Make Your Goals Easy with Minimum Baselines [episode 120]

120) Make Your Goals Easy with Minimum Baselines

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[00:00:00] You are listening to episode number 120 of Wife, Teacher, Mommy, the podcast. Make your goals easy with minimum baselines. If you want to make your goals easy, one way to do that is by making them super basic and so easy where it almost feels silly and pointless. If you think that sounds crazy, hear me out and keep listening.

 

 

 

Someone’s gotta take care of you. It’s the time or resources you lack. Teacher Mommy, they have got your back. It’s the Gal of Teacher Mommy. It’s the Gal of Teacher Mommy. Between your life and class, you and your family. It’s the Gal of Teacher Mommy. It’s the Gal of Teacher [00:01:00] Mommy.

 

Welcome to Wife Teacher Mommy, the podcast. I’m Kelsey Sorenson, former elementary teacher and current homeschool mom. And even though I’ve been a resource creator since 2014, I’ve realized that printables alone aren’t all you need in order to thrive as a teacher or homeschool parent. That’s why I also created this show and got started.

 

Certified as a life coach to help you finally kick burn out to the curb and feel confident with whatever challenges come your way with the right mindset strategies and new teaching inspiration. You’re going to be well on your way to your best teacher life. Now let’s go.

 

This is the first episode I’ve recorded by myself here in the studio since I recorded this self love challenge in January, and boy was that challenge so needed, not just for all of you from the feedback I’ve been getting, [00:02:00] but also for myself. I create this content, and I am applying it, and redoing it and putting in the work again myself right along with you.

 

Because we’re never done, right? We’re always observing ourselves, choosing again when we see that we’re not treating ourselves with love, and aligning ourselves back to it. So, it has been So much fun is seeing all the feedback from this challenge and now excuse my voice today I am a little bit under the weather, but I still wanted to get this episode out for all of you And right now really quick.

 

I want to share a few reviews that came in on the podcast during the challenge so here is a review from Lin Bear. She said that self love is something I’ve struggled with my whole life. It’s great to know I’m not alone in this struggle, but now to have a tool and framework to support personal growth, take the time to prioritize yourself. Thank you, Lin Bear. And I do agree, we are not alone in this struggle, but having the tools and the framework makes it a lot easier to know what to do.

 

when we find ourselves out [00:03:00] of touch with the self love that we want to have. Here is what, um, KTHRGSS had to say. She said, you don’t have to be a wife, teacher, or mommy to enjoy this podcast. Kelsey and her guests guide listeners to evaluate yourself and really think about treating yourself first prior to helping Others, I participated in the self love challenge and I’m overwhelmed by the knowledge I gained in 10 minutes a day for 14 days.

 

I love that. And it is amazing how much we can do, again, in just a little amount of time, right? Which is even the topic for today’s episode. And then the final one I’m going to share today is from Dream and Believe Girl. And she titled her review, Love Thyself with a Question Mark. And she said, I have never listened to a podcast nor done any self love programs.

 

My nephew died Saturday. I listened to the episode about not setting requirements for relationships and expecting people to meet those unknown expectations. I literally got off the podcast, joined the extra offers, and hired a psychiatrist to help me [00:04:00] self love, heal, and let go. This has changed my life.

 

Now, Dream and Believe, girl, my heart goes out to you, and I’m sure everybody listening, they are sending their love to you as well. But, I just love hearing and seeing that what is happening here on this podcast is making a difference in

 

Now, if you haven’t left a review yet, only like 1 percent or maybe even less of listeners leave a review. And I read and appreciate every single one. So if you haven’t left one yet on Apple Podcasts, I would love to hear what you have to say. And if you haven’t done the challenge yet, it’s not too late either.

 

You can still go back to the, the, the, um, uh, Self love challenge episodes and listen to them and if you go to the link in the show notes on those ones There’s the link where you can still sign up keep track on the scorecard And if you email us this scorecard, we will send you a little something for doing it We want this challenge to continue to live on and you can even circle back to it as well Once you’ve [00:05:00] completed it, maybe like every six months or so, you might want to go through the challenge again It’s always going to be a resource that is here for you.

 

So Okay, that’s enough about the self love challenge. Again, you can go back and listen to it if you’d like. And I do have one more update to share with you, though, since it has been a bit since I’ve been here live to give you actual updates. I’m excited to let you know as a podcast listener, you might want to know that I officially submitted my first podcast.

 

full manuscript for my book to Teacher Goals Publishing last week, and I’m so excited about it. The book is titled, and I haven’t shared this very many places yet, and I think this is actually the first time I’m sharing the full subtitle. It is called Educate and Rejuvenate, a three step guide to revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for life.

 

Now you might recognize the Educate and Rejuvenate name if you’ve been around here. If you haven’t, that’s okay too. But it is the same name that we use for our big summer virtual conference. And we’re going into our third year of that right now. And I originally penned the [00:06:00] title Educate and Rejuvenate thinking it would just be the name of our conference.

 

However, over the past couple years, the phrase has resonated deep within the hearts of thousands of teachers and parents everywhere. And in their own words, um, attendees have said things have helped them feel like hope, joy and inspiration, helped them come to a realization and get their fire back. And I want to give you that same experience within the chapters of this book and also here on that podcast, here on this podcast and everything else.

 

So the book that I wrote was for all educators, whether you teach in any way. Shaper form, you can be teaching in a traditional classroom. You can be teaching online. Maybe you’re an administrator. Maybe you’re like me right now and you’re homeschooling your kiddos at your kitchen table.

 

The strategies you’ll learn in the book will help you have a healthier relationship with your role as an educator by incorporating that missing piece, which is rejuvenating yourself. And I’m not just talking like the fluffy self care like, oh, I’m going to just take a bubble bath and stuff. Nothing wrong with that.

 

But it’s really. The Diving Deep, like we do here on the podcast, but in the [00:07:00] book, What You’re Going to Love, if you love what you learn on this podcast, like the little tips and tidbits, like there’s like a little piece here on this episode and a little piece there on that episode, but the book really brings it all together.

 

It clarifies all the tools we talk about here on the podcast. And then the club and like, put some nice little bow on it. And there are tons of tools and case studies that will help you to be able to know how to apply this content to your own life. And I will let you know as soon as pre orders are available.

 

They aren’t yet, but as soon as they are, I will let you know there’ll be tons of bonuses if you pre ordered the book. And in the meantime, While you wait for the book, we are having the reveal party for the next Educate and Rejuvenate conference, um, on March 19th, 2024. So if you’re listening before then, you will want to sign up to join that really fun reveal party.

 

We’re going to have over 100 in prizes. We’re going to have a fun guessing game. Everybody who signs up for the waitlist will get a free resource. Everybody who shows up will get a really big free resource. [00:08:00] Plus, like, an awesome deal on their ticket if they decide they want to come and do it. So, you’re definitely going to want to check that out.

 

Okay, that was a lot more than usual. More than I usually share at the beginning of a podcast episode, but like I said, it has been over a month since I’ve been in the studio to record the podcast. But let’s get into today’s episode. I’m excited to be back with more new content for you. So today we’re going to be talking about making our goals easy with a podcast.

 

a concept I like to call minimum baseline. So we talked on this briefly during the self love challenge. And then actually we went in more depth on one of the self love challenge calls I did with our club members and the VIP challengers. We kind of like, that concept was one that everybody was like, Oh wait, this seems something attainable for me.

 

And so I decided I want to do a full episode on it today. And we’re going to do a coaching call about it later this month as well. Um, So, minimum baselines are really a tool that can help make your goals really easy. How many times have you said you’re going to start [00:09:00] something like, I’m going to start this new diet, or I’m going to start this workout plan, or I’m going to start, um, you know, writing a book, or I’m going to start whatever it is, and then you find that you aren’t actually doing what you said you were going to do.

 

Chances are you weren’t specific enough about what you wanted to do and when, which makes it easy to skip it. If you’re just like, I’m going to do this big overarching thing, right, and you’re not getting very specific about it. Then, you know, it’s not going to happen, right? Or if you expected to jump from 0 to 60, like, if you’re going from like You know, really struggling with getting any movement in to wanting to do a 60 minute class every day.

 

Like, that is a big jump. So today, what we’re going to talk about is a concept that I love called minimum baselines. And it really ties into, I recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear, which is one of the best books out there about creating habits. And I circled back to it recently while I was writing my book.

 

And he has the four, um, Laws of behavior change is what he calls them and the [00:10:00] four laws are first, the cue. You want to have something that cues you to start the habit, making it obvious. The second is the craving, making it attractive, making it something you actually want to do. The third is making it easy, making it super easy for you to actually accomplish this goal and that’s what we’re focusing on today.

 

And the final one is the reward to make it satisfying. So to really follow through on your goals in the long term, you’re going to want. To check all of these boxes, and I’ll probably circle back to some of those in other episodes on the podcast. And we’ll also talk about them on the coaching call later this month.

 

But today we’re really going to talk about the making it easy part with minimum baselines. And what a minimum baseline is, it is, it is the absolute minimum that you’re like every single day without fail. I am going to do this. So if your goal is to start exercising more, a minimum baseline might be three minutes of movement.

 

That is mine right now. That is my minimum baseline. Now you might be thinking, three minutes of [00:11:00] movement each day, that’s actually not going to get me where I want to go. And you might be right. That is actually the point of a minimum baseline. The minimum baseline itself is not going to completely get you.

 

where you want to go. But what the minimum baseline does is it helps you create the habit, helps you realize that it’s not all or nothing, that you can keep the momentum going every single day, no matter how busy it is. As educators, we do have a lot going on in our lives, and you probably have other things too, like maybe you’re a parent, or maybe you’re a spouse or partner, or you have other volunteer responsibilities in your community, and all these different Things going on in your life, and you want to make that time for self love and self care.

 

But maybe, on some days that are busier than others, all you have is that three minutes. And, by doing that, you are still keeping that habit going. The whole point is to keep the momentum going, it’s to help us get the motivation to do it, it’s to help us make sure we fit it in no matter what, no matter how busy or long the day, [00:12:00] no matter how much energy that we have.

 

We still do something. So here’s an example. So one time, a club member wrote into our Ask a Coach portal saying that she was having a hard time having the motivation to read to her kids each night. Like it was always such a long day and she’s just ready to have them in bed. Can you relate to this perhaps if you’re a parent?

 

And so what I recommended to her was to have a minimum baseline. Like for her, reading to her kids was really, really important and it was something she wanted to do. And what about just reading one page each night? That’s all she had to do. Open the book and read one page. Now, what tends to happen is you’ll most likely read more pages, right?

 

Because a lot of times it’s actually just getting the motivation to get the book, open it up, and read. But when you tell yourself, all I have to do is one page, that is all I have to do, and if you just do that one page, you can consider it done. You did it. You did exactly what you said you were going to do, but a lot of days you’ll probably end up reading more.

 

[00:13:00] So that minimum baseline is what helps you get the momentum to get going. And it is easy and doable. Again, it might even feel silly, it might even feel pointless to have this minimum baseline. Like, what is reading one page going to do? But it still does. Even if you read that one page, you’re still connecting with your child.

 

You are still building the habit of reading with your child. They are still seeing that you are prioritizing them by making the time to open that book with them. Every little bit helps. And setting a minimum baseline helps us to build a habit where other days, again, we’ll read even more pages. Chances are, on a lot of days, we’re going to go beyond the minimum baseline, but Having that minimum baseline helps us get started, even if we don’t want to, and allows us to keep the habit going. So here’s another example, writing a book. And I say this, one, because I just finished writing my book, but also because recently on a call there were three other attendees who wanted to write a book themselves as well.

 

So I think it’s a big goal for a lot of educators. And if it’s not for you, that’s totally fine too. It’s not for everybody. I can definitely say that. [00:14:00] But. Um, I am really excited because we are going to start doing, like, a side hustle call with our members for anybody who wants a side anything, like a side writing a book or a side business or a side TPT store or whatever.

 

It’s going to be fun. But anyways, if you were to do a minimum baseline for writing a book, it might be just adding one sentence to your manuscript Google Doc each day. Like, doesn’t that sound silly or pointless? Like, how? Are you going to do that? But even Hemingway said, like, all you need to do is write the next true sentence.

 

It was something like that. And it’s true. All you need to do is just write the next. Sentence in there. So what if each day your goal is to write one sentence? In order to do that, you have to actually open your manuscript file, right? I can’t tell you, like, I hadn’t set a minimum baseline for the first while of writing my book.

 

And there were, like, weeks I would go without even looking at the manuscript, right? If I had a minimum baseline of writing one sentence each day, then by the end, where I was turning in my book, [00:15:00] I might not have had to like scramble as much at the very end, right? And so, when you have that minimum baseline, it forces you to open your manuscript, right?

 

You’re going to open it. You’re going to write at least one sentence, and then there are probably days you’ll write more. And even those sentences, they are adding up. They are making progress. It is also, your brain is You know, it’s your reticular activating system, like we’ve talked about in the podcast.

 

It’s going to run your brain, oh yeah, I’m writing a book, and you’re going to be thinking about different ways and different things and different ideas, and the inspiration will start flowing through simply by opening your manuscript each day. So once I started doing that, it started flowing a lot more, and I just, my wish would be that I would start that sooner.

 

So if any of you write a book, I recommend starting with that minimum baseline right away, because once I did, I found that really, really helpful. Another example of this is mentioned in an upcoming episode that I recorded with Brett Larkin yesterday. She is an incredible [00:16:00] yoga instructor and the author of the book Yoga Life.

 

Her episode will be coming out in April, but we just did the interview and it was so And one thing we talked about is like a lot of people when they want to do yoga, they think it has to be this super intense, like on the mat thing. She even talks about how yoga is more of a way of life than just like always being on the mat.

 

But she even talks about how you can even just do like one pose each day and you can just, in her book, she outlines like different things you can do, like different, you can find your poses that are the right ones for you, personalizing your yoga and You know, she has like the ideal 20 minute yoga routine, but also you could expand it up to 60 if you want.

 

Or you could crunch it all the way down to like five minutes, and that’s all you have time for, and that’s totally fine. Or it could even just be like one pose, like for a couple minutes while you’re talking to your husband, while you’re getting ready in the morning. Like, having that minimum baseline, whatever it is for you.

 

I mean, honestly, the goal for minimum baseline should be that it feels silly and pointless to [00:17:00] you, but that it is Creating the momentum, it is going in the direction that you want to go. And some of you might fear that by setting a minimum baseline, it means you’re having too low of expectations for yourself.

 

And I hear you. I can hear you arguing with me and saying like, no, like, that’s not going to do anything, or I’m gonna just do the minimum baseline every day. I’m never going to do more. But here’s the deal, the minimum baseline is what keeps you from getting completely off the wagon. It is, the opposite is true, it is helping you start and keep the momentum going no matter what’s happening.

 

So, for example, I am sick this week, right? My voice sounds a little bit off and it’s a lot better than it was yesterday when I was like coughing in our team meeting. By having a minimum baseline of my routine, such as, like, movement, I can still do that and I haven’t completely broken the habit. Like, for example, I really want to do some exercise or movement each day, and right now, like, if I get on the bike, I’m gonna just [00:18:00] start coughing.

 

Like, and my bike is what I usually like to do. But, I can get down and do some stretching, or I can turn on a Taylor Swift song with my kids and just, like, you know, do some very light dancing to it. I can do the three minute minimum baseline that I have for moving my body. And so, that means I’m not breaking the chain.

 

I’m not breaking the streak of that habit. As James Clear says in his book, missing once is a mistake. Like, if you miss one time, just get back on it the next time. day. But missing twice is actually the start of a new habit. So having a minimum baseline is what keeps us from missing twice. You don’t need to miss twice because you make it really easy and really attainable to continue doing these goals.

 

And another part of your worry about, I will just do the minimum every time. If these are things you’re truly wanting to do, then a lot of times the hardest part is just getting the momentum to do it. So, for example, for exercise, the hardest part is like deciding, I’m going to do it, getting my workout clothes on, getting to the gym, or [00:19:00] getting on the bike, or stepping outside to go for a walk, or like, you know, starting to do your first reps of weights or whatever.

 

That’s the hardest part. Once you’re doing it, you kind of get in the momentum and you’re like, yeah, I’m going to just keep going if you have the time for that. So most likely you’re not going to do just the minimum baseline each day. Most likely, if you have the time, if you have the energy, if your body is well.

 

You’re going to likely do more, but the minimum baseline is what helps you get started. There’s a chance that maybe you’ll read a few more pages with your kids or maybe finish the book.

 

Maybe you’ll add a thousand words to your manuscript or do another few yoga poses. Maybe you’ll run a full mile or three miles or whatever it is you’re wanting to do, but if you don’t, that’s okay, too. You’re still doing what you said you would do. You’re keeping your promise to yourself. That is what a minimum baseline is for because sometimes it is all we’re going to be able to do.

 

Maybe even just mentally. Maybe you’re in Having a rough day and you need to take some of that time you would use to, like, you know, [00:20:00] exercise or something to really process and move through your emotions, and that’s okay. We can still celebrate if we just do the minimum baseline. Okay, so quick recap of this.

 

A minimum baseline is the bare minimum of what we want to do towards one of our goals. And it helps us to make our goals easy. So we can do it no matter what, no matter how busy the day is, no matter if we’re sick or we’re mentally not feeling well. It should feel silly and pointless. That’s the whole point.

 

It should feel that way, but it’s not because it is helping you get the momentum towards your goals. So I would love to hear about the minimum baselines that you come up with. In your own life, I would love to hear all about it. So if you want to head over to Instagram or Facebook or our wife teacher mommy’s unite Facebook group and share what you are doing, join the conversation.

 

I love when we come together and can talk about these things. And if you want my help creating your minimum baselines, you’re joining a call with other educators where we can talk all about [00:21:00] it. I am doing a coaching call at the end of this month in the Wife Teacher Mommy Club. We’re going to talk about checking all the boxes for your goals, making it obvious, attractive, easy, and making it satisfying.

 

We’re going to go over doing each of those things for all of our goals and even more tips and tricks for setting our minimum baselines, more examples, helping people with whatever they actually want to bring, and how to make a minimum baseline of that. And if you’re listening after that time, the replay will be available in the club member area.

 

If you are a member already and you’re listening before March 28th, 2024, be sure to add that call to your calendar. If you’re, or if it’s after that date, it’ll be in the replay area, like I said. If you’re not yet in the club and you want to join, go to wifeteachmommayor.

 

com slash join, and it’ll also be at the link in the show notes, and you can even just go to that page to learn more about it and see if it’ll be right for you, and, you know, I would love if you decided to join us. Either way, I will still be here on the podcast for you. So that is it for today. Be sure to circle back to [00:22:00] the self love challenge if you haven’t done it yet.

 

You’re like It is some of my best work here on the podcast. And also, if you missed our expert panel last week, that was where we answered real questions from our community, all the top questions. I brought in all the Wife Teacher Mommy Club coaches on, and we answered a ton of them. So you will definitely want to check those episodes out. And we will talk next week. [00:23:00] [00:24:00]