If you’re a task-oriented person, you probably love the rush of achievement you get when you cross off an item on your daily to-do list. Sometimes I add things to my list just to check them off for fun!
As a business owner, your list can become longer and more complicated the more your business grows. But what if I told you that there’s one simple thing that you can add to the top of your daily to-do list that will make the rest of your day flow with ease? There’s one thing every leader must do on a daily basis. In fact, the busier you are, the more you need to add margin to your routine.
Margin to Pray
It’s easy to overlook your prayer life when the day is full of meetings and to-do’s and the pressure is all on your shoulders. To even the most devout believer, it may feel like prayer is just one more thing to add to an already jam-packed day. However, cultivating a rich prayer life is the key to true success and health.By carving out some time at the start of your day to pray and ask for God’s guidance in your daily decision-making, you are actually easing your work load.
The bible tells us to cast our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). We have that opportunity everyday to place the burdens of our business onto the creator of the universe. In John 14 we are promised the Holy Spirit, who is our helper and counselor. With the heaven’s help on our side, there’s nothing that we cannot accomplish! God wants to work with you in your business.
Why Your Mornings Need Margin
The successful leaders and entrepreneurs that I greatly admire, the men and women that are seasons ahead of me have mastered this daily discipline. They wake up and hit their knees before they do anything else. To me it seems so counterintuitive to add yet another thing to my already hectic morning that consists of lunch-packing, diaper changing, and daycare drop-off meltdowns. But I’m learning how important it is for my mental and spiritual health to create margin in my life to listen to the one voice that matters.
Our days are full of voices- workplace voices, social media voices, cultural voices, family voices, etc. They all speak into our life in ways that are greater than we realize. If we let them, they can define who we are, and we can then become so fragmented from all the voices that we lose our true identity.
In the bible there is a story of a wild, demonized man that hung out in graveyards, screamed loudly both day and night and gashed himself with stones. No chains could restrain him and was a terror to everyone that lived near him. When Jesus approached him to deliver him, he asked the man what his name was.
He responded, “…Legion- for we are many.“
Most of us shudder at this creepy answer and miss seeing ourself in the story. The demonized man had lost His identity in all of the other voices.
Have you lost your identity in the voices of your life? Have the voices of success or failure labeled you?
Only one voice can define who we are, and that’s our creator. He places value on us because we belong to Him.
Before you are a business owner, a leader, or an entrepreneur, you are a son or a daughter of God.
God wants you to operate your business out of this healthy place. It could be a total game-changer for you.
How to Create Margin in Your Mornings
- Make it first: Start your day with prayer. If you block off time at the beginning of your day to practice this discipline, you will enter you work day as your best you.
- Create a routine: Make it a routine by praying in the same place and time every day. You may choose a certain comfy chair in your home, your kitchen table, or your favorite spot outside. This habit will more likely be formed in your life if you stay consistent with the time and place.
- Pray with scriptures: Add some bible-reading to your prayer time. Praying with scriptures enhances your prayer life. Start with a short devotional from your favorite author or a bible reading plan.
- Journal your prayers: Record what you’re praying and believing for in your personal life and business. One day you will be able to look back at all the ways God helped grow you and your business and empowered you to meet your goals!
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