Welcome to Wisdom Wednesdays from Owl & Key

Each week, enjoy a quick guided reflection to help you unlock what's next and bring your Strategic Plan for Life into reality.

Let's dive in!

Intention -> Focus -> Prioritization -> Meaningful Outcomes -> Lasting Impact

If you’re navigating a demanding career, managing a home, investing in community, raising a family, trying to reclaim your health, etc. etc. etc. —this is for you.

We all know the feeling of being stretched thin, overextended, and unsure where our energy should go.

And yet, when life gets full, we often drop the things that support us the most—our sleep, movement, nutrition, connection, play.

But what if the real power came from designing your life around those essentials, instead of squeezing them in?

What we all often do and why it doesn't work

Most of us wait until the pain is unbearable—until we’re burned out, inflamed, or sick—before we make a change.

Not because we're intentionally trying to create the problem. But because other areas of life demand our attention. And so we try to just get by.

We try to “fit in” our wellbeing or rush through a quick fix plan.
We expect our internal engine to "keep up" with the pace of life — without proper fuel or sleep.
We hustle past our most important relationships.
We rely on discipline or guilt to push us through.

But, we all know by now, that model doesn’t work.

Because it’s not sustainable.
Because it’s not aligned with longevity.
Because it’s not designed for you.

Especially when it feels impossible to change our life circumstances — that's when we need to redeisgn life the most.

The case for lifestyle design

Anyone can program a workout for you. They can teach you to meditate. They can inform you why you should spend time with your most important relationships. They can show you the perfect system for "how" to make the change you want. We're frankly bombarded by solutions every day.

But if you don't know when and how you're going to prioritize the time and energy required to do the work, the change won't happen.

True transformation happens when you start by knowing yourself well enough to design your life and systems around what works for you and what you want now and next.

Lifestyle design is the key to real change.

You can live without it - but do you want to?

Too many dreams - big and small - go untapped because we don't make the time and space. Not because we're not talented enough or strong enough or dedicated enough.

But simply because life requires SO MUCH of our energy and focus.

If we are not stewarding our time and energy where WE want it to go, it will most certainly be put toward something or someone else.

When we redirect our resources back toward what matters most and invest in our foundation, we live with more authenticity, energy and purpose - and real world impact.

An example: Intention to real results

In December 2024, I wrote the following in my Strategic Planning for Life book for the year ahead:

"I intend to prioritize my body and health first, specifically modifying our food and workout systems to facilitate fat loss and a body for longevity."

That intention turned into some very specific action items throughout the year. Some that I intentionally created and others that were provided by the people around me.

But most importantly, I redesigned my day and energy to live this intention every day and stay consistent.

I started carving out 8:30–10:30 a.m. for worouts. Not because I had “extra time,” but because I chose to make it the priority.

I restructured my morning: wake, nutrition, kids off to school, workout, shower, work.

It felt counterintuitive and honestly inconvenient most days—like I was losing work time. Like I was giving up progress on business, emails and connections. But I also know 5 a.m. workouts don't work for me. And getting a workout in when the boys are running around also doesn't work for this season.

As inconvenient as it was, every time I prioritized work or meetings over the workout, I could feel the drain immediately.

When I stayed consistent with my priorities, what I gained was priceless: stamina, presence, strength, and clarity.

And it’s working. I’ve dropped 10 pounds since July, built real muscle in the place of fat, can now do banded pull-ups (for the first time since my 20s!), and most importantly, I am "being" the intention I set...every single day.

(By the way, my work is also thriving more now than it ever has.)

Change requires space

This shift didn’t happen over night. It started by listening to my body, honoring my health journey with MCAS and POTS, and going back to basics.

We found the right guides (hey, Tyler Smith!), surrounded ourselves with the right tools and built a new system around my and our reality.

But most importantly, we redesigned our time, our days, our attention and our lives around what we wanted more of. Bodies for longevity and function. Real strength. Consistent progress. Real evolution for the next decade and beyond.

We made it easier to follow through.

And slowly—but powerfully—it became our rhythm. A family rhythm.

The result? Real, sustainable change. Our kids love to move with us, building their own relationship with health. And I have a body I feel safe in again.

What do YOU want?

Your change, your intention, your lifestyle are different than mine. You may not need to focus on health in 2026. Maybe your Life Intentions and Values would say it's time for you to focus on relationships in the year ahead. Or maybe career change. Or maybe just getting back to some hobbies.

Great! Lifestyle design works in every area of life. I've repeatedly experienced intentional change for over a decade in my own life and watched hundreds of others use it to make meaningful impact in various parts of their own lives.

The first step is always pausing to reflect on what it is you want for the year ahead. And then...

🟢 Make it an intention in 2026.
🟢 Block the time daily based on your own awareness.
🟢 Be ruthless about your non-negotiables.
🟢 Start simple, build a system and stay consistent.
🟢 Surround yourself with partners and community who support you.

Lifestyle design works for ANY area of your life. Because it's about you. Knowing yourself well enough to design your focus and time more around what you want and less around what you don't want.

Intention -> Focus -> Prioritization -> Meaningful Outcomes -> Lasting Impact

Need help deciding where you want to focus your energy and time in 2026?

You don't have to do it alone.

You can start here, with this community or with me/our guides. Reach out. We can point you in the direction of what works best for you, your company, family and community.

If you’re craving that kind of shift, let this be your nudge.
Not to overhaul everything at once, but to take one aligned step.

With you on the journey,

Krista 🌿

Other offerings for 2026 & beyond....

If you're a leader trying to be more intentional with your family, your team, your time and priorities in 2026...

Connect with our founder Krista ([email protected]) to explore a 1:1 Strategic Partnership, Retreats, Programs and Workshops.

If you're a Community Member or in a current Strategic Planning for Life Class...

Bring your reflections from this email to the next Community Call or Class session to share with your Guide or a friend.

If you or someone you love is interested in entrepreneurship and want to make 2026 the year of an intentional leap...

Join us for this upcoming live program - kicking off January 22!

If you're a DIYer and just want to dip your toe into being more intentional going into 2026...

What Happens When You Prioritize You