April is quickly coming to a close and now is the time to start making your monthly plan for May.
If you are like me, creating your monthly plan can take quite a bit of time over the course of a few days. During my monthly CEO Strategy planning session:
I schedule out my monthly events
Populate my editorial calendar with great content ideas across all of my platforms
ID and break down my objectives
Compile a complete list of tasks I need to work on
Allocate time for each of my objectives and all of my work across the month
So, it’s a lot of work that I often start on a few days before the new month begins. I realize, I could cut down on this work by planning out certain aspects of my monthly calendar on a quarterly basis, but with the way I run my business, I know I’d be making multiple changes to a more long term plan, so it’s better for me to stick to monthly planning.
The C.E.O. Power Hour
As a first step to my monthly planning routine, I have started executing on the idea of a C.E.O. Power Hour to be dedicated time where I review the previous month and start planning big picture elements of the next.
This is a LIVE workshop I intend to host on a monthly basis for the last Saturday of the month to help myself and fellow business owners get organized and begin strategically planning the month ahead.
This was a playlist I created a few weeks ago for my at-home CEO Retreat where I gave myself a full day to work on some high level business strategy and messaging for my business.
Of course, important CEO level work for your business requires the right tunes to keep you focused on inspired, and that is how the CEO Vibes Playlist was born!
I chose a variety of my favorite songs for this playlist. Tunes that really inspire and elevate my mindset. Music that puts me into alignment with my ideas and abundance. Many of these songs speak to me on a very spiritual level as well, but of course, I had to throw in some good pump you up style hip-hop and rap as well!
A number of you have reached out to ask me about my crystals and I wanted to share some thoughts on them with everyone!
Yes, I have a nice little collection of crystals in my office that are one part decor and one part metaphysical tool.
Why I Love Crystals
By no means do I believe that crystals have some magical properties but this is what I do believe about them:
❖ Like everything on earth crystals are made from the same energy we are. See Einstein E=MC2 energy creates matter.
❖ The most precious chemical element to human life, water, can take the form of crystal. Ice is a crystalline form of water, humans are made mostly of water, and therefore I believe it is possible that crystals can exert some influence on us.
❖ Quartz crystals are the technology that make timepieces possible. Your watch, if it’s not digital, likely has quartz elements because quartz crystals maintain a precise frequency standard which helps regulate the movement of a watch or clock. For this reason I think they have a unique way of storing a regulating energy.
❖ Crystals are a naturally occurring element and I love the idea of bringing nature into our lives as much as possible.
❖ Crystals come in a variety of colors which according to color therapy can shift our moods in different situations if used strategically.
❖ Crystals are lovely objectives to focus on during meditation and can help uplift the experience overall. For that reason I tend to collect stones that are easy to hold in the hand, but I would love to add some larger statement pieces to my collection as well.
For those reasons I am a great lover of crystals and do believe they offer some metaphysical benefits to our lives even if it’s just a beautiful element of home decor. I understand that science hasn’t been able to prove any definitive benefit to their use, but science can’t explain a lot of things that humans do or believe so it’s not the end of the world to me that I might think they have a special power or meaning beyond what can be measured or observed.
Where I get my crystals
I purchase a lot of my crystals on Etsy, but I also follow accounts in IG that sell them too. I highly recommend doing your research on the shops you purchase from, read reviews, etc, and I also recommend researching the meanings and usage of different crystals or stones before you buy them so you select pieces that are special to you.
Your planner is an untapped success tool in more ways than you can imagine.
For quite some time now, I have strongly believed that our planners are tools to be used strategically for our success. If you allow it, your planner can be more than just a place to record your schedule and to-do’s.
Think about it- this is a physical tool that we carry around to organize our life in, and if we choose to, we can use it to organize and facilitate our success as well.
And this applies whether you are using a physical planner or a digital planner on your computer or phone. I don’t care what type of planner you are using, nearly any planner can be used in a way that will expand your experience and benefit you for working in it on a daily basis.
As the title of today’s post illustrates, one of the ways I put this concept into action in my own planner is by using it to do manifestation and mindset work.
Manifestation and Mindset Work is an Essential Key for Success
Like many who have accomplished any amount of success, I attribute much of my achievement over the course of my lifetime to my mindset and receptivity to manifestation principles, even if I didn’t clearly acknowledge them as such at the time.
It’s pretty well accepted now that mindset, your beliefs and outlook on life, play a key role in what you are able to accomplish, also known as manifest. Mindset is often the “secret ingredient” that gives specific individuals an edge in their pursuits. Where many have failed, a positive mindset is often the deciding factor in why one prevails.
Of course, there are still plenty of people who label mindset work as a type of pseudoscience that isn’t real. This doesn’t surprise me, as mindset is often difficult to quantify, and therefore nearly impossible to test for or measure in any way that would allow us to understand its precise role in patterns of success or failure.
That doesn’t prevent or deter me from believing in and working on my mindset, in order to manifest the outcomes I desire for my life. If self-reporting counts for anything, I certainly can attest that working on my mindset with tangible strategies has, in fact, made me a more productive and successful person.
When I actively work on my mindset, I hit more of the goals I set for myself, and show up more fully and intentionally to my tasks for the day.
I certainly prescribe to the idea that “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right,” – Henry Ford
When I choose to “think I can” I am more focused and accountable to seeing my goals through to fruition.
The Manifestation and Mindset Strategies I Use Inside My Planner
Although Manifestation and Mindset are intangibles that are hard to quantify, there are some practical strategies I use nearly every day inside my planner that I’d like to share with you.
Goal + Objective Setting
Whether you know it or not, every time we set a goal for ourselves, we are taking the first steps in the manifestation process. Claiming what it is that you want, and then deciding “how” you are going to make it a reality by choosing objectives is like placing an order with the Universe for what you want to receive in your life. This is manifesting, plain and simple.
So, by simply writing down your goals and objectives someplace in your planner, you are manifesting them. And if you take the additional step on a regular basis to review those goals and objectives, track your progress on them and especially, imagine how you are going to feel when you reach the goal or hit the objective, that’s doing some strong metaphysical work to continuously align with your desired manifestation and call it in even quicker.
This is why I keep my goals and objectives listed out in my planner, right at the front because these are important pieces of my life plan and organization. On top of that, I also keep a vision board right there will my goals broken out into images that I can review on a daily basis and get into alignment with.
Daily Intentions
Another powerful way I manifest inside my planner is through setting daily intentions. Think of intention setting as the way we check in and align ourselves with God/Spirit/The Universe to choose how we want our day to flow in alignment with our best life. In many ways, I think of intention setting as a parallel of prayer. If you pray in the morning when you wake up or in the evening before you fall asleep, you are checking in with a higher power to align with the feeling of the life you desire.
I set intentions for my day inside my planner on daily planning inserts. You could easily write out your intentions on your planner spreads and this is a great way to use free white space in our planners. You could also, of course, write your intentions each day on spare notepaper. It doesn’t have to be fancy, you just need to show up and do the work each day and your planner is an excellence place to do that work.
Affirmations
A powerful way that I address my mindset and do work to overcome limiting beliefs holding me back from fully realizing my goals is through writing and/or reciting affirmations daily. Because affirmation work can be done verbally or written out, I have a few inserts inside my planner I use for this purpose.
First, I keep a list of affirmations and beliefs I am trying to program into my mindset in my planner. I will flip to these pages and read over the affirmations and beliefs on a near daily basis. Second, I also keep dedicated inserts in my planner for writing out affirmations in what I call the 3 x 3 manifestation style. Which means, I write three affirmations out, three times each to help with repetition and mindset reprogramming. This work I do on a weekly basis
Journaling
Last but certainly not least, the final way I work on manifestation and mindset inside my planner is through journaling. Now, I realize that some people would do their journaling in a notebook separate from their planner, but I don’t. I like having everything together because as I believe I have illustrated from this post alone, the goals I am manifesting are strongly tied to my daily work, and as far as I’m concerned this entire process of mindset, manifestation and productivity is the most important work I do in a day to ensure I am showing up and working towards my best life.
In terms of how I journal inside my planner, I use dedicated inserts where I will list out things like daily gratitude, script how I want my day to flow, overcome specific limiting beliefs and set my vibe for the day. I don’t always journal daily, but I do several times a week and it goes a long way to keeping me in alignment and constantly motivated to bring my goals to fruition for both my life and business.
The Manifestation and Mindset Tools I Use Inside My Planner
As you might imagine, the manifestation and mindset tools I use inside my planner are all of my own original design, but they are all inserts that I openly share with my Productivity + Planning Mastermind Members! If you are interested in starting a daily manifestation and mindset practice that puts you into daily alignment with your goals and motivates you each day to work productively towards the achievement of your best life, you would make an excellent addition to the Mastermind.
When you join the Productivity + Planning Mastermind, you get instant access to all the exclusive tools and trainings I have developed month over month for the members of the group, as well as access to the signature Productivity + Planning Mastermind course and our private Slack community for connection and accountability!
You can choose to enroll in the Mastermind for a full year in advance, which equates to just $22 per month PLUS gives you access to the entire 2021 Master Plan System of inserts I use to plan my life and business.
Or you can choose the month to month subscription and start now for just $33.
Did you know that reading is considered to be one of the most universally acknowledged success habits?
Statistics are thrown around all the time about how many books millionaires and CEOs read in a year. It’s always something crazy like 4+ dozen!
I know for some people, that number seems intimidating. They say the average American reads less than one book per year.
But personally, I don’t believe that it’s the exact number of books read that really makes someone successful. What I think is a more accurate predictor of success is that you are someone who values ongoing education and the way that is most commonly and easily practiced is by reading.
That is why as part of the Productivity + Planning Mastermind Membership that I host, we have a bookclub where each month the members who are interested are able to read along with a book chosen by me that addresses an important productivity or personal development topic.
(If you are interested in being part of our bookclub and getting ongoing support from me to help you live out your own personal vision for success, I would love to have you join the Mastermind and my inner circle, so please do click here to learn more!)
So, I decided that in order to share the love of books and truly, the success habit of continuing your education through the enjoyment and curiosity of reading, I am starting a series here on the blog where I will share one of the books we have read in the Mastermind and provide my summary/feedback on the book.
So this is how I feel about the Alchemist. I’ve already told you this is essentially my favorite book because to me, it’s not a story, it’s an illustration of the principles of Alchemy at work in “real life” situations. For those of you who are not as familiar, Alchemy was an ancient science and the precursor of chemistry, but it was so much more than that. Early Alchemists theorized about the world and physical science and many of their predictions were ultimately proven true through modern research. They had no science or evidence at the time to rationalize their belief, instead, their belief came from pure intuition and engaging and learning from the world, the way the Alchemist in the book taught Santiago to engage and learn from the desert to gain true knowledge or gnosis.
For example, the belief that all things are a manifestation of just one thing, that is true from a quantum mechanics perspective. All things known to us in the universe are created by the arrangement of energy into matter (E=MC Squared), we know this know and it’s a major pursuit of science to understand how we can manipulate the arrangement of energy to create whatever we want or need.
The concept that everything evolves, even seemingly inanimate elements evolve, we also know to be true now via the Theory of Evolution and the fact that coal becomes diamonds, fossilized remained become oil etc. A grain of sand was once a particle of star matter. The dunes of the desert take the form of solid waves, referring back to the fact that the dessert itself was once an ocean.
The great mystery of life is unraveled in this book if you read it deep enough because it is a principle of both this book and alchemy that you can look at the face of any thing in our world and read the entire history of the world in it. It’s quite profound and thats why every time I read this book I learn something new about life and how to evolve myself into the person I want to become.
As the book points out during the scene when Santiago is tasked with turning himself into the wind to avoid death, all of us, each human, plant, animal, mineral, are part of the story of the world written by the one hand (God) and because the one who wrote us is infinite, so are we. We have a story to live out that was written inside of us, and to uncover our purpose we need to get our hands dirty and get down to the business of living.
This is the thing I love about this book the most- it comes out and tells you the thing many religions and world philosophies simply dance around. That you were put here for a reason, that your story began long before you were ever conceived and it will go on as you evolve past your current form. You yourself are not a god but you live inside of God and are connected on a metaphysical level to that single power and every other thing in existence known or unknown to you. Your life has significance and meaning, and it’s up to you to live it out or not, the choice is yours.
Now, I have also come up with a few discussion questions to help us dig a little deeper into the lessons and meaning of the book. Feel free to share your thoughts on these questions as part of our ongoing discussion of The Alchemist.
Question 1:What was your favorite or most impactful lesson from the book?
Question 2:Do you use a system of signs or omens to help you tap into your internal guidance system and what are they?
Question 3:Can you think of a time when the pure expression of enthusiasm and a solid work ethic brought you to success?
Question 4:What is your personal legend?
Question 5:What was the moral of the story for you?
You’ve likely heard me mention one of the essential pieces of my Functional Planning Process- the Braindump- many times!
For me, a braindump is the best way to get all your big and little thoughts, plans, dreams and ideas out of your head and onto paper so you can get organized, make a plan and take swift action towards your goals. But, it’s not always as easy as it sounds to write out the thoughts in your head and get them organized.
That is why I created this new video productivity tool to help guide you through the process.
Imagine sitting down at your desk in the morning with your planner open to a fresh blank spread and your favorite pen in hand, ready to make your daily plan. You know you have tons of thoughts and ideas you want to take action on but staring at that blank page, your mind goes blank and you have no clue what to plan for the day.
Wouldn’t it feel so much better and be so much easier to organize and map out your plans if all those thoughts were out of your head and on a sheet of paper you could be reference as you planned for the day?
With the help of a braindump, you can unpack your brain and get it organized to make better, more efficient plans.
In this video I am going to explain what a braindump is, the tools I use and the process I follow each time I sit down to perform one. Then, I will guide you through a series of triggers that you can use to help jog your memory and get more of your brain onto paper.
Use this video as a tool to help you block off time for a braindump and to help trigger your memory so that you braindump better!
The more you practice the braindump, the better you will get at finding the important thoughts hidden in there, and each time you may find that you actually have less and less to unpack so the entire process becomes quicker and more efficient.
On top of that, you are going to feel a difference. Writing down things we have been trying to remember is a major stress release and will immediately put your mind at ease.
WARNING:You may find that after performing a braindump you actually feel motivated to take action, so be prepared to get productive once your braindump session is over!
So far, my community has been loving this new video productivity tool! Here are some recent comments:
“This was great! We always think we will remember stuff, but 🤦♀️. I believe it was David Allen that said the mind is for thinking things not holding things. Thanks for the prompts!” – Karen .c.h
“I’m here for this!” – Lindsey Torres
“Oddly enough for a stay at home retired lady, this video helped me alot!” – LadyDewinter
“This was awesome! Thank you” – Auntie
It always makes me feel so good to see that a tool I developed like this is helpful and applicable to my community as well. So, if you haven’t yet tried the new Guided Braindump Session for yourself, definitely check it out, and leave me a comment to let me know the results you were able to get!
I love working from home, but I have to admit, the single thing I have struggled with the most as an online business owner is the loneliness. For as much as co-workers can be a distraction, I often miss the sense of having someone working alongside me. If you work from home, you’ve likely experienced this yourself, and unless you are an introvert, you may struggle to get yourself motivated to work without the presence of a co-worker.
This is why I created a new video productivity tool to help mitigate this issue for us.
Imagine having me as your personal office buddy and co-worker, silently sitting by your side working away.
Wouldn’t that be awesome?!
Thanks to the power of the internet and video, I can be your virtual co-worker in this 3 Hour Work with Me!
In this video you can work alongside me and listen to a great track of relaxing ambient music with brain power frequencies to help you focus and do your best work.
Use this video as a tool to help you block off time for work and get down to business.
In the video you will see me do some planning and then work on business tasks at the computer. During this session I wrote and scheduled two blog posts, an email, posted to Instagram and performed my weekly accountability for my Productivity Master Mind, all within my 3 hour work session.
You can achieve much in a three hour block of time if you have a clear plan of tasks, the focus to stay on task, and a co-worker who’s silent productivity keeps you motivated to keep going with your work.
So far, the response to this video from my community has been stellar!
“I loved this! I felt like I had someone working with me and keeping me company!” – D G
“This is great. We need a series of them to replay later on. 😃” – Julie Crowley
“This is lovely!!! Thank you for filming this!” – Happy Halloween
“Love the music you chose for this. Thanks for sharing.” – The Ambient Sound
I am beyond pleased that so many of you have watched the video already and are planning to use it as a tool to get work done on a regular basis. You can definitely expect to see more of these types of videos from me with different lengths and music choices to appease a variety of productivity needs and tastes.
Let me know in the comments what work you were able to get done in your session and consider scheduling a 3 hour block to work with me on a regular basis.
Have you ever noticed how much your energy level accounts for your motivation and productivity?
On days when I am full of energy, nothing can stop me. I’m not as worried about obstacles, I tend to get a lot accomplished in what feels like a short period of time, and the day just flows so much more successfully.
But on days when I’m low energy, getting out if bed is just the first of a non-stop series of hurdles keeping me from getting anything done.
On days like that, I know I have two options. I can take it slow and set very easy expectations for myself so at least I get something done, or I can take the time to intentionally raise my energy through focused mindset work, giving me something of a reset on my day.
You may think that on days when you wake up low energy you are capped at that level for the day, but it’s not actually true. There are always things we can do to expand our energy little by little. We may not be able to take our energy from a 1 to a 10, but with intention you can shift your energy a few points up the scale and it can actually do wonders for your productivity.
It all starts with your mind and what you program yourself to believe!
So, here are 10 High Vibe Affirmations to Raise Your Energy Now!
I am a Smart, Strong, Capable Woman, and I’m Prepared to Get Shit Done!
I Feel My Energy Expanding Now
There is No Limit to what I can Accomplish
It Feels Good to Feel Good
I am Awake, Alert and Fully Alive
The Universe Fills Me with Unlimited Energy Now
Each Breathe I Take Energizes and Aligns Me
I have Clear Eyes and a Clear Mind
I Rise Up to Meet the Day with Energy and Enthusiasm
I am Unstoppable and Limitless
To use these affirmations, simply choose a few to focus on by either reciting them aloud or writing them out. I like to pair my affirmations with a nice deep breathing technique to really fill my body and mind with intention and oxygen to raise my energy levels.
The key to using affirmations successfully, however, is consistency. Using them once is fine, but if you can build the habit of utilizing these affirmations day after day, you will gradually see your energy expand and reset at a higher level.
It has been several months since I have shared an installment of my Entrepreneurial Online Business Journal, but I have been reworking the editorial calendar for my blog and it is now time for me to share some insights with you.
As this post is being published it is April 1st and today is also the official kick off day for my EMPIRE BUILDING Business Accelerator group coaching program. However, because I bulk my work, it is actually being written a few days prior while it is still March. Currently, I am at the tail end of the launch for the Business Accelerator and just prior to writing this, I wrote the email that would go out to my email list telling them about enrollment in the program closing soon. One of the points I made in that email is really sticking to me right now and felt like the inspiration I needed to share with you today.
In the email I discussed how my business revenue grew during the pandemic. I believe I’ve spoke about this briefly a few times so you may already know, but the point I was making in the email was that my business success in 2020 was not a side affect of luck as some might think, rather it was a side affect of intentional thought, planning and effort.
Creating a Business by Intentional Design
When I first started my business, it was my intention to create a business that would operate online, seemingly on its own through automated digital marketing systems and passive income streams.
I had the vision for a business where I would be able to earn a stable full time income, without having to work full time hours, and I absolutely wanted to be able to run this business by myself from anywhere in the world if need be. I didn’t want to have to rely on hiring a team of employees to make this work. I didn’t want to have a specific office or space where product was housed. I wanted a business that was simple, profitable and gave me time and location freedom. So, I couldn’t rely on any outdated paradigms for how businesses were expected to operate. I needed to make it work for me the way I envisioned it, and I did!
And when 2020 hit with a pandemic that threw the whole world into crisis, the systems I had build and relied on to help me run my business for years also came through to ensure my business did not need to change, pivot or close down.
Online business is no joke!
I know some people question it or poke fun at it, especially a business like mine that most people can’t understand. I make a six figure income selling PDFs and classes. I sell nothing physical. And yet, I create products that people want and need, and you would not believe the number of customers I have that return year over year to purchase my new or updated products.
I realize that what I am doing and building through my business is different and requires people to think differently about what it means to run a business.
I think a lot of people believe that being a business owner is tough and it means you need to work super hard, put in long hours and make significant sacrifices.
But, it just isn’t true.
At least, it isn’t true for me. I chose to believe in a better way, and I made that way my reality.
You can make an online business like mine a reality for you, too!
All you have to do is choose to see business as fun, easy and filled with possibility! And you need to get very clear and intentional about the business you are building, the way I did.
But it starts with the intention.
Set Your Business Intention
So, right now, I want you to take a moment, pause and set the intention for your future or current business.
Take out a piece of paper or a sticky note- it’s always better to write out your intentions on paper.
I don’t want to you think too hard about the way this is going to look. I just want you to set the intention and then you can rewrite and transfer the information to your planner or vision board as you see fit after we have gotten the intention out of your head and onto paper!
Write this out:
IT IS MY INTENTION THAT MY BUSINESS…
Fill in what comes to mind. Think about how you want your business to look, feel, operate and write that all out. Write out several lines or paragraphs, whichever works for you.
Use your imagination here but keep in mind, this isn’t an imaginary business we are creating, it’s a real business that you get to own and operate! So, while you are writing out how you want your ideal business to go, I want you to see it in your mind and feel it in your body, especially in your heart! Let this vision fill you up while you are writing. It really helps your intention solidify when you do that.
Okay, so once you are done, do with that intention whatever you wish. Feel free to edit it a but, rewrite it on nicer paper, turn it into a graphic, put it in your planner, whatever you want to do. Just put it somewhere you can see it and reference it. Because anytime you go to work on your business idea I want you to read out that intention first.
It’s going to help you align with your intention and the work that you do as a result is going to be much more elevated than had you gotten to work without reminding yourself of what you are building.
I hope you enjoyed this fresh installment of ENTREPRENEURIAL, now it’s not just going to be my monthly online business journal, but also yours. Each installment it is my intention to share some activity or inspiration for you to think about and journal on so that you are also building your dream business alongside me!
Download my latest Free Business Tool
The CEO Business Braindump Triggers List!
This is a triggers list for you to use during your braindumps with business specific categories and topics to keep in mind. As a braindump is always part of my planning processes, I recommend downloading this new free tool and using it as part of your regular business planning process.
