Planning as Self-Care: How to Follow Through on the Life You’ve Decided On
Once you make a decision, the next step is not more motivation.
It’s a plan.
In this episode, I’m continuing the conversation from decision-making as self-care and taking it one step further. We’re talking about planning as self-care and why making a plan is how you honor the decisions you’ve already made.
Planning isn’t about control, perfection, or rigidity.
It’s about stewardship, clarity, and protecting the life you say you want.
Inside this episode, we talk about:
Why not planning is not neutral
How planning keeps you in motion instead of stuck
Why burnout often comes from re-deciding the same things over and over
How planning is still decision-making
Why every plan eliminates something and why that’s a good thing
The emotional and mental benefits of daily planning
How daily planning builds self-trust and emotional safety
Why avoiding planning doesn’t protect you from failure, it guarantees drift
I also share how daily planning fits into a bigger rhythm of weekly, monthly, and 90-day planning and why this layered approach actually makes life feel calmer, not more complicated.
Watch Here…
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Welcome to the Christian Life Coach Podcast. I'm Shanna, your Christian life coach.
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I help women who feel overwhelmed, stretched thin, or stuck in patterns that don't match the life God created them for.
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If you've ever felt that quiet tug, that sense that you were made for more than how you're living right now,
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That's not your imagination.
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That's your spirit craving alignment.
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peace and purpose. Here, we start with identity.
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Because when you know who you are in Christ, you finally show up
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the way you're supposed to.
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We talk renewed thoughts, simple habits, emotional resilience, and sustainable rhythms that help you stop surviving on scraps,
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And start living with intention and courage.
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Jesus said, you are salt and you are light.
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That means you were created to live differently and shine differently.
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From the inside out. If you're ready to grow, to simplify, and to become the woman God designed you to be,
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You're in the right place. Life coaching is life-changing.
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One renewed thought at a time.
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Let's do this together.
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Hello, and welcome to episode 48.
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Last week, we… I talked about
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decision-making as self-care.
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And today, we are taking the next step.
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Once a decision is made,
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The next loving step that you can do for yourself is…
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to plan for it.
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Planning is simply deciding ahead of time,
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how you're going to follow through.
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And that matters, because when you don't plan,
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You don't drift.
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toward health and peace.
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or alignment, you drift toward what's easiest.
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What's loudest, or the most urgent?
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Avoiding planning does not protect you from failure. It guarantees that drift.
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away from where you want to be going.
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When people hear the term self-care, they often think about spa days, or bubble baths,
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Or a vacation.
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And those things are great!
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But they are not the foundation
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of self-care. Real…
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self-care is taking care of your body.
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Taking care of your mind.
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taking care of your emotions and your spirit.
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And your relationships.
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So that you can show up from a place of overflow instead of exhaustion.
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It's the whole oxygen mask principle.
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You put yours on first,
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So that you can help others.
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And planning is part of that.
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Planning is making decisions ahead of time.
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So that when you're tired,
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overwhelmed, or you're tempted to quit and give in,
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You're not asking yourself, what should I do right now? You're reminding yourself.
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I've already decided. This is the plan.
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And that will reduce
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Decision fatigue dramatically.
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When you plan ahead,
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You are letting your calm,
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grounded, intentional self.
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take care of your future self.
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That is self-care.
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I have often, when I have made a plan,
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And followed through on that plan.
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I will say…
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On Wednesday, I will say,
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I am so thankful for
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Sunday's version of me.
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that took care of today's version of me.
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One of the biggest mindset shifts that happens with daily planning is this.
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You stop identifying as somebody who doesn't follow through.
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You stop thinking,
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Over time.
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why don't I always… why don't I ever do what I say I'm gonna do? Why don't… why can't I just follow through?
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And you start seeing yourself as someone who usually does what she says she's going to do.
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that identity shift changes everything.
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And you don't need more motivation.
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You need a plan that matches the life that you want.
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Your daily plan…
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lives inside a weekly plan, and your weekly plan lives inside a monthly plan,
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And those live inside your bigger goals.
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You think big,
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Think of a funnel, you think big, and then you narrow it down into small,
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doable daily actions,
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And that is how change happens.
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I do my planning as part of my morning routine.
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It's… I set it up as a quiet, intentional time,
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I look at my day, and I decide, how do I want to show up today?
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And it's not about filling every minute, it's about being clear,
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about what I want to focus on.
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Planning helps to regulate your nervous system because you're no longer holding everything in your head.
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You decide, and you write it down.
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And you know…
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what matters today? What do I want to focus on today? And you leave tomorrows in tomorrow.
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You leave next week's in next week.
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So, here's what I want you to do.
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Pick one decision you've already made.
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Not 10, 1.
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then plan for it. Ask yourself.
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What am I willing to commit to doing consistently?
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What does this look like, starting right where I am?
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Not where I was 10 years ago, not where I wished that I was right now, but where I am right now.
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What does that look like?
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And… how can I do this from a place of love instead of
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pressure. One of the ways that you can do it from a place of love rather than pleasure
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pressure is how you talk about it.
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Not, I have to do this, I need to do this, I should do this.
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Switch that verbiage. This is what I want to be doing.
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I'm choosing this.
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And it doesn't have to be perfect.
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It just needs to be intentional.
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Planning your day is an act of daily self-care.
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decision-making is self-care.
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Following through with love and grace,
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is self-care.
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in the podcast resources,
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you'll find links.
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to my planning pages that you can download.
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And my Life on Purpose Daily Planner is available on Amazon. That will also be in the links.
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As well as my self-care stewardship.
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a 31-day devotional.
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Remember that life coaching is life-changing. One renewed thought at a time.
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Thank you so much for being here.
