Today is Saturday.
Last night, I came up with a whole plan for the beginning hours of my day.
The Plan (Expectation):
Wake up early.
Get dressed.
Go on an hour-long bike ride.
Come back and read my Bible for thirty minutes.
Then hop on a meeting at 10am.
That’s a reasonable plan, right? Simple. Easy… Wrong.
The Attempt (Reality):
“Early” is not a word in my vocabulary—it never has been. Yes, it’s something I need to work on, absolutely, but if there is not an event happening or an emergency, I have no reason to be up on a Saturday at 7am (that was my old narrative—now with Graciously Defined, I have every reason). Welp… somehow I was awake at 7:30 by the grace of God.
The problem? I sat in bed too long because I was exhausted, and moving felt like, why me?
I finally got up to get dressed… well, what I wanted to wear was still sitting in the dryer. I went to the dryer to get my clothes (washer and dryer are in the kitchen). Got in the kitchen and said, “Oh yeah—vitamins, can’t forget those.” Grabbed my clothes, changed… then changed again.
By the time all of that happened, I sighed and stared at my pitbull and groaned. The bike ride wasn’t going to happen, though it sounded fun. This dog is crazy picky about where she has to use the bathroom, so I settled to just take her around the neighborhood loop.
Came back, read my Bible for about fifteen minutes, and was about to go down a full biblical research dopamine rabbit hole when I realized I hadn’t eaten breakfast. So I made breakfast.
Hopped on the meeting on time—but off camera—so I don’t burn the house down and so I can make my iced matcha latte.
In the end, I was left frustrated and feeling like a failure. Then I stopped and realized I do this a lot.
I try to plan my days as if I have control over what happens next, and then I bury the shame attached to the fact that my discipline never “aligns”… but is it not aligning, or am I just overloading myself with false expectations?
3 Positive Outcomes that came from this question:
I’m realizing I don’t need a grandiose plan for the day.
Workouts don’t have to be in the morning they can be midday, which works better for me on some days anyway.
Working with myself and my brain means moving at my pace following where my bursts of energy lead me throughout the day.
Which leads me to something called “Chaotic Discipline.” Two words that probably shouldn’t co-exist; but totally do.
What is Chaotic Discipline?
Chaotic Discipline only happens when we accept how we are wired, because the reality is we don’t operate in straight lines; we move in rhythms of intense focus, deep rest, creative play, and high-energy execution.
Which means that traditional Plan. Execute. Optimize. Repeat. mindset needs to be tossed out the window. It just doesn’t work.
Instead of strict routines and perfect habits, it looks like:
Flexible structure (you have a plan, but it can bend—not fail)
Following energy and focus rather than forcing timing
Working in bursts of intensity, then resting
Letting things look messy, but still moving forward
Using supports (timers, body doubling, reminders) instead of relying on willpower
The “chaotic” part = it might look inconsistent or all over the place from the outside.
The “discipline” part = you’re still showing up, just in a way that matches how your brain actually functions.
I want you to read that again. “You are still showing up”. Something I have to tell myself all the time now like a mantra is “Slow progress is still progress”. Trying to follow someone else’s version of discipline often leads to frustration, burnout, and the nagging feeling that we’re somehow “failing” but we aren’t we have to find what works for us. Even in the finding what works for us we have to remember it isn’t failure it’s refinement.
We’re not failing. We’re just wired differently. And that’s our greatest advantage.
How do I follow my energy and focus?
It’s simple. Start paying attention to when your brain slows down and when it picks up.
When you are exhausted, you get sluggish and mentally have no capacity for thoughts or ideas. All creativity is gone, and now you’re trying to force something; staring at a screen like, what in the world was I even doing?
Those days are literally telling you to stop. To take a walk, clear your mind, love on yourself, spend time in your Word, and reset.
Another scenario for me during the day, after meetings and learning new material, setting up structures for the business I will find my eyes starting to get dry, or I want to escape and doom scroll. Those are signals I’ve learned that tell me, okay, I need to take a break, walk away for fifteen minutes, and come back.
What my brain is seeking is a dopamine boost and if I don’t give it that, I burn out quickly.
Side Note: A big part of this is keeping up with your protein intake. Protein stabilizes our blood sugar and boosts dopamine and norepinephrine production, key for regulating attention and impulse control. Here’s the thing when our blood sugar tanks we tank…
Self-awareness is key, and finding your signals is super important.
On the flip side, when we have energy, obviously we know we can get three days’ worth of tasks done in a few hours. But I want to challenge you—in that energy—to still ground yourself in God’s Word so you can focus and use that energy in a way that glorifies Him in your day-to-day life.
When I first started building, I would have energy bursts and run with ideas and content that didn’t even align with my messaging and it just created busyness, not purpose (so be wary of the mask of performing).
What about the side quests?
Embrace them.
Here’s what I’ve learned: when we are aligned with God in full obedience, and we are praying in the morning to be used in whatever way possible that day—to serve who needs to be served—we are essentially saying, “God, have Your way. I give You control.”
Sometimes the side quests are really just stepping stones for God to do one of two things:
Re-align you to the path you are supposed to be on.
Re-direct your attention to what has yet to be completed.
Essentially, He fills our gaps, and His power is made strong in our weakness.
In the end…
I am still learning, but my dose of grace today is this:
Don’t keep burying your shame over what feels like failure. Pause when it happens and face it—you may learn something about yourself that was never “wrong,” just unacknowledged.
Give yourself permission to expand. In the beginning, it’s hard to slow down and be self-aware, so honor the learning curve.
Growth is a process, not a straight sprint.
You’ve got this.
xo, Jasmine.
Remember: You are Graciously Defined by the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth.
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