Housekeeping Tip #10: Choose the Harder Thing

Before we get started today, I want to share with you that I’m hosting another marriage prayer series this month over at MarriagePrayers.Today! We’re reading through, and praying over, the entire book of First Samuel. We’re covering 1 chapter per day for the 31 days of October.

If you’re looking for a way to slow your soul, but you only have a few minutes a day to meditate on God’s Word, you definitely don’t want to miss this series. Go check it out!

Now, on to Housekeeping Tip #10: Choose the Harder Thing! This is the 10th & final post in a 10-part series about having the right attitude when we care for our homes, and it will be part of a FREE email course that’s releasing this fall! Go here for details about the how to completely refresh your entire home in just 10 days email course.

I recently had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Glynnis Whitwer. During this presentation, Glynnis asked the audience what keeps us from working on our goals. Many of us eagerly called out things like:

• I work outside the home.
• My kids are in 4 different sports.
• A loved one has a chronic illness.
• My schedule is full.
• I only have 15 minutes but I need 5 hours!

Glynnis nodded while she listened and waited patiently for our voices to die down. Then she said, “Those are all good reasons, but they’re not the reason. The real reason we don’t work on our goals is because when faced with a choice between two tasks, our tendency is to choose whichever seems easier.”

The room fell silent as her words sank in. My mind raced while I considered my own habits.

I thought about the moments I turned pages of a fiction novel instead of reading a single verse from my Bible. The evenings I browsed social media instead of making progress on a blog article.

And the mornings with 30 minutes looking at my phone before getting out of bed, even though I think I’m too busy to exercise.

Her class was only an hour long, but the lessons have stuck with me for months now, and I’ve been paying attention to my own choices at home. I realized that I can carve out 15-30 minutes a day, even on the busiest days, to work on something that’s important to me.

I don’t think I’m alone. From diet plans, to housekeeping goals, to the secret dreams we have tucked deep inside our hearts, many of us want great things for our lives, but when we’re in the moment, we tend to make the easier choice.

This week I want to challenge each of us to choose the more difficult, but better, task.

Let’s go for a run instead of turning on the TV and make ourselves a salad instead of reaching for a bag of chips. We can also put our shoes and bags away as soon as we get home instead of dropping them by the door, or do the dishes instead of browsing Social Media.

Whatever your goal is, make the choice that will help you reach it. Do something hard. On purpose. Then do it again.

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P.S. Don’t forget that a brand-new FREE email course about how to completely refresh your entire home in just 10 days just released

If you’re ready to choose the harder in-the-moment thing so you can reap the rewards, then you do not want to miss this FREE course! Go here for details!

I’d love to hear – what hard thing are you going to choose to do this week?