10 Secrets to Help You Get Where You Want to Go This August

When August finds you in crowded aisles searching for the last items on your back-to-school list, and you feel both overwhelmed and relieved, you know you’re longing for routine. Predictability. And maybe some quiet to be able to think.

You put the composition notebooks in the cart, wait until there is space next to the folders, and realize you’re keeping tabs on more than one list: the school supply list and the personal goals you have for the upcoming year.

You want to be intentional with your time. Make space for the right things. Make progress where it matters most.

You want to be healthy, spiritually grounded, connected deeply into community.

You want to get to know that new neighbor family better. Be a better wife and mom. Work hard at meaningful work.

You want to grow—closer to God, closer to the people near you.

Friend, I hear you.

I get the conflicting emotions of wishing there was more time while also anticipating the end of summer. Feeling off balance but not having the time to think through what needs to change. Feeling overwhelmed just trying to maintain.

What if we could start afresh this fall? Invest in the life we wish we were living? Take actual steps in the right direction?

Around here we talk a lot about how the direction is more important than the pace. But the thing is that we have to know where we’re going, or we’re not going to get there. We do little by accident.

So if we want to cultivate a missional lifestyle—grow close to God in a way that ripples out organically into our neighborhoods and communities—we’ve got to have a plan. And we also have to be willing to let God shape that plan while He holds, shapes, and grows us.

Momentum is equal parts movement and direction.

When our willing hearts are guided by God, who is a Master at knowing the right direction, we can take one step at a time and leave the rest up to Him.

Best Tips for August

The following ten tips will help you move forward confidently this fall—not on your own, but closely connected to God. They are designed to help you prioritize the direction over the pace, relationships over to-do’s, and who you are becoming over what it is that you do.

1. Decide before you have to.

What rhythms and habits are you hoping to implement this year? Perhaps it’s to wake up before your kids, spend some time in the Word to start your day, keep a gratitude journal, walk your neighborhood daily, or invite a neighbor family to join you for a meal once a week. No matter your specific goals, put words behind what it will look like. If you’ve decided ahead of time that you’re going to say a quick prayer right after your morning alarm rings and before you get out of bed, for example, it will be so much easier to follow through.

2. Let go of something.

Missional living isn’t about adding more to our proverbial plates, but inviting others into the life we’re already living. Margin is essential. It lends to unhurried conversation. It also helps us see the gift in interruptions: a pathway to deeper connection. I encourage you to have a heart-to-heart with God about what you need to let go in order to invest deeply in your relationship with God and the people near you. 

3. Set a sustainable pace.

If you’re making progress on your goals but simultaneously burning yourself out, you’re not doing yourself or anyone else much good. Where do you need to slow down so your pace is life-giving and sustainable?

4. Weigh the consequences before you commit.

What if you paused before saying yes to planning that event, taking that volunteer role, being on that committee? Prayerfully weigh what the long-term effects will be on your other commitments, your level of overwhelm, your relationship with God, and your ability to be present in your relationships. Choose your yeses with discernment and not solely out of obligation.

5. Practice daily gratitude.

Gratitude is another topic that we talk about weekly around here. The reason is that it affects nearly everything else. Gratitude opens our hearts to God, helps us trust that His heart is good. It also has a ripple effect on the people we spend time with because what’s inside is what seeps out into the way we treat others, talk about others, share our work-in-progress stories, and declare that God is faithful, true, and good even when life is stormy.

Learn more about practicing gratitude year-round here!

6. Build friendships instead of walls.

Ever stop to ask yourself what you’re building? All the little choices we make throughout the day to move towards or away from people add up to deeper friendships or higher walls. For more tips on building friendships instead of walls, grab my free resource, “10 Things You Might Be Doing That Keep Your Friendships Shallow (+ 1 Simple Habit to Shift Your Direction).”

7. Treat yourself with kindness.

Sometimes we’re our own worst critic. Sometimes the words we say to and about ourselves are far from gentle. Sometimes we believe that critical words over what God says is true of us: that we’re chosen, set free, named His. If you struggle to treat yourself with kindness, try memorizing one of these verses:

God “[cherishes] me constantly in [His] every thought.”

Psalm 139:17-18 TPT

I am “God’s chosen treasure . . . his very own . . . [called] out of darkness to experience his marvelous light . . . so that [I can] broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.”

1 Peter 2:9 TPT

8. Play worship music.

Worship changes the atmosphere. It redirects our attention to God—and consequently away from life’s stressors. It invites us to a posture of openness with God that leads us to the right-next-to-Him place, where we best hear His voice. Worship brings peace, clarity, joy.

P.S. I often share my currently-listening-to-on-repeat worship songs in my weekly E-mail note, Tuesdays with Twyla.

9. Find an accountability partner.

Accountability. I KNOW it’s not your favorite word. It’s not mine either. But little growth happens unless we give a trusted someone access to speak into our lives on a deep level. It’s vulnerable, yes. Risky—that too. But it’s also a doorway to the kind of deep friendships you crave and the growth you’d like to see in your life.

10. Read Cultivating a Missional Life.

This pocket-sized devotional is my heart and best tips for you—my invitation to join me for a month as I gently guide you into missional living rhythms. It’s neighborhood missional living made simple, nonintimidating, doable. Because I want it to be accessible to all who feel this tug on their hearts, I’m STOKED that I can offer it 100 percent FREE on Kindle, through midnight (EST) on Saturday, August 20, 2022.

May you move forward this August, taking steps towards your heartfelt goals, taking steps with your hand nestled in His.

Just a friend over here in your corner,

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10 Things You Might Be Doing That Keep Your Friendships Shallow

(+ 1 Simple Habit to Shift Your Direction)

If you long for deep, meaningful relationships, this is for you!

Change your actual life in less than 5 minutes per day!

You can change your actual life in less than 5 minutes a day because baby steps truly can change the trajectory of your life. If you want 2021 to be the year you actually start living on mission in your neighborhood, this little book (available as a paperback and on Kindle) will help you get there. Each of the 30-day devotions takes but a few minutes to read, but they will lead to lasting life change.