If you’ve been following me for a while, you might remember that I had been struggling for a while to establish a daily journaling practice. There is something about journaling that just seems to go hand in hand with the planning community, and knowing how beneficial journaling can be for your mental health and motivation, I was determined to establish the habit for myself.
Let’s talk about the the benefits of establishing a journaling practice first. There is actually a lot of great research that shows how journaling and the act of writing things down by hand affects your mood, stress and even your success. Gratitude journaling specifically has been shown to create a 10% increase in happiness for those who establish a daily practice. Writing down your thoughts in a brain dump or stream of consciousness style is shown to make you feel more productive and in control, relieving anxiety in a significant portion of people. Research has even shown that people who regularly write down their goals and intentions have a 42% increased chance of achieving what they set out to do. More studies into success and visualization show that those who mentally practice their actions ahead of time, even by scripting out actions or situations in written form, have better results than those who go into a situation cold. In many different ways, unpacking your thoughts onto paper and getting into alignment with them is a key to personal happiness and success, and in many ways is a precursor to creating and executing on a successful plan. So, for those reasons and more, I was personally very interested in establishing a daily journaling practice for myself!
My first real success with a daily journaling practice came from my weekly gratitude inserts that I designed to be a quick and easy way to get myself into the habit of daily reflection. The idea behind those inserts was that I would list something I was grateful for each day and set an intention for myself for the week. This was a practice that took mere minutes a day to establish thanks to my convenient design, and it certainly helped me to establish an easy daily gratitude routine. They say people who perform a daily gratitude practice are 10% happier, an oddly specific number, but each day I completed my line of gratitude I could feel a shift in my mindset. Check the box, it was working and I could feel it.
But, eventually, I yearned for more. I didn’t want to loose my daily gratitude practice, of course, but I wanted to add to it and enhance it. After reading The Artist’s Way and learning about the concept of morning pages, a daily journaling practice where you write stream of consciousness style everything you are holding onto in your mind when you wake up, I began to feel like spending a bit more time on my journaling could really help get my mind right for the day. In The Artist’s Way, the author, Julia Cameron suggests that your morning pages practice should be three pages long, but for me, three pages was extremely daunting. I found that my pages became incredibly repetitive and lacked any real direction or substance, as I would force myself to write within a reasonable span on time so I could check the box, feel the benefit and move on with my day.
That’s when I decided to again design my own practice where I could blend the known benefits of journaling with the convenience of a more strategic practice. After all, I was journaling to help me become a better me, to get clear on my intentions for what I wanted to achieve and to set my vibration for the day to one of gratitude. I didn’t need three blank pages to do this, I just needed a bit of structure. So, I set out in designing the High Vibe Bible, the 90 Day Manifestation Journal to Raise Your Vibration and Manifest Your Desires.
The High Vibe Bible is unlike any other guided journaling experience I have ever come across. Most guided journals ask you too many questions each day, or are designed like fill in the blank word puzzles that don’t give you the true experience of journaling. The High Vibe Bible gives you the space to outline and reflect on your intentions for the week, and then the space to get grateful and aligned with those intentions each day. At the end of the week, you have a short review you can complete to keep track of your results. It provides the structure for you to set intentions and gratitude, but also provides space for you to get into alignment with your daily objectives quickly. You can write stream of consciousness style or bullet style- whichever works for the way your brain processes information.
Your brain and the way you feel after your daily journaling practice is the priority with the High Vibe Bible. For me, having the simple, structured daily practice from the High Vibe Bible has made me feel more disciplined, more relaxed in the morning and much more intentional about how I spend my time. Every day has it’s ups and downs, but getting started by reminding myself what’s important and what I feel I need to do to get myself where I want to be is invaluable to me. Having journaling inserts that I can keep right inside my planner so I can quickly flip from intention setting and manifestation to action and execution has been a game changer for me and my personal organization as well!
Printing is a breeze and the inserts work in a variety of different planners or binders sized for A4, US Letter, A5 or Half Letter! Don’t worry- you’ll get a set of printing instructions with your purchase to make the process as simple as possible!
Enjoy and can’t wait to hear how your new daily manifestation journaling practice benefits you!
Since launching the High Vibe Bible last year, I’ve received lots of inquiries into when I would be turning the manifestation journal into a set of printable inserts on my shop.
The HIGH VIBE BIBLE was intentionally designed to help you raise your vibration and manifest your desires over the course of 90 days or roughly three months. One part journal, one part manifestation tool, the High Vibe Bible is a loosely guided journaling experience intended to help you get super clear on what you want to achieve or receive, and then help you align your thoughts and actions to make it a reality.
Within in this journal you will find inspiration and guided prompts to help you clearly state your desires, create a plan for managing your energy and space to align your thoughts.
Each week starts with a worksheet where you will: • Write out an inspirational mantra or affirmation for yourself to use that week.Clearly identify what you wish to manifest • Identify how your manifestation makes you feel • Provide strategies for how you intend to raise your energetic vibration towards a positive mindset • Document signs and synchronicities that indicate your manifestation is coming to fruition • Track actions you will take over the course of the week to keep yourself in alignment
Each day you have a designated area to: • List out daily gratitude • Briefly journal your thought for alignment that day
Each week ends with: • A summary of what manifested for you • Space to identify the high point of your week • An area to briefly journal what you’ve learned
At the end of the journal you will also find a collection of seven lists that you can populate during the time you use the journal. Update and refer back to these lists often to help keep you in alignment with a positive mindset!
→ Imagine feeling the clarity of knowing exactly what you want in life and what you are working towards. There is no confusion, you know your time is valuable and meaningful because your life is filled with wonderful things that you’ve manifested and there is so much more on the horizon! → Imagine waking up with a purpose, excited to start the day because your journaling practice helps shift your mood to one of positivity and optimism. You feel more like the woman you’ve always wanted to be and you are unapologetic about treating her the way she deserves to be treated! → Imagine experiencing your day as that pleasant, low stress woman that family, friends and co-workers flock to because you are like a ray of sunshine for their day. You’re magnetic, you easily get what you need from others, and they feel truly blessed to know you! → Imagine the delight of getting each desire you ask for in such an easy and unexpected way that you feel like the luckiest woman on Earth. You choose to allow your life to be difficult or easy, why struggle when you can let it be easy!
These are the side affects that the High Vibe Bible can have on you when you commit to using this simple but powerful tool to establish a daily manifestation practice. Even if you are not usually drawn to journaling, the High Vibe Bible is such a different experience, but one that has the power to transform your energy and attitude through the act of putting pen to paper.
What You Get With Your Purchase: When you purchase the High Vibe Bible Printable Inserts, you will receive a PDF file of the High Vibe Bible that is enabled for printing in A4, US Letter, A5 or Half Letter size. You will also receive a PDF with detailed print instructions to help walk you through the process!
So, what are you waiting for? Get started with the High Vibe Bible Manifestation Journal today and follow along with the same quick but fulfilling daily practice I use to set my vibration and manifest my goals!
We’ve come now to the end of February 2020 and I have to say, looking back at this month, I am so proud that I was able to get myself back into the swing of creating regular content for you all in the form of blog posts, youtube videos and even some great free resources and inserts for you! So, I thought it might be a good idea to put together a link roundup of all the different content I created this month so you have a quick reference guide to ensure you didn’t miss anything you might be interested in.
I’m going to call this monthly installment series ICYMI- which stands for In Case You Missed It! For those of you who have been with me for a while, you might remember that years ago I used to include a section in my email newsletters called ICYMI which was a roundup of all my content created since the previous newsletter has been sent, and it was a great way to ensure my regular community members didn’t miss anything I created. I put a lot of work into the content I produce for you, and so often my content answers questions I regularly receive my community- so I absolutely want to make sure you see everything and learn as much as you can from what I’m sharing! So, without further ado, let’s jump into the content you may have missed this month!
I hope this roundup helps you locate any content of mine you may have missed this month. I’d love to hear which content was your favorite from the month and what you’d like to see more of from me in the future. Please leave me a comment below and share your thoughts!
I like to share about habits often in my content because so much of our lives and results boil down to the habitual actions we take. Artistotle said “You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” And John C Maxwell writes “You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” Clearly, the wise understand that habits are essential indicators and predictors of success.
But, which habits, specifically?
This is a question I’ve asked myself for nearly a decade, and have spent significant time researching. I’ve poured over the routines of the world’s elite, the most productive and successful members of society. I’ve dug into the neurology of our brains to understand how habits affect us and which activities impact our brains the most. Some of what I found was surprising, but much of it made perfect sense. Here is some of what I’ve learned adapted into 5 Habits that Predict Success!
Habit #1: Feed Your Brain, Literally.
The first habit that is an excellent predictor of success is how you eat. Specifically, if you eat the right foods that quite literally feed your brain; healthy fats!
I’m sure you’ve heard about the concept from evolutionary science of “the missing link.” The historical and scientific link that explains how humans evolved to become the dominant species on the planet. How we went from clueless, ape-like humanoids to upright standing intellectuals. Scientists have been searching for this missing link for decades, looking for a hypothetical intermediate form of the human that bridges the gap and explains the progression of man kind to its current state. While no transitional fossils of this being have ever surfaced, some scientists now believe they understand the key factor that caused the rapid progression of human advancement; the abundance of fat in the early human diet.
You see, our brains are made of a substance very closely related to fat, and eating fats does wonders for our brains. So much so that eating a lot of fat may very well have evolved us from humanoid animals to modern man. So, eating a diet with a good amount of healthy fats is crucial to keep our brains operating at their fullest capacity. I’m not a doctor or nutritionist so I am not qualified to tell you exactly how much fat is right for you and your dietary needs, but I will say, this information is a significant reason why I have adopted a Ketogenic diet. I have personally experienced the benefits of a diet rich in fats and I believe it has helped me increase my clarity and focus. And if you do not eat animal products- good news- you can still get great healthy fats from nuts, seeds, avocados and oils, so there are options for all of us to feed our brains what it enjoys most!
Habit #2: Give Your Vision a Practical Plan
One of the key determining factors of success is absolutely having a vision for what you are going after. Without a clear vision, little can be accomplished. But, the vision itself is not what makes it all work- it’s the planning that does it!
The habit of planning, taking your vision for what you want to create and breaking it into a step-by-step manageable plan, has got to be one of the more challenging habits to establish. Part of the difficulty lies in clearly defining what you want, and another part of the difficulty lies in understanding how to get there. For some visions or goals, there is a clear path for accomplishment, especially when the vision is for something tangible that we can see, or touch. However, when your vision is for something more abstract, the biggest challenge is assigning tangible outcomes to the intangible vision. If you can give your vision a tangible, practical result, you can create a step-by-step plan to achieve it. And if you take the time each day to understand and evaluate your plan before you take action, you will always move closer and closer to the outcome you desire.
For more productivity tools and resources for planning, download your copy of my FREE Productivity Toolbox by clicking the image above!
Habit #3: Be a Constant Learner
This is a habit that can actually end up taking one of many forms, as there are plenty of different ways to keep yourself learning. You could read, watch videos, travel, attend lectures, take a class, or practice a skillset. Essentially, anything that you can do to expose yourself to new ideas and information will literally help your brain to continue to grow and form new neural connections. The more neural connections you have in your brain, the more you will be able to solve problems, think creatively, and advance yourself.
I also believe that having the general mindset of being a constant learner is wonderful to embody because taking the view that you don’t know it all and that there is always more for you to learn really has the power to remove mental blocks and ego issues when executing on your ideas. This reminds me of a story from when I was in college that is a great example of this sort of situation.
If you don’t know, in college I double majored in Art History and Political Science. So, for that Art History major, I needed to take a few art classes. I’m no fine artist, nor was it my intention to be, so I took the class I thought would be the easiest and most affordable in terms of art supplies, which was drawing. Now, when I came into this drawing class, there were a few other students like me who were taking the class to fulfill a requirement, but mostly the class was filled with art students. Now, much to my surprise, I ended up being probably one the best artists in that class and here is why. Whenever we had an assignment, the normal process was that we worked on our drawings in class, usually with a model present, and then one class might be devoted to critiquing our works-in-progress. Because I knew I was no artist, I would always take the general advice of my classmates and teacher to improve my work during a critique, and because I did, my grade always ended up rather high, like a B+ or A. Many of the actual art students, however, would end up defending their work during a critique and likely didn’t change anything according to the class consensus and would end up with a lower grade than me, even when I thought their work was perhaps technically stronger. Why was this? Well, I realized that because I knew I was no artist, and was just there to learn and fulfill a grade, I took the mindset of a beginner, knowing that each class I would try my best, but would likely need to learn more to improve and get a good grade. But the students who were in their ego about being a good artist, and who thought they were already more advanced than the level of a Drawing 1 class, they rarely listened to feedback during a critique, and they didn’t seem to make much progress. They thought they were right, they thought they knew better, and they shockingly received lower grades than me, the actual beginner.
I tell you this to help illustrate the point that having a mindset of a beginner, or at least avoiding the mindset of “already knowing it all” can often help you make progress and get better results. When we stay in our ego, believing we already know better than others, we close our minds to possibility and future advancement. So, keep yourself in that mindset of wanting to learn more and don’t be afraid of new information and ideas. New information can only threaten a defensive ego, but for those willing to see and learn more it can open many doors to your creativity and success!
Habit #4: Invest in Yourself
Investing in yourself is yet another habit that can take on any number of forms. It could mean taking that class to develop that valuable skill you need, it could mean upgrading that very old and slow computer that makes your work frustrating and time consuming, or it could mean taking that vacation because you are exhausted and could use a change in scenery.
There are so many ways you can invest in yourself and in your future, and although sometimes making investments can seem risky, when you take the time to decide what would make the difference in your life and invest strategically, you can make life so much easier and your success much less resistant. Just make sure you have the money to invest- you never want to use money you don’t have, and if there is an upgrade or investment to your life that is important enough but out of budget, consider how you could either save up for the expense or if absolutely necessary, take out a loan in some cases. Although, I do believe it’s important to think creatively about how you can invest in yourself. Sometimes you might think you need the big, expensive upgrade that is outside of your budget but perhaps in the meantime you can make a smaller investment that will yield an incremental improvement until the time comes for you to invest more. For example, perhaps you could read a book or two to learn a skill instead of investing thousands of dollars into a course or degree program. Or you could test out a temporary Virtual Assistant to get some work done for your business before you take the major step and responsibility of hiring an employee. We always want to make sure we are making our investment in proportion to need and budget, because incremental upgrades and improvements can add up over time to yield great results as well.
Habit #5: Be Proactive, Not Reactive
Last but not least, is the habit of being proactive, not reactive. What do I mean by this, because, this isn’t a concrete habit that you can check a box on?
How often do you take action on a task at the last minute because something has triggered you to get it done, as opposed to you properly planning out a task and getting it done before the need arises? When we are working reactively, we are working from behind, from a place of overwhelm or anxiety. We have forgotten about something and now we must rush to complete it, or we are taking action on something in response to an outside person or trigger that is now taking our focus away from our task at hand. How much of your work falls into this category? I think for many of us, this might be our state a good portion of the day. Acting out of a reaction, instead of acting out of a calm, well planned and well intentioned space. Here are some examples:
PROACTIVE • Meal planning & prepping for the week ahead • Keeping a budget and saving for unexpected expenses • Planning out and working on a project with a nice buffer of time for completion • Reaching out to a colleague to check on something you requested • Mocking up a few ideas before a team meeting on a project • Purchasing and sending a card to a friend so that it arrives on or before their birthday
REACTIVE • Ordering takeout at dinner time • Charging an unexpected expense to a credit card • Waiting for an approaching due date to rush to complete a project • Waiting for your colleague to send you requested information on their timeline • Spitballing ideas during a team meeting you weren’t prepared for • Texting your friend Happy Birthday on the day
Now, something you might notice about these examples is that individually, there is really nothing wrong with the reactive action. For many of us, like I mentioned before, this is the state we live in everyday, and so the reactive state does get us by, but it never gets us ahead. It never helps us bring more ease in our lives. It never helps us to show up as the best version of ourselves. So often in life our success comes down to showing up prepared to take advantage of opportunities and even small opportunities can lead to great things. Let’s take the proactive example of mocking up some ideas before a team meeting. The proactive employee in this example might not have been asked to do this, but they did their homework on the meeting before showing up and because of this, when the time comes to share, they bring better ideas to the table. Because of this, their superior might be impressed enough to give them the lead on the project and then, down the road, may consider their proactive nature as an excellent reason to consider them for a promotion. Is this guaranteed? Of course not, but is it the case that the early bird gets the worm? You better believe it!
That’s what being proactive vs reactive is all about. Being the early bird who gets their first. Being the employee who has cleared their plate and can accept new opportunities that cross their desk. Being the friend or family member who demonstrates to others how much they care, even in little ways. The habit of being proactive is about acting before action is called for, and for those who can develop this habit successfully in different areas of their life, you can expect success to flow more swiftly towards you.
I hope you have enjoyed this post, if you have I would love to hear about it in the comments below. I would also love to know which of these habits you are most eager to execute on and perhaps some additional ways you plan to put them into practice. As I said, many of these habits are not single items you can check a box on, but are pattens of action that help bring you closer to the success you desire. So, I’d love to hear how you put them to work in your own life!
Today on my YouTube Channel, I am sharing the scientific research behind why habits are hard to change. For me, learning this information helped me better understand the way my brain works and come to a deeper understanding of some of the most common anecdotal information and evidence on how habits work. I hope by learning this concept, you will be better prepared to plan and execute on habit changes in your own life!
I want to let you in on a little personal development secret.
This year can absolutely be your best year ever.
How do I know this?
Because when you have been involved in personal development as a lifelong journey the way I have been, you begin to understand that no matter the ups and downs that life throws at us from year to year, season to season, the one thing we always have control over is our actions. Ultimately, it is our actions that define the success of a year, and when you take the time to learn from your past- your past mistakes and your past success as well- you can use that information to make better decisions and take better actions in the present. That means, no matter how wonderful or how terrible you think years past have been, you have a solid foundation of knowledge to reference to make this year the best year of your life. Armed with all that you already know and understand about yourself and the patterns that bring you success or failure, all you really need is a simple action plan of steps to execute to bring your best year to fruition. So, here are 6 simple (but not always easy) steps to your best year yet!
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6 Steps to Your Best Year Yet
#1. Choose the direction you are headed
The first step to having your best year ever is to clearly understand the direction you are headed for your life that would definitively make this year great. After all, how can we ensure your year is great unless we know what greatness looks like and feels like for you. Each of us will have a unique perspective for what would make a year great. What areas of our lives we want to see improvement or change in, what specific milestones we want to hit. It’s important to start your year off with a big picture vision for what you want to accomplish.
Now, to be completely transparent with you, from experience I have seen that very often this first step is the hardest for people to execute on. Although some people are blessed with a definitive vision for what they want their life to look like in the future, most people have a general feeling that what they have right now isn’t enough but they aren’t sure what they really want from life. If this is you, know that it’s completely normal to feel this way, but that this is ultimately a symptom of your general mindset. I’m going to talk about mindset more in step 6, but for now, understand that if you are struggling to see a bigger picture for your life, you likely have limiting beliefs that need to be challenged having to do with your potential and what is or is not possible for your life. It is very common for me to work with students who have been taught not to expect much from life, and that you certainly shouldn’t set goals and aspirations for things bigger than your current station in life. This is unfortunately a common symptom of small minded beliefs that have been passed on through generations, but it is not a true reflection of the world. In our current day and age it is extremely common for people from humble beginnings to lead marvelous lives and expand their worldview. Whatever you can dream for your life, you can achieve with the right mindset and a good plan to get you started.
DO THIS: I recommend spending some time journaling about all the wonderful things you want life to bring you. Take your time with this step, dream big, and if you reach a point where you feel like you want something but you also feel like it’s not possible for you to achieve it, push back on that limiting belief because I have found through experience that most things in life are possible in one form or another if we get creative about our solutions.
#2. Turn your vision into actionable goals
Once you have come to the end of your journaling about the future, it’s time to take your vision and turn it into actionable goals. Now, do keep in mind that this one journaling session for your future isn’t the be all and end all of all your goals. It’s just a jumping off point to get you started. As you turn your vision into goals, you may find that in order to achieve one goal, you will need to complete one or more other goals first. And that once a specific goal is reached, you may want to follow it up with something else. Keep all these goals in mind, again, don’t worry about how many goals you are creating, because there is enough time for you to accomplish everything you want in some way or another. So many goals branch off from other goals and dovetail together that when you weave together your goals for the vision of your life over the next 1, 3, 5, 10+ years, you really do have time to have it all!
DO THIS: Use the acronym S.M.A.R.T to turn each dream for your future into a Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic and Time Bound Goal. Specific: what are you specifically trying to accomplish? Measurable: How can you track or measure when you have reached the goal? Actionable: What actions can be taken to affect the outcome of the goal? Realistic: How can you realistically achieve the goal? Time Bound: When do you want to accomplish this goal by, how much time should it take you to accomplish it and where in the course of your expected life does it make the most sense to work on this goal?
#3. Give your goals a practical plan
So far in this process you have started with big vague dreams, then turned them into actionable goals, and now you must give each goal a set of practical steps to execute on. For some of your goals the path for achievement will be pretty clear to you. Some goals like getting a specific degree or having children are more straight forward. That doesn’t mean you might not experience certain obstacles to achieving them, but you at least know how to get the goal done. For some goals, you may need to do some research to understand the best way for your to approach and successfully accomplish the goal. Luckily, Google is ready to supply a steady stream of insight and information for nearly any goal you may want to accomplish that you might be unclear about. Finally, some goals are a bit more abstract and may not have a set of directions at the ready for you to use to execute on. Again, some resources online may be helpful, it might also be helpful to find someone with experience like a mentor to help guide you, but if no good information can be found, just start with a plan that seems to make the most sense to you. When it comes time to execute on plans, it’s rare for anything to go completely according to plan anyway, but getting started and taking your first step in any direction towards your dream is a start none-the-less.
DO THIS: Create an action plan for each goal that is due to be worked on in the next year. Don’t worry about creating complete action plans for each and every goal, as year to year you can reassess your goals and create the desired action plans.
#4. Get out of your own way to get things done
Once the time has come for you to execute on your action plans, this is when the real resistance comes in. If you thought it was difficult to just imagine the future vision for your life, wait until you actually start to take action. That’s when the deepest, darkest limiting beliefs of your mindset will rear their ugly head! Your mind will find anything, any tiny little reason for you not to take action towards your goals, so be prepared for this. It’s quite normal and expected for this to happen- in fact it’s a scientifically understood part of the human brain. You see, your brain is a wonderful organ that manages practically all the functions of your body, but it does so by living in the metaphorical past. Anything you have experience with is acceptable for your brain, but anything new, like these big new goals and plans you’re making to change your life, are viewed as a threat. So the best thing you can do is take things slowly, step by step with your action plans and find a way to establish a routine where you give yourself dedicated time to work on your goals.
DO THIS: Aim to create a habit of doing at least one thing for your current goals each day and track your results. Taking small but steady action is a great way to build new neural pathways in your brain that establish permanent patterns and routines for you to go after your goals.
#5. Keep the details of your life organized
There are few things that can steal time away from us taking action on our goals like the necessities of everyday life. We all have to live, right? That means we each have a set of non-negotiable tasks that belong on our to do lists right there beside the action steps for our goals. So, as much as possible to mitigate this, I like to organize and systematize the mundane elements of my life. Organizing your life isn’t always the easiest task, but it is absolutely one that yields tremendous long term results. So, identify the areas of your life that are the biggest obstacle to giving time to your goals and find a way to system
DO THIS: ID a mundane or routine area of your life to systematize. A system is essentially a protocol for dealing with the task on an ongoing basis so you don’t have to think about it each and every time the task comes up. A great example of this is meal planning and prepping. Everyone has to eat and deciding on what to eat right before each meal adds to your decision fatigue each day and takes up valuable time you could be working on your goals. Instead, pick a day of the week to create a complete meal plan for the week, go grocery shopping and then prep some meals ahead of time. This process may take a few hours one day, but by bulking the task you ultimately will save much more time an energy than it would take to cook each meal individually each day. Of course, there are plenty of other areas of life you can systematize if meal planning doesn’t work for you, so consider where you end up spending the most unnecessary time and develop a system for minimizing your effort in this area of your life.
#6. Control your mindset
Mindset is your personal view or attitude toward yourself, your potential and the way the world works. Your mindset has been specifically crafted by your direct experience in life and the information you are given by those around you. Although your mindset is a liquid concept with the potential to evolve throughout your life, for many people, it solidifies by about the age of 7. Meaning, the experiences you had as a child, plus the experiences, lessons and stories shared by your direct family and community have solidly shaped your outlook and world view. But, our mindsets are simply a collection of experiences and beliefs- not necessarily true or false, but usually limiting in some way. They have the power to color our outlook of the world and affect the way we respond in different situations. If you have a strongly positive mindset, you may see the world as full of possibility and eagerly welcome and overcome challenges. But if you have a more negative mindset, you may be limited in the things you believe you can do, accomplish or deserve and you will act in accordance with these beliefs allowing even small obstacles to derail your progress or even worse, finding any excuse not to start on a journal to a cherished goal. Because mindsets are formed so early in life, most of us having been living with our intact and unchecked for the majority of our life, so it takes a lot of patience and self awareness to reprogram your mindset to overcome limiting beliefs. The best thing to do to start the reprogramming process is to handle limiting beliefs as they pop up on your journey. You can identify your limiting beliefs by paying attention to the things you try to avoid, or things you think negatively about yourself. Negative self talk is a major red flag that a limiting belief is present.
DO THIS: As you identify your limiting beliefs, one by one, in the moment that they arise, I recommend doing the following. First writing down the limiting belief that is holding you back in the moment. Next, identify where this belief came from. Did you learn this belief from family? Was it something that played out in your own life that you assigned to yourself? There is always a source for each of our limiting beliefs- a person or a situation that was a catalyst for it. Then, write down an example of when your limiting belief is actually untrue. Identifying evidence that goes against a limiting belief is one of the best ways to break down the stereotype and overcoming it. Finally, write out a phrase that is in complete opposition to your negative belief- effectively turning your negative limiting belief into a positive expansive belief. Every time you face that limiting belief again in the future, stop and force yourself to say and act on the positive belief instead. In time, one will be replaced by the other.
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So those are the 6 simple (but not always easy) steps to your best year yet! I know I gave you a lot of action steps and information to process here, but truly, these six steps are just the tip of the iceberg for your success. The deeper you go into each of these steps, the more you will uncover about your personal goals, aspirations, productivity, and mindset. For that reason, if you would like additional guidance as you work through this process, I would absolutely recommend the YOU GOT THIS Workbook.YOU GOT THIS is a Goal Setting & Planning Guide that not only walks you through these 6 steps in depth with much more example and information, but also contains dozens of activities and worksheets to help you clearly map out this process and bring it to life for your best year ever!
So, if you are serious about taking focused effort to improve your life through goal setting, planning and organization, click the button below to purchase your copy of YOU GOT THIS now!
Today I wanted to share with you my updated Self-Care routine and give you a little gift to celebrate Valentine’s Day!
I really enjoy the topic of Self-Care! I know for some people, the conversation on self-care can seem to go in one ear and out the other, but I love researching and testing different ways to help me care for my body, mind and spirit. It’s my way of finding new ways to live my best life by feeling my best. Nothing raises my vibration like a little self-care and self love.
Lately, I have been obsessed with a few new self-care favorites.
1. Gua Sha: If you are not familiar, Gua Sha (pronounced gwa-sa) is a natural therapy traditionally used in East Asian medicine that involves scrapping the skin to massage, increase circulation and heal the fascia of the body. I first learned about this technique through some articles and videos that walked through the facial massage aspect of the treatment that uses a set of stone tools to massage the muscles of the face, depuffing it and creating an instant facelift type result. By the time I learned about gua sha I was already using a jade facial roller to massage in my facial serums as part of my skin-care routine, so using the gua sha scrapping tools seemed to be the next step that I was willing to try. And boy does it work! The results for the facial massage are somewhat subtle but still very powerful. I like to do the facial massage at least once a week. But the real game changer for me has been using the gua sha technique on my body. Specifically, my shoulder, back, legs, hips and thighs. For as long as I can remember, I have suffered from terrible muscle knots all over my body. I used to get regular massages for the pain, before graduating to acupuncture, but those are pricey options for the level of temporary relief I felt. Then, I discovered Gua Sha and learned about using the technique on your body to heal muscle pain and knots in the connective tissue- game changer! So now I Gua Sha various parts of my body 2-3 times a week and I’ve noticed a severe reduction in muscle pain and the nights I Gua Sha I have the best sleep!
2. Yin Yoga: I’ve been doing yoga on and off for years at this point and I can’t believe it took me this long to discover the practice of Yin Yoga. Yin Yoga is a slower paced version of yoga that specifically deals with the facia or connective tissue of the body by staying in specific poses for longer periods of time (3-5 mins). Turns out, a lot of the pain I experience in my body actually comes from my facia, so by doing gua sha to massage my fascia and Yin yoga to intentionally stretch out tight areas of my fascia, my daily pain and discomfort has virtually disappeared. To keep up my desired results, I’ve been practicing Yin Yoga about once a week.
3. Micro needling: Another new-ish element of my self-care skincare routine that I have fallen back in love with is micro needling. I know it sounds scary but it’s not as bad as it seems. Micro needling is a technique where you use a derma roller with little tiny needles on it to lightly puncture the skin and generate new collagen production. Micro needling is used for a variety of skin issues like acne, scaring, wrinkles, and texture and when used as a treatment consistently, I’ve seen a great improvement in my skin. So, I make sure to micro needle once a week.
So, I hope you have enjoyed hearing about some of my new self-care favorites that have been added to my self-care routine. Now, let’s go ahead and open your Valentine’s gift!
To help us keep track of our self-care, I have designed this Self-Care Routines Insert! It has space for you to list out your self-care routines in three areas of your life, wellness, spiritual and entertainment, because, after-all, self-care is more than just body care and I’ve been trying to establish new routines to help me feel my best mind, body and soul. So, I do hope you enjoy the insert!
Well, that is all for today! I hope you enjoyed this post and your V-Day Gift! Please be sure to share pictures of your insert with me on Instagram by tagging me @MissTrenchcoat!
In today’s video I am sharing my 2020 Goals & Intentions with you! I’m discussing my Word of the Year, Annual Anthem, Goals & the Intentions I have set for my channel this year. I would love to hear what word, anthem, goals and intentions you have set, so please do share yours in the comments!
Also, you might notice throughout this video (because I certainly did) that I keep looking up and to the right LOL! I am NOT looking at anything in particular- it’s natural as people are speaking and trying to remember points that they look up and to their left (visually it looks like it’s your right hand side) but I think it looks so extreme at some points because the camera is actually set from a lower angle in this video. I just wanted to mention it because I actually thought about pointing this out during editing but I left it alone. So, in case you were wondering what I am looking at, nothing! LOL
Would you like a simple but challenging routine to kickstart your productivity into high gear?
How does a 31 DAY PRODUCTIVITY BOOTCAMP CHALLENGE Sound?
The PRODUCTIVITY BOOTCAMP is an On Demand Instagram (optional) Challenge with a full month of simple but effective prompts that will help you:
✔︎ Get refocused on your tasks and goals for the year
✔︎ Improve your productivity through scientifically researched principles of productivity
✔︎ Create plans and routines that suit your life and needs
✔︎ Grow and strengthen neural pathways associated with executing and getting things done!
The Productivity Bootcamp is intended to be like one of those month long bootcamp exercise programs but for your mind. During the bootcamp we are going to hit reset on our productivity by challenging ourselves each day to take small steps through simple lessons and activities that will add up to big changes to our productivity. By the end of the bootcamp, we will be in prime shape to get focused on
I think it’s easy to forget that if we want to be organized, productive and successful, we need to work at it. Time management and execution is about so much more than having a planner and making a plan. Truly, it’s a mental exercise that requires daily practice to develop the mental strength and self discipline necessary to make prioritization, focus and getting things done second nature.
Just as following an exercise routine will help you improve the shape and condition of your body, nothing will improve your productivity more than having a simple (yet, well-researched) daily process to execute on. And having a community following the process along side you is the best motivation for ensuring you stick with it! This is truly the reason I created the Bootcamp, so that I could put all the research I’ve been doing on productivity into an actionable plan for others to follow, even if they were beginners to the topic of productivity.
The Challenge Includes
• A dedicated Bootcamp Resource Site Page where you will find all videos, downloads, additional instructions and support
• Challenge graphics for Instagram Feed & Stories with Prompts and community hashtag
• Daily Video Lessons explaining each prompt
• Extra download graphics and worksheets to make the most of specific prompts that you can keep and use as long as you’d like.
What Bootcamp Members are Saying
“The GTD Bootcamp challenge helped me make some big progress on projects that I have had on the list for over a year now. They’re almost done! Thank you Alexis!” -Becca
“Love the CharmedGTD bootcamp. It made me re-evaluate my plan proces and showed some missing links. Also made me realise that I need a different planner for next year because I’m more a monthly/weekly planner, than a monthly/daily planner. A lot of the other prompts made me re-evaluate my life, which was a welcome excerciece. Thanks Alexis” -Rianne
“I want to thank you for this idea of yours which seems so simple and exactly this feature makes it so deep and helpful. You’ve created small and bitable pieces that motivate to go forward and stick to the Bootcamp. And at the same time each prompt is a part of a puzzle so they altogether are the elements of the final productivity image. It has already influenced on significant changes in my daily routine and I’m really grateful to you for creating such an amazing system. I’m delighted to be part of the Bootcamp of yours.” -Anastasia
“Great accountability partner for increasing my productivity! Love the short, concise daily prompts, that allow me to go get things done!” – Lisa M.
Are you ready to hit Reset on your Productivity and Rebuild your Productivity Muscle?
Sign up for the PRODUCTIVITY BOOTCAMP TODAY and join the challenge!
I can’t wait to lead you on this month long journey and see all the ways you put your new productivity physique to work in your life!
If you are someone who is looking to become more organized and successful with the help of planning, the formula is pretty simple.
Step One: Find a reliable planning method.
Step Two: Make sure to write down and make time for all scheduled events and known tasks within said planning method.
Step Three:Do the things!
Simple, right?
Well, maybe in theory more so than practice. Step one can sometimes be a process of trial and error, which I get, but then again I think we put too much pressure on ourselves to find a system that conforms perfectly to our lives, when the truth is most people could make do with a pen and a notebook! Step two is a habit you just need to work on, making time to sit down and plan out your tasks and activities, and then also making sure you keep your planner with you in situations when you might need it so you can record information there making your system air tight. Step three, though, is were the real work is done and it’s really where all tutorials and direction for planning just taper off. Step three is go time, the moment of truth. To do or not to do, that is the question and if you are not someone with a lot of internal motivation, accountability and self-discipline, this can be the moment when the whole process falls apart.
If this is you, I get it!
Despite whatever you believe of me, how productive I am, how self-motivated and on the ball I can be, even I have moments were I see a task on my to do list and then I go blank. I might walk away from my desk for a while, take a break, or work on something else. I’ve clearly hit a wall with this task and I am trying to avoid it with all the psychological defense mechanisms known to mankind. For one reason or another, I’m experiencing resistance preventing me from starting and completing the task.
Resistance is the best way I know to explain this situation. Of knowing what I need to do next, but avoiding taking the action. It’s not something I experience with every task, and I think for the vast majority of us that is the case. We might not avoid all tasks we’ve planned, but we avoid some. This actually gives us really good insight into what’s going on with us in our heads- because that is where the resistance lies. When I hit this sort of resistance in my day, one of the things I tend to do is avoid working on a specific task and skip to something else on my list or go do something else entirely like start cleaning my house or meal prepping something. So, clearly I’m not just being lazy here, I am willing to do something, just not that particular something for a reason that is likely unknown to me in the moment.
The reason is unknown to me in that moment because my brain is causing the resistance and it doesn’t want me to see or understand whatever trigger or limiting belief this task is brining up. This is a normal part of the fight or flight mechanism in the brain. When the brain senses danger or anything it has determined is a threat to its delicate equilibrium, it puts us in a panic mode. Hence the reason I tend to see a task I don’t want to do and immediately get up and away from my desk to take myself away from danger. It’s also not uncommon to experience anxiety, mental strain, physical stress in the body, and other symptoms of a fight or flight reaction being triggered. It’s important to understand that we ourselves aren’t the ones deciding to have this response, instead it’s the programming of our brain’s autonomic nervous system that tries to protect us even when we aren’t aware of the danger. In the case of avoiding a task on our to do list, it’s clear to our rational mind that doing that task isn’t going to put us in harms way physically (unless the task is something that does involve danger, rare, but possible), but our brain has interpreted the task as a danger none the less.
Usually, the brain will trigger this sort of response to a task for one of a few reasons. First, if we have never done the task before. That’s pretty common. Our brains operate under a consistent fear of the unknown, and when we haven’t ever experienced something before, we get scared. Think of the jitters you got on the first day of school, on your wedding day or going to see a new doctor. Newness equals foreign to our brains and that means danger!
The second reason the brain might trigger this response is because we have some known existing anxiety over it. To give you an example from my own life, when I used to work at the fortune 50 before going full time for myself, I would dread our teams weekly calls or any event or interaction with my boss at the time because we did not gel. As a result, I would frequently avoid doing any work to prepare for those events (not going to make the situation any better, I know) because thinking about having to interact with my boss stressed me out to an unusually high degree. In fact, when I finally left my job, I gave my notice right after a one-on-one call with my boss and the day before we had a scheduled meeting together, and I didn’t even tell him, I emailed HR because I was literally shaking and overwhelmed with stress and anxiety. So, this is a bit of an extreme example, but I think it illustrates the point that sometimes we panic and avoid working on a task when we know we are afraid of it. Our known fear translates to a fight or flight response in our brains!
The third and final reason the brain might trigger this response is because a task is actually highly important to us and our personal identity. Now, this reason is something of a blend of the first two situations. It could be something we have never done before and something we are a little bit afraid of, but more so than that, it might be part of a larger goal that we feel strongly tied to. So, I find that when people set a personal goal for themselves, something they think is very important, something they feel called to do, or something they know deep inside is going to bring significant change to their lives, this can trigger the brain as well. I think the reason tasks related to the achievement of our goals ends up triggering our brains is because we have usually built up this goal in our minds, dreaming about it and fantasizing about it, that our brains fear the change you’re anticipating. I think of this as a subconscious anxiety response, similar to the second example but you don’t consciously know you are afraid of the tasks!
Okay, so these are three very significant reasons why our brains might set off a fight or flight response to doing tasks we have planned for ourselves, but what can we do to overcome this resistance? Eventually, we have to come back to the task at hand, and if it’s important to us to achieve it, we need to disable that fight or flight response and actually get down to work!
When this happens to me, when I get spooked by a task because I’ve hit a measure of resistance in the limits of my own mind, I use a simple but effective visualization practice to condition my brain. I’ll identify the task I need to work on and I will get myself in position as if I am about to do the work. For most of my tasks this means sitting at my desk, but if you’re avoiding cleaning out your closet or going for a run, this activity is best practiced in the situation where the task is to be accomplished for added ambience. So, once you’re situated in the right area, without taking any action, visualize yourself moving through the steps necessary to complete the task. So, if you were going to complete the task, how would you start? Imagine yourself taking the action and see with your minds eye the results beginning to form step by step until the task is complete.
Remember, you’re not actually doing anything right now, you’re just sitting or standing in the place where your task would likely begin and envisioning yourself doing the task like a daydream. If you need to, feel free to use some notes or an outline to keep your progress visualizing the task on track. This is you practicing to perform the task, and the great thing is, visualizing yourself doing the work actually convinces your brain that you’ve done it or that you have some experience that increases it’s confidence and therefore shuts off the fight or flight response. You might not think something like this, daydreaming yourself completing a task would have any affect, but science has shown that the brain can’t tell the difference between something that happened in reality and something that happened in your mind.
Everything is processed in your brain after all, those images you see in your minds eye of yourself performing the task are just as real as actually doing the thing, and get this, research has also shown that your body even records muscle memory from your visualized experience as well. This is why many pro athletes use visualization to practice when they are not at physical practice. Because this sort of mental rehearsal conditions your mind and your body to understand what it looks like and feels like for you to perform a task. This is why we see so many inspirational quotes about visualizing your goals and daydreaming about your future, because mental dress rehearsal increases the chances that you will actually take action and it will help you produce better results when you do because you’re prepared. You’ve done this before, even if it was all in your head!
So, next time you run away from or avoid a task that you had planned, take a moment to regroup and spend some time visualizing yourself taking the action. It might feel funny the first few times you try it, but like everything practice makes perfect!
I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic and anything you have to add, so please feel free to leave me a comment below. Also, let me know how this strategy works for you- I’d love to hear your experiences and of course celebrate your successes with you!
