions are for you. If you find yourself trying to do all the things, but it’s just not working. You’re not sure what needs to change or how to move forward. And you would really benefit from an outside person looking and helping you figure out what’s really. Holding you back, what your next steps need to be and help you build that plan of action and get you moving in the right direction.

[00:03:23] You don’t have to throw spaghetti at a wall trying to figure it all out on your own. I’m here to help you get that clarity that you need. So you can craft a sustainable life that both lights you. And works for this crazy military lifestyle. Now, if you’re not sure that that is what you need, I am offering free 15 minute mindset audits, where we identify some of the thoughts and beliefs that are actually holding you back.

[00:03:53] And we figure out if we are a good fit to work together that is available. Absolutely no strings attached. I just want to see you take action. Get the support that you need so that you can craft a life with purpose. And if you are interested in the coaching or a free mindset audit, you can email me at hello, milspouse mastermind.com.

[00:04:19] And I would love to have that conversation with you. All right. Let’s dig into figuring out how we prepare for an upcoming season of chaos and change, whether that be a deployment, whether that be a PC. Whether it be the birth of a new baby, whatever it is that you have, that’s on the horizon and you realize it’s causing you some stress, some anxiety, how do you prepare, what do you need to know?

[00:04:46] What can you do right now? So that you’re not overwhelmed when it actually happens. Because so much of the time we are thinking about what might happen, what could go wrong. All the things that could hold us back. And that only makes us more anxious, more stressed and less likely to be protective with the time that we have.

[00:05:09] And so I want to help reduce some of that stress and anxiety that you’re feeling. By helping you come up with a plan that you can use to prepare for this upcoming season. And I think this is so helpful for so many of us, because this is a common question. You know, we’re all going to have these seasons where our spouse is gone a lot longer than we’d like them to be.

[00:05:33] And, and things have to shift the way that we manage the home and the kids and all of the other. Have to shift or we’re moving and we’re going to have to be in this season of getting everything ready to PCS. And then we have the actual PCS and then there’s the getting everybody settled and figuring out the doctors and the dentist and the, you know, who is gonna be our hair stylist and where the kids are gonna go to school, and where we’re gonna go buy groceries and where we’re gonna go do all of the things.

[00:06:04] Takes time and energy. I was talking to a friend the other day just about how much time and energy has to be put into uprooting our lives from where we’re at and establishing it in a new location. And I do this. Right now it’s been every, uh, 22 months-ish and that’s a lot of work. Um, it’s six to 12 months when you put that all together of time and energy that is focused on moving and not on the other things that we want to do in life.

[00:06:36] And so it’s very easy for us to get discouraged and do just sit there and question, you know, is it possible for me to do the things on my heart? Is it possible? For me to have my own dreams and passions and do the things that really fuel and fill me with life because I’ve gotta make sure that the home, that, that our kids are taking care of, that they have what they need, that my spouse has what they need to be successful in their career.

[00:07:04] And we continue to put ourselves on the back burner. We continue to hold down the home front, manage it. And we find ourselves feeling unfulfilled and that’s what I really want to help us overcome. So it’s never going to be easy. We’re never going to be settled in this place where we don’t have to do all of that extra stuff.

[00:07:26] We’re never going to have. A time where we don’t have all of these competing priorities, but it is still possible for us to pursue the things on our heart, to still have a life with purpose, and it’s gonna look different, but we can still keep pursuing that purpose. And that’s why I love to talk about flexible goal setting.

[00:07:48] I love to help people understand that it is possible to find a purpose and pursue it in every season of life. Even the crazy seasons of life, it just looks a little different than we may think it should, or that it looks like in others’ lives. Now I went through this myself. I am on the tail end right now of a very long PCS season.

[00:08:14] Moving from one side of the world to another, not having my stuff for four months, having plenty of times, without any quiet in the home, without any childcare help with lots of UN uncertainty of where are we gonna be? Are we gonna have internet access? And, and so I really took a look back at, okay, what did I do to set myself up for the best success I could have in this season?

[00:08:42] What worked well? Didn’t work well, and I came up with five things that you can do now to start preparing for this upcoming season of chaos and change. And the first thing that I would recommend that you do is decide your non-negotiables. What are the most important things that must happen in your upcoming season?

[00:09:08] What are the things that you cannot do without? Because things are going to have to shift. They’re going to have to change. You cannot keep doing all that you’re doing right now. In a season where you’re also trying to navigate a whole lot of extra stuff on your plate. There’s only so much time in the day.

[00:09:27] There’s only so much brain power. There’s only a finite amount of time. So figure out what those most important things. Are for you, if it’s for your business, what are the things that absolutely have to happen? And what are some things that, you know, those are not the top priorities, whether that’s growing or following, whether that’s income producing activities, what are the most important things to you?

[00:09:56] What are the things that have to happen? You gotta figure out what those things are and what things do not have to happen because you can’t do it all for me in this season, I looked at, Hey, I’m growing this podcast. I’m creating this brand. And what are the things that are non-negotiable as I’m navigating to PCS and what, what do I need to just let go of in this season?

[00:10:21] And for me, that non-negotiable thing was I’m going to release a podcast every single week, because it’s really important for me to demonstrate that you can show up consistently, even in the midst of chaos. And I, and I want to show you that you cannot do it all. But you can choose to do some thing. And so that, that for me was still releasing a podcast episode every single week, but that also meant that I was not going to be consistent showing up on social media, that there were weeks where I was really consistent with being inside of our Facebook community.

[00:10:59] And there was weeks where I was like, I cannot do that too. There’s just too many things Going on so many other parts of my business just have to take a backseat. I’m not going to make progress on all of my goals. I’m not going to make these giant leaps forward. I’m not going to accomplish great things, but what is it that I am going to commit to in this season?

[00:11:25] What is it most important for me at this season for the thing that I’m doing? What am I going to commit to in this season? And then once we figure out what those non-negotiables are, you gotta create the plan. You can’t just say I’m gonna do this and let’s see what happens. We actually have to plan ahead.

[00:11:45] How are you going to make that a reality? So in my journey this year, I had the month of January and February to really focus on my business. And then the month of March I was traveling, I knew I was not gonna get anything done. Then I had the month of April to work on things. And then I was moving in the month of may.

[00:12:10] I wasn’t sure how long it would be till I got my stuff. I knew I was not going to have any quiet time without my kids. For a couple of months. And so really saying, okay, this is the next six months of my life. Where can I work ahead? Where can I, how can I prepare so that I’m able to show up even on the weeks when I do not get anything done.

[00:12:36] And so. That’s how I started creating my plan and saying, okay, I’m gonna work ahead. I’m gonna do extra interviews. I’m gonna record extra episodes so that I have those ready to go on the weeks that I have no availability in my schedule. And so you’ve gotta put that plan in place that works for you based on your Nongo.

[00:13:01] You also have to anticipate obstacles. That’s the third part of this is to say, you can have a perfect plan, but it’s probably not going to go absolutely smoothly. Something’s gonna pop up. You’re gonna have some challenges that you weren’t anticipating. So just anticipate that there’s going to be obstacles that pop up, that nothing goes according to plan a hundred percent of the time somebody’s gonna get sick.

[00:13:28] You’re gonna have. You know, you’re gonna be without internet longer than you thought you were gonna be, or there’s not gonna be a. Space to do the thing that you wanted to do just began to anticipate those obstacles now. So they don’t completely throw you when they happen. The, the longer that I’ve done this, the more that I try to carve out margin that I know.

[00:13:51] Like, I don’t know what’s gonna happen, but I know something’s gonna happen and I don’t want it to discourage me to derail me. And so I just want to create space that something’s probably gonna happen. And I’m just going to do the best that I can with what I have in this season. And so once you make your plan, you have developed your non-negotiables, you’ve made your plan.

[00:14:15] You have space where you are anticipating that obstacles are going to arise. Work on your system, create a system that’s going to move with you. That’s gonna be flexible. That’s going, going to allow you to do the thing in the season of chaos. You gotta come up with whatever that system that is going to work for you.

[00:14:40] So, you know, I’m in, in the case of the podcast, I was recording episodes ahead. I was developing my system. These are interviews that I’ve recorded, but I haven’t had time to edit them because that’s something I can do when my kids are running around. Where can I carve out the time and space when I have quiet in the house?

[00:14:59] So I can actually do some recording and figuring out what that system looks like for you to do the thing that. Are trying to do, if you’re at a place where you can get some help in your business or your side hustle, that’s a great time to rely on someone else that can help you show up when you can’t be consistent.

[00:15:19] But I know several of us are trying to do this thing on our own by ourself. And that’s why this last piece of the puzzle is so important. And that’s really taking care of your. Because I know you and I know me and I know our tendency to try to do all the things to overcommit to say, I’m gonna make this happen.

[00:15:43] I will do all the things and the person that we don’t care for is ourselves. So we put ourselves last, we put rest last. And we burn ourselves out in the process. And so we really have to shift the narrative. We really have to say for. To show up to maintain consistency in a season of chaos or change. We have to care for ourselves, or we will wind up in a place of stress overwhelm and burnout.

[00:16:16] I know this to be true because I have been there and I have done this to myself and I know how much it. To be in this place where you are not healthy when you are not in control of your body, when your mind is running wild, because you don’t have your thoughts under control when your body is physically experiencing symptoms of stress.

[00:16:41] Because you didn’t care for yourself. If you wanna be able to show up, if you wanna be able to chase your goals, if you wanna be able to be consistent in your business and not completely lose all of this steam, you have to carve out time for the things that are going to fuel and fill you. And this doesn’t mean doing everything that you love.

[00:17:03] This does not mean doing all of your hobbies. But it does mean you have to carve out time to take care of yourself and to be able to refresh yourself so that you can keep going. This is the part about sustainability, that you cannot hustle and grind your way to success. And I am so passionate about this because I’ve done it the wrong way.

[00:17:26] And I don’t want you to do that. I want you to be able to PCs to a new location. two. I have to scale back in your business a little bit, but keep going, not burn yourself out in the process. I want you to not get overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. I want you to be able to do this, and this happens when we take time.

[00:17:51] For rest. When we take time to move our bodies to fuel our bodies with the nutrients that we need, when we can carve out five, 10 minutes for some mindfulness or some meditation, these little things. That don’t sound like much, but 10 minutes here, and 10 minutes there to actually take care of your body are going to make a huge difference.

[00:18:18] They’re going to be the thing that allows you to be consistent and to keep showing up. So, how do you prepare for an upcoming PCS? How do you prepare for an upcoming TDY or a deployment when you are feeling anxious and stressed about how you’re going to navigate this? And if you’re going to be able to continue to pursue that thing that you’re doing to continue to grow your business or start that side hustle, or do that purpose passion project that has been on your heart for so long.

[00:18:55] You figure out what are my non-negotiables and what can I let move to the background for that season? Then you make your plan plan ahead for how you’re going to make your non-negotiables happen. Anticipate the obstacles that are going to arise so that they don’t throw you off course so that you don’t get so discouraged that you give up and quit develop your system, your plan to make this happen.

[00:19:27] How are you actually going to do this? Not just what you’re going to do, but how are you going to make this happen in this season? And then number five, take care of yourself along the way, because if you are not filling your cup, if you are not doing the things that help you. Process all of the added stress to your life.

[00:19:49] It’s going to build up and it’s going to have negative effects in your life. And I don’t want that for you. My goal is to see you out there pursuing your dreams and finding purpose in every season of life. Even if it doesn’t feel like you’re moving fast enough or that you’re having the success you want to have, the point is that we are able to make.

[00:20:12] Sustainable for your life so that you don’t give up so that you don’t become resentful and bitter so that you are stepping into your story and into a life with purpose, a life that lights you up and is fulfilling and in the process. Impacts others’ lives for good. You are more than a mill spouse. You have something to offer and I’m ready to see you step into your story.

[00:20:39] If you feel like you are still struggling with how to create your plan, how to get started, you want somebody to talk to, I would love to offer that one-on-one coaching offer to you. You can just find out all the details by me, emailing me at hello, mill spouse, mastermind dot. Now for those of you who are listening to this and you’re thinking to yourself, but I already did not make that plan.

[00:21:05] I already stepped into this season without a strong plan and I wasn’t able to maintain consistency. I had to put my dream, my thing on the back burner, and I’m really feeling discouraged. I’m not feeling motivated here. I am questioning if it’s even possible for me, because. I didn’t do it. Right. I didn’t make that plan.

[00:21:29] And here I am wondering where I go from here. Don’t worry. I got you. Because I, I realized that for some of us, if we can plan ahead, that’s gonna help set us up for success. But if you didn’t do that, That doesn’t mean that you have to give up. And so in a couple weeks, we’re gonna come back to part two of this, and I’m gonna talk about what to do when you feel like you’ve lost that motivation.

[00:21:55] How do you get yourself back up and get started again? So just wanted to let you know that is coming. If that is something that speaks to your heart right now. Um, if you know, a friend who is walking through that, in that season of discouragement, um, let them know that. Episode is coming because I want us all to thrive.

[00:22:15] All right, friends, I hope you have an amazing week until next time may you live filled, fueled, and full of joy.