Hi Reader,

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Welcome to The Sunday Shift!

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Let me tell you about my yard.

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In the spring of 2020, I transplanted climbing roses and planted a new 3-stem birch tree along our open fence line. A few years earlier, we'd lost a birch and had to cut down a large oak and two pines that were rotting. I was craving life and growth at that time. And I couldn't wait to put something new in the ground.

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When the birch arrived, my husband laughed. Its trunks were as thin as my fingers and barely reached my knees. But I was already in love with it. I planted it where it would get perfect sun. I talked to it. Encouraged it. The same way I do with my roses, my blue hydrangeas, and my tall grasses.

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And you know what? They're all thriving.

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They're not just planted. They're tended to; not just left to survive. They’re given what they need to grow.

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Your mindset is no different.

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It's soil. And your daily thoughts, habits, and beliefs? That's how you're tending to it. If you feed it with criticism, fear, or constant striving, things might look productive for a while, but eventually, that soil gets depleted.

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Burnout. Doubt. Frustration. Nothing seems to take root.

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But if you plant with intention? If you give it light and air and space and nourishment? You build something that sustains itself. The soil gets richer each season, roots grow deeper with every storm.

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Ideas to Ponder

• What are you currently planting with your thoughts, habits, beliefs, and mindset?
• What weeds need pulling—meaning stories, doubts, and patterns you've outgrown?
• What's one area of your life that could use more care and sunlight?
• What practices are you rotating in to keep your mental soil fertile? (Just like farmers rotate crops to maintain soil health.)

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🎯 1 Focus This Week

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Tend to what you want to grow.

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Speak gently to yourself. Choose thoughts that fertilize your belief, not your doubt. Give energy to the things you want to see more of.

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You don't have to fix the whole landscape. Just nurture what's already trying to grow or plant the seed for what you want to grow.

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That little birch tree? It's now towering at 25 feet tall, its roots spreading deep and wide. All it needed was the right environment and someone to believe in its potential (oh, I believed!) Each year it's stronger than the last, better able to weather whatever comes.

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And, so are you, Reader.

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I believe you are the most powerful leader you’ll ever know; and one small shift will help you believe it, too.

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See you next Sunday.

Jenn

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P.S. Forward this to someone who's in a season of replanting. Sometimes all we need is a reminder: growth takes time, and it's always possible.

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