The Power of “Deciding Once”

I am a huge fan of podcasts. Listening to practical tips and wisdom from biblical, organizational, and/or motherhood experts while I finish monotonous chores helps the time pass more quickly for me. I’ve got to share with you all one of my favorite podcasters, Kendra Adachi of the Lazy Genius. Kendra is on a mission to help people to simplify their choices and not exert extra effort when it’s not needed. I was pleasantly intrigued a few weeks ago when I heard her describe one of her lazy genius life principles: decide once.

The “decide once” concept is all about determining your priorities and what you will say “yes” to ahead of time. That way you don’t get stuck in the “what if?” or “should I?” cycle. You decide ahead of time what you value in this season of life and make decisions that follow those priorities.

I first experimented with this strategy with my 2023 one word resolution: healing. Instead of ignoring lingering symptoms, this past year I have chosen to ensure that I am making healthy choices myself, so that I can bring my strongest self to the people in my life. For me, this looks like scheduling appointments with medical specialists instead of trying to treat ailments with more medicine or hoping the challenges will magically go away with time.

This is how I found myself the day after Christmas sitting in the G.I.’s exam room making the decision to follow his advice and complete a 42 hour liquid fast, so we could get to the root cause of my digestive problems. My instant agreement with the doctor’s recommendation felt like a “no brainer,” because I “decided once” to take small steps to find healing. This wasn’t part of my original plans for Christmas break, but I was confident that these procedures will help me not just now, but for my long term health.

After completed the fast, I have to admit it was really challenging. Headaches from being without coffee (because who wants to drink coffee without any creamer?!) and not eating multiple meals left me feeling nauseous and lethargic. My husband teasingly reminded me, I have never fasted more than a couple of hours in the past. I’m the kind of person who eats every couple of hours, because I thrive on eating small meals and snacks all throughout the day. So liquid fasting was way out of my comfort zone. Had I not “decided once” before I went to the appointment, I think I probably would have put this process off further.

Two weeks after completing the fast, surprisingly my mind feels clearer and my body actually feels less inflamed than usual. Although I don’t plan to sign up for another fast anytime soon, the way my body feels makes me curious to discover which foods are making me feel so awful now that they are gone from my system.

This decision to “decide once” has motivated me to continue this journey with a three month elimination diet from both recommendations from my neurologist from migraines and G.I. doctor for digestive challenges. So far I am almost 2 weeks into this elimination diet and feel better than I have in a very long time. So far the hardest part for me is thinking ahead for meals and snacks when I’m not at home (any other Moms spending their winter weekend’s at basketball tournaments?) and not enjoying cake for our son’s birthday this week (chocolate and sugar are the hardest elements for me to eliminate!).

As we start into the new year, I wonder what areas you have set aside as priorities for 2024? What might you “decide once” to say yes to, even if your “yes” feels scary? These decisions could be professional, personal, and or family goals and/or intentions.

Friends, you know my heart beats strongly for supporting and celebrating children and their Mamas. I’m learning that in order to continue pouring into our children, we have to take care of our own health, too. Will you join me in “deciding once” to take care of yourself, too? I’ll be here cheering you on through your hard but much needed “yes” decisions, too.