YOUR LIFE COULD BE RADICALLY DIFFERENT 6 MONTHS FROM NOW
If you are willing to get clear on what you desire.
If you are willing to choose one path over another.
If you are willing to prioritize yourself.
If you are willing to live like most won’t so you can achieve what most can’t.
If you are willing to get uncomfortable.
If you are willing to show up for yourself to do the work.
If you are willing to break down your limiting beliefs.
If you are willing to challenge everything you think.
If you are willing to allow God/Spirit/The Universe to lead you.
If you are willing to humble yourself to receive.
Then you can have it all and you will understand that you can always have it all from now until the end because you have the power inside of you if you choose to use it.
“You’ve always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself.” – Glinda the Good Witch (L. Frank Baum)
6 months seems like no time at all.
But it’s not the 6 months that should concern you.
What should concern you is the now, the today, the one day at a time.
The distractions, the excuses, the unexpected- this is what stops us from making our dreams come true in 6 short months.
You will either allow these things to pull you off your path right now, today, or you will observe them without reaction, give them room to pass by and remain focused on your goal.
Your life could be radically different 6 months from now, only if you choose to allow your life to be radically different right now.
If you’d like some help, I’m here for you too!
If this message today resonated with you and you want to start taking actions to shift into a reality of alignment with your goals, I would love to invite you to join me inside the Productivity and Planning Mastermind Membership.
This is what I created the Mastermind for.
To be a safe space for women like you and I who see beyond the surface of our societal expectations and know there is a better way to live.
It’s a place for support, encouragement, accountability and ongoing personal development for us to continue challenging accepted norms and choosing our own unique path to success.
→ The Mastermind includes so many resources to help you on your journey, from multiple live calls each month, to on-demand strategies, tools, and even a complete course on productivity!
→ We have our own private chat forum where we connect and discuss topics ranging from planning, metaphysics, mindset, and wellness.
→ We even have a monthly book club!
→ And the best part is, when you join the Mastermind, you get immediate access to the entire library of resources, masterclasses and bonus materials that I have been creating since it’s launch.
→ There is no waiting, content isn’t dripped to you, it’s all there for you to explore and access on-demand as you please.
→ And of course I am there as well for guidance and to answer your questions along the way.
When you know better, you do better.
Are you ready to do better for yourself, your family and your future by committing to your personal development to become the best woman, mother, spouse, sister, daughter, aunt and friend that you can be?
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.
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!
Mark your planner for Saturday March 20th @ 2pm EST (New York City, NY Time Zone) for my latest FREE Live Business Workshop called Build your CEO Strategy!
Last month, I shared how I functional plan my months to ensure I am achieving my goals and balancing my workload, and as promised, now I want to show you how I plan my weeks and days.
The first thing I do when planning out my week is identify 3-5 priorities for that week. These priorities will often be goals I am working towards that week or they can be big projects that need to be accomplished. This really helps me focus on spending my time wisely and not scattered putting effort in too many directions.
Next, I make a complete task list of items due to be worked on this week. These tasks come from my monthly editorial calendar and monthly master task list!
Then, I’ll add any key reminders for the week in the proper section of this insert- I’m using my week on one page insert design as you can see.
Finally, I will populate the top 3 tasks for the current day, and fill in any other tasks that I know will be top 3 items for the rest of the week based on my default weekly schedule which is what I use to keep track of my themed workdays. I do not, however, fill in my top 3 for each day ahead of time. I only populate information I know will likely not change and I always recommend not filling in too much ahead of time with your planning in case things do change or you get behind or ahead on work one day.
With my weekly plan laid out, I then move onto daily planning if I know I am going to have a particularly task heavy day and need the extra space. Daily planning isn’t something I need to do everyday, but on a few high performance days I find it incredibly valuable to keep me on track.
Next, I write out the goals I’m focused on for the day- similar to the weekly priorities, but I can get more day specific here if I want to.
Then I write out my complete task list for the day.
I’ll also make a plan for how I’ll spend my down time that day, which can be very helpful in motivating you to stay productive on work when you know you have something to look forward to later on.
Finally I will populate my schedule for the day. I am not usually one to write out and stick to a detailed schedule, but I do enjoy creating an outline for the way I want my day to flow. I don’t always stick to the exact time schedule, sometimes I finish things early and sometimes I finish them a little later, but when I script my day out like this it does tend to go according to plan. This was a very task intensive day where having that plan for my time really made a difference.
Now, to round off my daily planning, I also like to do some journaling in the space provided on the back of this daily insert. If you want to learn more about journaling, I made an in-depth video on 7 journaling strategies and getting started that you may find helpful.
When it comes to my journaling, I like to do a few different types of journaling at once. Here you see I am starting with gratitude journaling- where I personally like to write out 7 things I’m grateful for. Then I will script my day out a little more based on my schedule. Last I will write out my Vibe for the day, which is what I call my affirmations. These set the tone for how I want to feel and the mindset I want to embody that day.
So, that’s my vibe journaling and my process for weekly and daily journaling to achieve my goals using my functional planning methodology!
Earlier last month I talked you through my process for ensuring I move my goals forward each month through my monthly planning process, but today I want to show you that complete monthly review process step by step.
The Monthly Review is a multi-step planning routine that I perform at the end of a month to review my progress from that month and then make my complete plan for the next.
I’ve codified this process into a handy insert that I’ll use to guide my steps today. This Monthly Review insert is an exclusive download for my Master Mind Members, if you want it, definitely sign up for the membership because at this point, if you’ve been watching my videos and getting value from them, my membership group is how you become a member of my inner circle and get consistent accountability, valuable content and exclusive resources from me on a daily basis. So, if you are serious about improving your productivity and want to join a community dedicated to helping you get down to business creating your dream life, then click here to enroll today!
Now, let’s get to my monthly review.
The first set of tasks on my monthly review have to do with closing out the prior month.
• First, we will review the prior months calendar and agenda to ensure all completed tasks are checked off and tracked on their designated project plans as necessary
• Next, we determine if any incomplete tasks need to be disregarded or moved to the current month for completion.
•And finally, we ensure all prior month trackers have been populated as necessary.
Once the prior month is up to date, we move onto planning the current month.
• First, I perform a braindump.
• Then I ensure project plans are completed for objectives scheduled in the current month as necessary
• Next, I move project related tasks to monthly master task list along with all other known tasks belonging to the month.
• Next I populate the Monthly Master Task List with all tasks related to my monthly objectives, along with all other known tasks belonging to the month.
• I then populate important dates, schedule and reoccurring events into the monthly calendar
• I populate any additional key information into the monthly calendar as well.
• I ID the top 3 monthly objectives
• Then, I determine which tasks I will work on in which weeks so time is clearly allocated for everything I intend to accomplish this month
• And finally, I will Fill out monthly habit, finance or other trackers as necessary
There is a space on this insert to then list out any other additional tasks you like to perform as part of your own personal monthly review, and for me I like to script the month ahead, and track my finances. Both I will complete at the official close of the month.
The page page of the monthly review insert has some key questions to use to evaluate your productivity from the past month so you can then create a better plan moving forward and learn from your mistakes.
These question include:
How satisfied are you with the results of the prior month?
What were your victories and accomplishments to celebrate last month?
What did you do well in terms of productivity and planning last month?
Where did you struggle in terms of productivity and planning last month?
What are three areas you would like to improve upon this month and what concrete actions will you take to do so?
And that is how I perform a monthly review.
In the comments I’d love to hear which part of this process you are going to start implementing with your monthly planning routine.
If you have been following me for a while, you have likely heard me talk about one of my major productivity and planning strategies, the Top 3 List.
The Top 3 List is a list of 3 prioritized daily tasks that you need to focus on for the day. Many women in my community come to me, asking how they can get a handle on their never ending to-do list, how they can find focus to ensure they are completing the most important tasks, and how they can make the time to work on their own personal goals alongside tasks for work, home or family life. The Top 3 list is a productivity and planning strategy that I believe addresses all three of those situations. This strategy is so impactful, in fact, that I intentionally design a Daily Top 3 List into all of my Functional Planning Inserts.
It’s a basic fact of life that for most of us in a day, to borrow a line from Elton John, “there is more to do than can ever be done.” Most of us have never ending, ever growing to do lists and when you try to organize your day by your to-do list alone, you will find that tasks are an infinite source of work that can easily drain your energy and take over the precious time you have in a day.
If you are working off this never ending list each and everyday, I can confidently say, I know that there are things you are NOT getting done off that list. And I would bet that some of the things you push off for the next day end up being priority tasks that really should have been completed today.
So, by taking the focus off your complete to-do list and instead pulling just three tasks from it to prioritize for the day, you will begin to see that by choosing those three tasks strategically, you will ensure you are always getting the most important work on your list done.
There is also a fundamental principle of productivity known as the Pareto Principle or 80/20 Rule. It states that just 20% of our actions create 80% of our results. That means that 20% of the things we do in a day are leading to the majority of our outcomes. So, truly, there are some tasks that are just higher impact for our days than others, and the Top 3 list gives us an opportunity each day to zero in on those few tasks that will truly yield the most results for us.
So, it would benefit all of us to start using the Daily Top 3 List as a jumping off point for our daily work. By no means does the Top 3 List mean you ONLY complete three things each day, instead these are just the tasks that really need to be prioritized.
Sounds easy, right? Choose three tasks every day and get them done, simple enough!
Well, not quite.
I will say that although this strategy is simple in theory, it’s not as easy as it seems in practice because it requires us to be very good at prioritizing. It’s not enough to choose any three tasks, this strategy only works when we choose the right 3 tasks.
I consider the ability to prioritize our tasks a mental muscle that we need to flex in order to develop it to its potential.
When you get started setting your Daily Top 3, I promise you, you are going to make some mistakes. You will list out tasks that aren’t actually priorities, you will think something is a priority but then realize your error half way through the day, and you are going to accidentally put projects on your Top 3 instead of tasks (very common.)
But, the more you use this strategy, day in and day out, you are going to improve. You will start setting a better Top 3 List and it’s going to bring you to a completely new level of productivity, focus and achievement when you start getting done the important tasks and letting go of the non-essentials.
So, to help you create a better Top 3 List, I have a few tips or prompts for you to consider when you sit down at your planner each day.
Tip #1:If you could only do 3 things today, which would make the day feel like a success? These might be tasks you are afraid to tackle but know you will feel so good when they are complete. Or these are tasks with impending due dates, or that need to be done before something else that is also important can be accomplished.
Tip #2:Choose tasks that aren’t part of the daily routine you always do. You don’t need to prioritize things that are everyday no-brainers for you because you will likely have some form of self-discipline that kicks in to ensure you get those things done anyway.
Tip #3:Choose 3 individual tasks NOT projects. A project is a collection of multiple steps or tasks that need to be accomplished, and if you put a project on your top 3, it’s going to take much more time and effort for you to complete and will undermine the effectiveness of this strategy.
I hope this post and these tips helps you to start using this simple but powerful planning and productivity strategy in your own life daily. If you are using a planner or inserts that do not give you the dedicated space to list out your Top 3 each day, I highly recommend you check out my Master Plan System of inserts. As I mentioned earlier, all of the Functional Planning Inserts I design, including those in the Master Plan System include a dedicated space for this essential planning and productivity strategy because it truly is a game changer that will upgrade the way you work each day.
Remember, for the month of February I have a discount code FEB2021 for 20% OFF all the planning inserts and tools in TheCharmedShop.com!
Last week I showed you how I create the plan for a new month to make sure I move my goals forward, but I kinda just breezed by two key elements that go into making that plan.
First, is my goal setting process and the second is my project planning process. I’m going to show you my project planning process in a video in just a moment but first let me catch you up on the goal setting part.
At the start of the year, I have an in-depth process I work through to set my goals for the year and to break those goals down into specific smaller objectives. During this process I choose up to three objectives to assign to each month and lay them out for reference on a dedicated insert in my planner.
So, before the year begins I have a skeleton overview of what I am focused on for any given month. In the monthly planning video, you saw me pull my objectives from the inserts they are mapped on, and transfer those to my monthly calendar spread.
That is the first part of my yearly planning process, the actual goal and objective setting. If you want to learn and replicate my process for goal setting, I have it broken out in the You Got This workbook and also in the New year goal setting master class inside the Productivity and Planning Master Mind membership. Next, is project planning.
For some of my objectives it is necessary for me to break the objective down into smaller action steps on a project plan. I don’t make a project plan for every single objective anymore. I did at one point, but I found it was overkill for some objectives and types of projects I do repeatedly and know the steps for by heart.
Let me give you an example.
For January, I didn’t need to create a project plan for any of my objectives but I finished all three. I had to create the master class for my membership, which sounds like a project but I just create a slideshow, handout and inserts so it’s three formulaic pieces that I don’t find helpful to list on a project plan. Since this objective wasn’t turned into a project plan, instead the tasks were written out directly on the monthly master task list for January.
Same applies to the second objective, updating my email welcome sequence. That objective simply required me to read over and rewrite three emails. If I wanted to be particular and break that work into many more pieces I guess I could have. I think we can break anything into minute tasks to track, but for me that strategy isn’t necessary.
I will say, between you and I, I see influencers all the time in the planning community, showing how they break down goals into smaller tasks and often I think it’s overkill just to have more things to check off their to do lists. If having more tasks listed to track inspires and motivates you to get the work done, by all means, please do that. Or if you aren’t someone who knows how to reach an objective by heart, and needs steps broken down for reference and tracking, please, don’t skip out on making project plans because they can be an excellent tool for accountability.
I just know for me, that if I over complicate a project with too many tasks, it overwhelms me and I might fear starting it. Instead, just thinking that I have like two or three things to do for an objective actually gets me started and if I have a few extra tasks that pop up while working on the objective, that’s fine because I have the momentum built up of starting. But that is me. Clearly, I’m a projective person who knows how to manage my time and accomplish many objectives and goals in a year, so do not hold yourself to my standards if you aren’t at that level of confidence and self accountability to your work yet! You will get there if you follow my methods and planning philosophy, just trust the process!
So now that you can see I don’t project plan every objective, let’s talk about how I project plan for the objectives that do need it!
I actually have two styles of project planning inserts I use, one is my standard project planning worksheet that comes bundled with the Master Planner or Project Planning Bundle in my shop. The other insert is my Strategic Planning Insert from the CEO Strategy Planner.
Today I am going to show you how I use the strategic insert as I map out an objective that belongs to June. Why are we project planning an objective for June so early? Because I actually need to start talking about this objective now to make sure everything goes smoothly in June.
Watch How I Create a Strategic Project Plan in the video below.
DON’T FORGET
For the month of February, I have a 20% OFF Code for the Planning Inserts and Tools in my shop. Use the code FEB2021 at checkout in TheCharmedShop.com to get the discount!
I hope this information has been helpful for you in understanding better how to create a strategic project plan and how I break down a goal into individual tasks.
Today, I want to show you how to plan and organize your month to achieve your goals. Specifically, I want to walk you through my monthly functional planning routine, which is the routine I use to create a big picture view of my month, understand and set reasonable expectations for what I am going to accomplish and ensure that I am moving my goals and objectives forward. This routine is not how I plan out my weeks or my days specifically- those are completely different parts of my routine with their own process and intentions. For me, the monthly routine is where I get a chance to align with my goals and ensure process is being made on them.
First, I’d like to explain the inserts I use for this process. I am currently using the Month on 2 Pages inserts that come bundled with the Master Plan System. You can purchase these inserts a la carte as well. Although these inserts are called Month on 2 Pages, it would really be more accurate to call them Month on 4 pages because there are two full spreads, 4 total pages thatI I use to write out my monthly plans. The first spread is the dated 2 page calendar, and then second spread is the Monthly Master Task List and Monthly Tracker.
Now let’s talk about how to plan and organize your month to achieve your goals!
The first thing you need to know about planning your month, especially if you have goals you are aiming to hit, is that you need to have your goals broken into objectives ahead of time. At the start of the year, I set my goals, I break them into objectives, and I map those objectives out in my project planning sheets and with my CEO Strategy Planner inserts. So walking into any month I always know what I am going to be working on as long as I don’t need to change my plans. Click here to learn my entire goal setting process.
Now, I might not create the complete project plan for each objective at the start of the year- I prefer to do that as necessary at the start of the month. So if any of my objectives require a project plan, I will create one at the start of the month so I know all the tasks I need to accomplish for an objective, and then I transfer them to my Monthly Master Task List. Instead of keeping a complete list of all the things I know I need to do, I keep my lists broken out by month so I am only looking at the tasks that belong to that month.
So here you can see, this Monthly Task List is everything I expect to do in February. Does that mean, it’s every single thing I will do and nothing not on this list will get done? No, of course I know things pop up throughout the month, but for now, walking into the month, these are all the tasks I know I need to focus on if I want to accomplish my goals!
Once this list is populated, the second thing I do in my monthly planning process is to populate my monthly calendar.
On my monthly calendar, I will mark off important dates and scheduled tasks I have across the month. This by no means will be an exhaustive list of every single scheduled task I have, because there is not enough room in the boxes for me to list every call, errand or appointment, but if it’s something important, or a key element of a day, I have it scheduled in.
So you can see, I schedule things like giving my dogs their meds, holidays, birthdays, I put when credit card payments are due. You’ll see I don’t love to decorate in my planner but I do like these little page flag stickers to help me highlight a day in my calendar. I make those flags myself with my silhouette machine.
My monthly calendar is also where I put my editorial calendar for my content, and marketing information for my business. I post content onto one of my platforms everyday, and I have that schedule marked off, and then as I populate content ideas I write them in and highlight them so I remember what I need to post each day. Most of my content is processed in bulk. I write all my blog posts on one day, I create my Instagram posts for the week in one day, so that is why the editorial calendar itself isn’t fully populated yet. I will write in the posts when I create them and I use a content brainstorm insert from the CEO Strategy Planner to list out all my content ideas. I have gone through periods where I would outline all the content for my editorial calendar at the start of the month, but I would often switch up posts and come up with even better ideas at the last minute so the plan would change. It’s easier to just have the skeleton right now for me and then populate the posts as I solidify the content.
With the calendar populated, the next thing I do is transfer my top 3 monthly priorities to my monthly calendar page. I use the lined note section on the bottom of the spread for that so I know what the 3 most important projects are for my month. This is an example of what I mentioned before, that I have my goals and objectives broken out for the year ahead of time, and during this yearly goal planning, I assign 3 tasks to each month to be my focus. This system has served me well, helped me to properly plan out what I am working on when, and ensures I complete my objectives and goals for the year.
Next, I use the notes column at the start of each week on my monthly calendar to allocate tasks from my monthly master task list to my monthly calendar to ensure that I have time set aside for when I will be doing the work I said I wanted to do. This practice is great for setting reasonable expectations for ourselves because without this little step, it’s easy for me to push off tasks or just put too many tasks on my to do list and then get overwhelmed and fail to complete my objectives. So this helps me balance my workload for sure.
The final part of my monthly planning process is to populate my monthly tracker.
As part of the Master Plan system you get a monthly tracker that you can use to track whatever you please. I actually like to use it to track habits, tasks and my income in one place. You can see, I can write in the habit in the largest column, there are 7 columns for the days of the week, and I can leave space in the rows for the number of weeks in the month. I put the date of each Monday in the left side column when I lay out the tracker this way. Then I make an area for Income, I can track the weekly income in my shop, then the total income from a few of my main income sources. This tracker page is great because you can lay it out a number of different ways and track many different things.
That is everything I wanted to teach you about my monthly planning process and how I create monthly plans that help me achieve my goals. This process even makes planning my weeks and days easier because I’ve laid out a lot of information in just the calendar spread alone. This really is a great monthly spread. If you’re monthly calendar doesn’t give you this much space on such a relatively small piece of paper- this is half letter paper- It may definitely be time to upgrade your planner to the Master Plan System.
For the month of February I have a special discount code to share with you that will give you 20% any Productivity Tools and insert in my shop. The code is FEB2021 and it expires at the close of February so if you have not found planner peace yet or have a system of inserts that make planning a daily routine for success, purchase your copy of the Master Plan System TODAY!
If you have been curious about journaling, today I have some great information to share with you. In this post, I will explain:
Why you should start journaling
Strategies to consider for journaling
Tools to use when beginning your practice
Building the habit of daily (or regular) journaling
Why you should start journaling
There are plenty of reasons why someone would want to journal, and if you are reading this I assume you are trying to get some inspiration for yourself or you already know why you want to start in some form. I think it’s very important when you start a practice and regular habit like journaling that you know what you intend to get out of the experience. When you have that personal reason why or your intention for it set, it makes it much easier for you to decide the strategy you want to use, stick to the practice and remain accountable to it.
Documented Benefits of Journaling
Mental clarity
Improve your Productivity
Reduced Stress and anxiety
Increased Happiness
Identify and overcome limiting beliefs
Reprogram your mindset
Self-therapy and reflection for self-awareness
Manifestation of goals
Okay, now that you know why you want to journal, let’s discuss the common strategies that you can use to do so. I have seven to share with you and I want to make it clear that you can choose one or more of these types to use at once. I myself often switch between these different strategies of journaling often or I tend to do more than one in a single journaling session.
Strategies to consider for journaling
Brain-dump – write down all the things your holding in your mind to organize and prioritize them.
Stream of consciousness writing – just writing out all your thoughts feelings emotions to release your thoughts and self reflect. See morning pages from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Gratitude journaling – list out gratitude, good to set your mindset as it’s documented to make you 10% happier.
Journal prompts – guided journaling for self reflection, great for people who get overwhelmed at the thought of having to fill a blank page.
Affirmations – repeatedly writing out affirmations. Stick to 1-3 as to not overwhelm yourself.
Scripting – writing out how you want your day to go for the purpose of manifesting it.
Future writing – journaling as yourself but at a future date in time after some goal or achievement has been met and chronical everything that happened to bring you to that point
Tools to use when beginning your practice
For the most part you can get started journaling with just some blank note paper or even a note taking app on your phone or computer. There is some data that supports writing by hand rather than typing but that is really for specific benefits of stress reduction. So, what you intend to get out of your journaling is key to know when choosing the tools to use.
As an example, a notebook like the Stalogy Editor’s Series gives you a years worth of undated pages to really do any of the journaling strategies we discussed already.
For myself, personally, I get a little intimidated by a completely blank page with no structure or guidance so over the years as I’ve been journaling for various reasons, I’ve designed different inserts for journaling to accompany my planner.
High Vibe Bible inserts are designed for a loosely guided gratitude and manifestation journaling experience
I designed a number of guided journaling workbooks for my Empire Building students and Productivity Master Mind Members with prompts intended to help them in specific areas of productivity, mindset and business
Most recently I designed a day on two page planning and journaling insert based on my previous video 5 Daily Prompts and Affirmations for Making a Plan that Comes True. I’ve been loving this insert even though it’s a little more than I’d normally use in my planner I’ve been enjoying the daily page to supplement my weekly master planner spread.
Building the habit of daily (or regular) journaling
The final piece of the journaling equation is to actually build the habit. Now, it’s up to you to decide if you need journaling to be a daily practice, a weekly practice or just something you do sporadically when you need it. This links back to your why, and ultimately is your choice. You can’t mess up journaling and there are no rules that say you have to journal a specific amount of times or at a specific time of day to get benefit from it.
Is journaling a habit that the more you do, the more you improve… of course! But I want to remind you not to turn the idealization of a perfect journaling practice that is going to change your life forever, into an expectation that you struggle to meet and then end up beating yourself up about. As you get started with journaling, I’d advise you to invest in the tools that make you excited, and then set a reasonable schedule for journaling. Some people prefer journaling in the morning, some in the evening. I aim for the morning but when I forget I have no problem doing a midday reset or even a bed time journaling session.
Start slow, maybe one day a week. And then after a few weeks, build up to two days and so on. There is no reason to overwhelm yourself! Use journaling as a tool for your self improvement. And remember the affirmation I gave you last week what I decide gets to be the path for me this is definitely true of journaling!
Watch the video
I hope this information has been helpful for you in determining how to begin your own journaling practice. In the comments I would love to hear about which strategies you are interested in trying for yourself!
