Planning
A system I’ve created for myself that works wonders is my planning process.
Mid-Year Review
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a planner. My obsession started with stationary goods and now, I’m able to look back and see a skill I’ve spent these past years building and refining. A skill that’s helped me keep my eye on the bigger picture while making strides towards that vision.
I find that without frequent pauses and reflection, time seems to escape me.
6 months through 2022, the time to reflect is right now.
How do you feel about the last 6 months?
Are you proud of what you’ve accomplished, worked on, built?
What do you desire to work on the remaining 6 months?
What does your mind, body and spirit need to get you there?
2022 will be your year. Let’s eat!
Systems
Wednesday, June 29th, 2022
A system I’ve created for myself that works wonders is my planning process.
Monday is filled with laying out my building blocks; I reflect on the week prior and write out this week’s priorities.
I plan my week according to the monthly targets I identify at the beginning of the month. Those monthly targets are pulled from my annual goals. I’m regularly looking at the bigger picture while breaking it down into something easier to digest.
Looking at a long list of annual goals can be overwhelming. Sometimes I too look at my list and ask myself, HOW!?
If my system sounds confusing, I gotchu! The following weeks, I’ll be breaking it down and covering the following categories:
Annual Goals
Monthly Targets
Weekly Strides
Annual Goals
Wednesday, July 6th, 2022
Towards the end of the year, I start a Notes file on my phone called “Brain Dump.” This is just a list of things I wish to work on and accomplish. I like doing this digitally because once the new year rolls around, I’m able to easily move things and categorize them into a few different focus areas in my life.
I start categorizing my goals into the following focus areas:
Wellness (Mental, Emotional and Physical Health)
Spirituality
Relationships
Fun and Adventure (Bucket List-ish)
Business
Finances
The goal is to live a fulfilled life with work-life integration. The categorization is helpful when planning my monthly targets and ensures I’m addressing all areas of my life.
Stay tuned for planning monthly targets next week!
Monthly Targets
Wednesday, July 13th, 2022
Once I’ve casted my vision for the year, I break it down into monthly targets. I don’t plan all my months in advance; I plan the month as it arrives. At the beginning of every month, I review the month prior. What did I accomplish, what is still in progress, what haven’t I progressed on?
Have an honest conversation with yourself about what you can manage while pushing yourself just a bit.
As I plan the month, I include the targets that are still in progress and the ones I didn’t touch (but planned to) from the previous month. Even if it didn’t happen the previous month, the repetition of writing it down and reminding yourself means it will happen one day. I review my annual goals every month. I look at each focus area and pull 1-3 things that are calling me; this helps me ensure I’m giving attention to every area versus just focusing on one.
There may be times when a certain area of your life needs more attention but remember that we do our best work when we take care of ourselves. Don’t sacrifice your health nor emotional wellbeing.
Monthly targets remind us of where we’re aiming!
Weekly Strides
Wednesday, July 20th, 2022
Now that we know what our monthly targets are, they can be broken down into weekly strides. Each week is an opportunity to take a step towards something bigger.
Each target can be broken down into smaller steps. Something I’m working on this year is strengthening my connection with my body. Our bodies store trauma and emotions and I want to be able to understand what mine is telling me. One way I feel I can improve this is through yoga. One of my monthly targets was to attend a yoga class. This was broken down into a few weekly strides: 1. Find a yoga studio, 2. Attend a session.
Annual Goal: Strengthen connection with body
Monthly Target: Attend yoga session
Weekly Stride: Find a yoga studio and attend a class
Weekly strides help the bigger picture feel more achievable as they’re baby steps towards that goal. They’re also “wins” that help build momentum and add evidence to an identity we’re building for ourselves. Going back to my example, I am in tune with my body; my actions support this.
Although planning and time management are skills I have, I don’t always hit my weekly strides because yano, life happens! I’m flexible with myself and for every stride that isn’t accomplished, I just transfer it over to the following week.
We can do all the planning however, if we don’t have beliefs about ourselves that align with those targets / goals, it’s difficult to achieve. Next week, I’ll cover the inner work needed to truly align ourselves with the life we’re building.
Aligning Yourself with Your Vision
Wednesday, July 27th, 2022
Over the past few weeks, I talked about my planning process. I genuinely believe that if there’s something you desire and you’re willing to put in the work, you can achieve it. It may take longer than you’d like but it’s possible for you! Before we actually set out to achieve the vision, there’s inner work that needs to be done.
We have to call out our limiting beliefs.
Limiting beliefs are false beliefs / stories we tell ourselves that keep us from becoming who we’re meant to be. Most of the time, we aren’t even aware of them because they’re lingering in our subconscious.
Let’s say someone desires to live a healthier life but this isn’t a lifestyle they were accustomed to growing up so they have a limiting belief that they aren’t healthy because they weren’t raised that way. Subconsciously believing that one isn’t healthy but consciously working to become active and eat intentionally means there’s disharmony; the belief and actions are incongruent. When this happens, we tend to get caught off guard in our pursuit. Most people, myself included, engage in self sabotage because the subconscious belief is still operating in the background.
As you plan to achieve your vision, what are some limiting beliefs you may be holding onto?
Addressing our limiting beliefs is a 2 step process, we have to identify them and then reframe and reprogram. Going back the earlier example:
Limiting belief: I’m not healthy because I wasn’t raised that way.
Reframed (empowering) belief: I am living a healthier life and am an example for those in my life.
Once we’ve reframed our limiting belief to an empowering one, we’ve actively got to work on reprogramming our subconscious. This takes time so be kind with yourself. You’re undoing years, maybe even a lifetime, of operating with that old belief. Your new habits are now evidence for the identity you’re creating.
Happy healing, friend.