Hello, friends! Did you have a good weekend? 🙂

Friday morning we had the flooring people here (quick backstory: Shane and I moved into a new construction in April, but the flooring unfortunately wasn’t up to par – i.e. knicks, etc. – so they’re RE-doing it. Kind of a pain, but ah well.) I had to be home for it, so I used the time to be productive and become a program-writing ninja. I had a few online clients’ plans renew, so I got their phases off to them. Then I ran out to train a client at the gym, and got in my own workout.

Then we had a wild night at home eating mac and cheese for dinner and watching House of Cards.

Saturday was a lot of fun! We went hiking out in RMNP with our friends, Bob and Megan. We hiked Twin Sisters peaks, which is a round trip of 7 miles, with 2,400 ft. elevation gain. It was a toughie! But also totally worth it.

The hike took about 4 hours, and then we got obligatory burritos and margaritas afterward. When we finally got back home. I was beat. I watched that Scientology documentary with Shane and my friend, Katie. And then was weirded out the rest of the weekend, ha! Sunday evening we capped off the weekend with a fun – and delicious- barbecue at a friend’s house.

So after cranking out some training plans on Friday, I set aside about an hour to go through my August Priorities.

The other day while listening to Amy Porterfield’s podcast, she was interviewing a woman who said that it’s important to know what your current priorities are in order to know to whom and what to say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ As soon as I heard this, I thought, what a great idea!  The idea is that if you know what you’re prioritizing at that time, you’ll know what you should say no to, because it won’t be in line with your goals.

[Tweet “Get Your Priorities in Line in Order to Know When to Say NO. via @TrainerPaige”]

So, I used to be a huge people pleaser and say yes to everything. Now, while I’m totally ok with saying ‘no’ I tend to have an inner dialogue when I’m not sure. That can be a problem, and then solution to that problem is to know my priorities. While the interviewee on the podcast was referring to her business, I took this idea and ran with it for all aspects of my life. My take on it is this:

If the answer isn’t immediately a HELL YES! or a HELL NO! refer to your priority list to find the answer. If it’s in line with one of your priorities, sign off on it, and if it’s no, say sayonara to it.

[Tweet “If the answer isn’t immediately a HELL YES! or a HELL NO! refer to your priority list to find the answer.”]

It’s as simple as this: if it’s not in line with my priorities, the answer is no.

While I’d love to talk about how to say no (without sounding like an asshole) in another post this week, today I wanted to share with you some of my priority list. And because my priorities might change a few months out (or not, who knows) I just wrote them out for August. I also split them up into three categories: Business, Personal, and Social.

This way, whenever I get a request that I’m not sure how to answer, I ask myself if it’s in line with anything on this list. Conversely, I’ll also ask myself if it vehemently goes against anything on the list. Not only does having your priorities both in check and in clear sight help you not to waste your energy on decision-making, it also helps you to reaffirm what you stand for.

Here are (some of – not listing all of them ;-)) mine:

Business 

1. Put my readers first. To me, this means before I start to create any sort of content, whether it be on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, the blog, or whatever, ask myself if this will add value to my readers. Whether it’s through inspiration, information, or just putting a smile on your face, posing that question first helps me not just to add more noise to an already over crowded media.

2. Connect more with my readers. If you’re on my email list (you can subscribe here) you get a weekly email from me. These are typically more personal than anything else I publish on my blog or social channels, because I feel more connected to you there. Writing an email to you feels more personal to me, and it’s a way for me to connect with you. I’m interested in building these relationships where connection is at the forefront.

3. Preparing for my next {FREE} challenge. Twice or so a year, I like to say ‘thank you’ to you guys by hosting a month-long challenge, with a workout plan, nutritional guidelines, and mindset practices. Last year I did Glute Camp and FitandFestive, which I loved doing SO much. This year I have something in the works for end of August/September-ish (so stay tuned :))

4. Continuing education. I’m actively looking for a workshop that inspires me, and that can add value to my job as a trainer and health coach. I’m also interested in actively seeking out learning opportunities, whether it’s official (CEC’s) or not.

Personal

1. Fixate on the positive. Like 99% of women out there, I have a tendency to focus/analyze on what’s not going right in my life, rather than basking in all of the positivity. I make it a priority to practice gratitude every day, all day, but as much as I try, I catch myself harping on the negative every once in a while. It’s just pointless. It doesn’t do any good, and actually does harm, in the form of immune suppression.

2. Don’t engage in any sort of trash talking. I hate being around people who love to talk trash about others. Just listening to it makes me feel icky, and if I happen to partake in it, I feel downright disgusting afterward. I’ve even gone back to the person I was talking to  and told them that I regret saying that, and that it isn’t my style. If the topic of conversation has to be judging others, than it’s either because that person isn’t happy with their own situation, or they don’t feel interesting themselves.

Social

1. Build positive, uplifting relationships. I’m lucky to have a few really good friendships with some really good people here in Colorado – as well as back home. A constant priority in my life is to make those relationships even stronger.

2. Be a better listener when with friends. If you’re on my email newsletter, I wrote about this last week. So, so important to let people know you actually care what they’re saying.

3. Get out and explore more with friends! Another constant goal. There’s just so much of Colorado to see, and I wanna see it all! Shane and I are actually planning a mini-vacation to Telluride in August 😀

As I said, there’s more on the list, but I didn’t want to make it  too personal on here. I just wanted to share with you in case you decide to make your own August priority list! And now that I’ve finished writing this post, there will, indeed, be a part 2: How to Say No without Sound Like an Asshole (ha!)

Happy Monday, loves!

What’s a couple of your August priorities?

Are you able to say ‘No’ easily? Or are you a people pleaser?