Episode 35. Rest As A Strategy
How Can I get More Rest?
In Episode 35 of The Christian Life Coach Podcast: Be Transformed by the Renewing of Your Mind,
Shanna unpacks what it really means to rest in a way that restores.
Rest isn’t laziness—it’s God’s design. From creation to Jesus’ example, we see that rest is essential for spiritual, emotional, and physical renewal. Instead of hustling harder to finish the year, what if the secret to ending well is slowing down and letting God restore you?
Join Shanna as she shares the mindset shift that makes rest possible without guilt, how rest keeps you from depletion, and practical ways to create pockets of restoration in your daily life.
Discover how rest can help you finish the year strong, whole, and renewed.
Are you exhausted from hustling to keep up?
In this episode, we kick off October’s theme of Rest + Restore by redefining rest. Rest isn’t laziness—it’s God’s gift and His strategy for renewal. From Genesis to Jesus’ own rhythms, Scripture shows us that rest is essential for finishing strong.
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Hello, and welcome to the Christian Life Coach Podcast. I am Shanna Pyzer, your Christian life coach.
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So we just finished a series on the creation cycle, which is the tool that is.
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Based on… cognitive behavioral therapy. So, if you did not listen to those episodes, please do yourself a favor and go back and listen to episodes.
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32, 33, and 34, and they are all about the creation cycle and how.
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Our thoughts. When we are thinking intentionally.
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Create more and more of the life that we want to live, and as we live on autopilot.
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We live more and more and more into autopilot and keep getting.
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The same things that we've been getting. So, please do yourself a favor, like I said, and go back and listen to those episodes if you have not yet.
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Also, if you do not know this, I wrote a book called Self-Care as Stewardship.
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It is a… 31-day devotional.
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And I'm trying to grab a copy really quick to hold it up.
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If you would like your copy of this 31-day devotional, Self-Care as Stewardship.
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Go to the show notes, and there will be a link there for you to go find that, and.
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It is a great way to start your day is for that 31 days, and it's also a great gift to share with your loved ones.
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Okay, let's get into it. So, I am… doing a little shift now, and we are…
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In the very beginning of October. Which… means that the holidays are right around.
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The corner. And… what I want to talk about… for…
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Now, we'll be talking about doing the holidays well. We will be talking about… um… resting…
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And reflecting… and restoring… for this last section of the year, so that then we can start out.
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2026. Did you hear that? 2026, so that we can end.
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2025 well? And begin 2026.
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Even better. So, our October series is all about rest and restoration.
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And it's so often that as the holidays are approaching. We are ramping up.
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We are ramping up to… hustle to… gear up, and just… we just know that there's going to be a lot of extra energy expended.
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Gearing up for the holidays to get through the holidays, and… That's not what I'm going to be talking about.
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How about that? I am going to be talking about rest.
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As a strategy. Rest for restoration.
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Spiritually, emotionally. Physically, so that we finish the year.
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Not depleted. But energized, and feeling whole.
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And satisfied and fulfilled. So that we're not… we don't end the year feeling like we need to be filled back up, but we.
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We finished this year… from a place of being so full.
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That we overflow into… the lives of other people.
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Now, Jesus says. Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
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And I would venture to say that…
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Come to Him before you're heavy, before you're weary and burdened.
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And get rest to avoid feeling weary and burdened, right? And he's saying.
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Give your burdens to me. So that you can operate from rest.
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And rest is not… Laziness.
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Ladies, hear me. Rest is not laziness.
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If you take the time during the day to rest, you're not being lazy.
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We have been told that. It has been what has been ingrained into us.
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That sitting down, taking a minute for yourself, maybe reading a book is laziness. There's things to do, there are always things that you could be doing.
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Things are not gonna go away. But when we are operating from a place of rest, we can do those things.
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Better. We can have a better attitude about doing those things.
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Rest is God's design. He created our bodies to require rest.
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Our physical bodies. Are restored and renewed when we rest. Our minds and our emotional capacity is restored and renewed.
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When we rest. Without rest, without resting.
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Even doing good work, it becomes unsustainable, because we can't function without rest.
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And I don't know about you, but I get really cranky.
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When I don't get rest. I… I know that I need rest. And not just… not just sleep at night.
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But I need rest. For my brain throughout the day.
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I need rest from. Interaction with other people throughout the day.
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There is a pattern of you rest. And you work, and you rest.
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And you work. It's not all work, work, work, until you can't function anymore, and you fall into bed at night, completely exhausted.
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That is not… the ideal.
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In Genesis, in the creation account. God rested on the seventh day.
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He created… all of the things in the 6 days.
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On the seventh day. He rested.
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I don't believe in coincidence. So, I won't say coincidentally, but on that seventh day.
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That God was resting, I believe… that, and I, like, I am not a biblical scholar, but…
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He finished Creation. In 6 days, humans were created on the 6th day.
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The seventh day was God's day of rest. That was our first full day.
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Adam and Eve were created on day 6. If I'm not mistaken.
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Day 7 was a day of rest. Their first day of… their first full day of life.
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Was a day of rest, which… Indicates to me that they rested.
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And then they went to work. They rested. And then they operated from a place of having.
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Rest. And the Sabbath… And God says to keep the Sabbath, keep it holy, do no work, and that…
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That's Old Testament, we are in the New Testament, I absolutely get that, but the New Testament, Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it, right?
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So, it is… that is an example that has been set for us.
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And it is… we want to rest. To acknowledge our need for rest and our dependence on God, that we cannot continue.
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Continually be productive without having rest. Rest is restorative. It restores.
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Your body. It renews cells. It regenerates. It helps…
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To, um… to re-energize. It's like plugging…
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Plugging a… rechargeable battery.
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Into the recharger. Sleep renews your body.
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It slows down all of the processes. It gives all of your processes rest.
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It renews your mind. When you allow your mind to rest, there's not clutter.
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You don't have all of the things running through, you can gain more clarity.
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It renews your spirit and allows you to reconnect with God without all of the other.
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Things going on. And why does rest matter now? Where we're at, and if you're listening in real time, like I said.
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Very beginning of October 2025. Coming into this last quarter of the year.
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And… rest matters. Now, because… The reality is, like I said, we're ramping up for the holidays.
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The busyness, holiday get-togethers, family pressures of, we are doing this, and.
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And figuring out plans, and organizing calendars, and organizing events. And I have this not-quite-to-the-end-of-the-year, but close, this next two months, October.
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The end of September, which I'm recording this on September 25th, the end of September.
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October and the first half of November, and actually all of November, I guess.
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Have… I have a lot of things on my calendar that normally I don't in a year. We have.
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Baby showers, we have weddings, we have get-togethers, we have birthdays.
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And each one of those things requires travel. So, it's a lot of organizing, which.
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Just… I mean… you know, if you are… have ever had to organize anything.
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That takes energy. And in order for me to…
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Have a clear mind to be able to make plans and coordinate calendars and coordinate travel. I need to be rested.
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Or, it's just… it doesn't end up well, to be honest.
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So, as we're going into this end of the year. Being rested is so important in order to.
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Create… events and connections with family that are positive and that generate more connection.
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And as women, we tend to… um… sprint to the finish line. Like, okay, here we go, let's just…
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Dig in, white-knuckle. Hustle, pressure until the end of the year. We just have to get through it, right?
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And my invitation to you this year. Is to flip the script.
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Choose restoration. Choose… Renewal. Choose.
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Rest… So that you can end the year feeling nourished.
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And renewed and reinvigorated, rather than burnt out. So, there's a mindset shift here. It's…
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Resting as a strategy, so strategically resting. In preparation.
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Rather than procrastinating rest. And doing it because you don't have any other option.
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Operating from a place of being rested is so much more productive and enjoyable.
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And… operating…
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And producing… in order to earn rest.
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And collapsing. And when looking at this from a coaching lens, it's…
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The default versus being intentional. Default living, living on autopilot.
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As opposed to living on purpose. The default mode is filling every moment, ignoring any signals of being tired.
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Pushing through, pushing through, until… you can't anymore, and you… you're at your wit's end, you're exhausted.
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Your snapping at people. And you just don't have the capacity or the mental energy to handle anything else.
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That's the default. That's living on autopilot. Being intentional is stewarding your resources well. I talk about that in.
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Self-care is stewardship. How do you take care of yourself well?
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How do you steward the resources that you have been given in order to live.
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A life of purpose with purpose on purpose. So, stewarding your resources, your time, your energy, your body.
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Your relationships, your finances, with wisdom. From a place of rest.
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And as I talked about in episodes 32, 33, and 34.
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The creation cycle looks something like this. When we think rest is selfish.
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We feel guilty for resting. So instead of resting, we push harder.
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We do more. We… expect more of ourselves, and the result of that is burnout.
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And then we can't help. We can't do anymore. If we're thinking, rest restores me.
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I want to work from a place of being rested, and you feel peace.
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And the action you take is you create margin, you create space.
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For rest, and the result is your strength is renewed. You're able to.
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Do more from a place of having been rested. And thinking this through.
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Being intentional rather than living on autopilot, the default mode. You can think ahead of time, you can think.
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Forward. Who do I want to become by the end of this year?
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What do I want to be different? Three months from now.
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How do I want to show up differently. This year than I ever have through the holiday season.
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And the restored you, that the rested you. Thinks and feels and acts differently than the depleted you.
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So, do you want to… keep perpetuating that creation cycle of depletion.
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Or… is it time to… create a new cycle of restoration and renewal.
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I will have journaling prompts. If you go to the show notes, there's a link to get journaling prompts to.
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Work on this, and some of those are where in my life do I feel the most depleted?
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Physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. What would it look like to choose rest?
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In that area. This week.
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Logistically, what does that look like? Break it down. What do I believe about rest?
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Does it feel selfish to me? Do I have that inner dialogue that rest is.
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Selfish? Or do I believe that it truly is restorative, and that…
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I operate better from a place of rest. And then I would just encourage you.
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Where in your day. Where in your week can you implement pockets of rest?
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In order to restore. And it could be…
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In the middle of the day, sitting down to read the Bible. It could be… or sitting down and just… in complete silence.
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It could be going to bed earlier. It can be taking a nap, or taking.
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Short walks throughout the day. So where can you implement rest?
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On a daily basis. On a weekly basis.
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And I just want to remind you, rest is God's idea.
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Rest Restores. And it prepares us to finish.
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Wow. Jesus went away from the crowds, and he took naps.
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He invites us to rest. And be renewed.
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So, don't forget… go into the show notes, you can order the book, Self-Care as Stewardship.
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You can download the journal prompts from this week. And also, if this is something that you really need help with.
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Schedule a right fit call, and we can talk about how coaching can help you one-on-one.
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To better steward the resources that God has given you. And to take care of your body, your mind.
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And your spirit better and better and better. Thank you so much for being here.
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And listening to this episode. I encourage you.
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Do this work, dive into this, and challenge… challenge the narrative that you have about rest.
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And determine that you… this is going to be. The year that you finish well.
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That you finish not depleted. But restored.
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And overflowing. With still having excess resources within you.
If you are ready to get the guidance and support to help you lose the extra mental and physical weight that is holding you back, schedule your Right Fit Call today to find out how life coaching can help you.
