Did you know that reading is considered to be one of the most universally acknowledged success habits?
Statistics are thrown around all the time about how many books millionaires and CEOs read in a year. It’s always something crazy like 4+ dozen!
I know for some people, that number seems intimidating. They say the average American reads less than one book per year.
But personally, I don’t believe that it’s the exact number of books read that really makes someone successful. What I think is a more accurate predictor of success is that you are someone who values ongoing education and the way that is most commonly and easily practiced is by reading.
That is why as part of the Productivity + Planning Mastermind Membership that I host, we have a bookclub where each month the members who are interested are able to read along with a book chosen by me that addresses an important productivity or personal development topic.
(If you are interested in being part of our bookclub and getting ongoing support from me to help you live out your own personal vision for success, I would love to have you join the Mastermind and my inner circle, so please do click here to learn more!)
So, I decided that in order to share the love of books and truly, the success habit of continuing your education through the enjoyment and curiosity of reading, I am starting a series here on the blog where I will share one of the books we have read in the Mastermind and provide my summary/feedback on the book.
Big changes have small beginnings: Small incremental changes are what lead to success more than large sweeping changes. Example, British Cycling Team became world champions through small 1% improvements. This makes sense to me because it’s harder to actually sustain large sweeping changes and small things can domino into larger outcomes. Any change in the right direction, is change in the right direction that ripples outward. However, with the example of the British Cycling Team, and truthfully, with any and all changes people make, I question from a metaphysical point of view, whether the small changes really did add up OR if the focus and dedication to making small incremental improvements made them believe they had done enough to win? As someone who does believe everything happens in the mind, I just wonder if it was the focus on the changes itself that caused their expansion.
Trajectory as a productivity concept vs having solid objectives: Where you put your focus and having a goal in and of itself is what supports our productivity. You don’t necessarily need a solid objective, and in fact, sometimes having an objective actually halts progress once you hit said objective. So, you can just choose a direction and overarching goal to go for and make those small incremental changes to establish an ongoing pattern of improvement and success.
The tipping point: As with many things in the world, there is a point where our effort isn’t seen, until it is seen. Example of the Ice Cube melting once the temp raises beyond 32 degrees. This is a perfect example of why we shouldn’t give up on ourselves and the changes we want to make because we may have made unseen progress and then hit a tipping point where all the results of our effort are evident.
Don’t set goals, create systems: I understand this point, I really do, because with many things in life, the outcome you want isn’t just a one and done situation. Examples- weight loss isn’t just reach a desired weight and your done, you also need to maintain. Same with income goals, etc lots of goals we have require maintenance. However, I would adjust the authors words to say, Don’t just set goals, create systems. Because I DO think having that hard concrete goal is important if for nothing more than visualization because it’s hard to hold an idea in our minds of what constant improvement means to us. Until we hit the next level we often don’t know what the next level after that looks like. So for me, I think that hard objective is important to get started, but developing systems as a strategy for goal planning is necessary. I believe this echos my philosophy well of having habit based goals. Goals where the outcome isn’t dependent on a limited sequence of actions, but the outcome requires ongoing work and establishing new habits.
If you’ve read Atomic Habits by James Clear I would love to know what your big takeaways were from the book, so please leave a comment and share your thoughts!
STOP REACTING TO INTERRUPTIONS IF YOU WANT TO BE #PRODUCTIVEAF
If you struggle to remain focused on your work and have a hard time completing tasks because you are constantly inundated with interruptions, I have a mindfulness practice to use to keep interruptions at bay.
First, you need to understand that like most things in life, interruptions only have the power to disrupt our flow if we react to them.
You hear some alert, you stop what you are doing to check it, then you end up responding and sidetracked from your important task. But it wasn’t the interruption itself that sidetracked you, it was that you reacted to it.
Of course, some interruptions do warrant our attention, but I never want you to take action from a reactive place, you will always have far better results if you take action from a responsive place.
Reactive means you jump in to take action. Responsive means you pause, observe the situation and choose a measured action in proportion to the situation.
But, with a mindfulness practice, you can shift from Reactive to Responsive.
Try this:
Pause + Observe the stimulus: Is the phone ringing? Is someone knocking on your office door? Is that an email that just came through? Let it happen without reacting.
I want you to get comfortable not reacting.
It’s okay for an email to sit for 30 mins, for a call to go to voicemail, or for someone looking for your help to come back later.
And this works outside the office as well.
Your partner or kid needs something. Don’t just stop your important work to react to them. Tell them you will be glad to help in 30 minutes.
Start putting those boundaries and expectations up all over your life where interruptions really throw you off.
And use that mindfulness practice to start getting comfortable being uncomfortable because you aren’t reacting anymore!
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 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?
So, it’s May and you already feel like you’ve flubbed your goals and plans for 2021?
NO PROBLEM!
Today is a new day, and you have plenty of opportunities to choose to either start again or recommit to your goals right now.
But first, I’m going to need you to forgive yourself for messing up because actually, that is the toughest part of the process of goals and achievement.
Like you, when I get off track with a goal or feel like I’ve messed it up entirely, I experience a lot of guilt and that guilt, more often than not, is the reason I can’t continue to take action.
It can make me feel like a failure, like I made the wrong choice of a goal or like I am not worthy to receive the outcome I was working towards…
BUT IT’S ALL LIES!
You can never really mess anything up until you give up on it entirely, and I don’t think you are ready to give up on that goal yet that is weighing heavily on your heart.
So, repeat after me:
🗣 Even though I have lost track and perhaps even lost faith on this goal, I still truly and deeply love and accept myself.
🗣 Even though I question my commitment to this goal, I still truly and deeply love and accept myself.
🗣 Even though I feel guilt or shame for loosing momentum on this goal, I still truly and deeply love and access myself.
🗣 I forgive myself for believing I wasn’t capable of achieving my goal.
🗣 I forgive myself for judging myself for loosing alignment with this goal.
🗣I forgive myself for judging myself for questioning if I set the right goal.
🗣 I am worthy to receive every goal I set and every outcome I desire.
🗣 My work is enough, my intention is enough, my effort is enough.
🗣 I am enough.
Doesn’t that feel much better?
Now, it’s time to recommit to your plans.
Don’t worry about what time of year it is. Time is a construct and January certainly doesn’t hold a monopoly on success and motivation.
You can start again right now and make your goals happen this year.
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 out of guilt and overwhelm and into a reality of ease and flow 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?
I don’t have to tell you that there is a lot of work that goes into running your own online business, but what you may not realize is that there are two types of work to do.
One type of work you are already familiar with. It’s the practical strategy and management of setting objectives, making plans, creating the offers, doing the marketing, managing customer service, balancing the financials, etc. Essentially, it’s the tasks that make up most of your day to day work as a business owner.
The second type of work you may be less familiar with. It’s the mindset and personal development strategy of feeling into your desires, stepping into your purpose, identifying and overcoming limiting beliefs, trusting your intuition and facing down your deepest fears. It’s the metaphysical work of running a successful business. The faith and prayer and belief. And out of the two types of work you can do as an entrepreneur, it’s the more important work.
I know you might be thinking, mindset work couldn’t possibly be more important than the practical strategy of running your business. I thought that way too for a long time. But there is a point where doing all the things for your business isn’t enough. There is a point where strategy itself fails you and you need to surrender yourself to greater possibility.
You mindset will always be your upper limit.
You cannot out work or out strategize a poor mindset.
And when I reached a breaking point where I was willing to try anything to solve the stagnancy in my business, I committed to trying mindset strategies, despite my skepticism, if for no other purpose than to say I tried it all.
That’s when everything turned around for me.
I can’t say for certain what it was exactly that caused the shift, but I can say that as soon as I started implementing a regular mindset practice that included daily manifestation journaling, my business broke through to another level. Where I had been stuck for years practicing all the strategy I knew and believed in, strategy that had grown my business from the start, I was suddenly at a new level of income and of ease with my business.
Because the most interesting thing about the mindset strategies I used was not simply that my revenue started increasing, but it was that I was able to pair down my strategy to do less and it was still growing. I was truly able to do less, make my business easier to run and it was working better than it had been before.
And I am confident that it is the mindset work that made the difference, because when I got into periods where I stopped it for some reason, things began to get tough again. But like clockwork, as soon as I turned to the mindset work again, the flow of ease and money came flooding back in.
There is no substitution for doing the work
Mindset work, of course. Because even in times when I have fallen short of completing the practical work of my business, if I had kept up the mindset work, it didn’t matter that I skipped content or removed systems I had been using for years to generate income. The mindset work filled in the gaps for me.
Now I understand why so many people in the mindset, personal development and law of attraction space say that you need to show up everyday to do the work on yourself. It’s the most important work you can do for your life and business success. The work they are talking about is the mindset and belief. The claiming what it is you want and believing you can have it. It’s showing up with open arms ready to receive what you ask for, and although the strategies may be very simple to execute, I know first hand how challenging it is to do this work everyday. Because you will get distracted by the practical and put aside the mindset work, just for today, and then it turns into a week and a month and then suddenly things stop working in your business.
You have to show up to do the mindset work everyday, or most days at least, to keep a consistent rhythm and build upon new levels of success.
Monthly Manifestation Journaling for Business
Today, I want to teach you a little more about my regular mindset work that helps me to keep my business growing at its new level consistently. Specifically, I want to guide you through the Monthly Manifestation Journaling I do at the start of a new month to get into alignment with my business goals and objectives. Grab a pen and paper and write this out:
What I am achieving in my business for May
→This month I am receiving…
→This month I am creating…
→This month I am attracting…
→This month I am doing work on…
→This month I am releasing…
→This month I am showing up to…
→This month I am honoring myself by…
→This month I am valuing myself by…
→This month I am resting…
For each line, fill in as many items as you would like. Feel free to make it a complete wish list of everything you desire to happen in the month. But try your best to fill in something for each line. I find that these prompts are a very powerful combination, and I don’t even have to write very much, I just bullet point my desires and that is enough to get into alignment with them.
I know it seems simple, but writing out your intentions this way can bring about a very powerful shift and you really don’t have much to loose except for perhaps 10-15 minutes of your day just by trying it.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Of course, for best results you will want to journal your intentions everyday. Perhaps not all of these monthly plans at once, but choose a handful to focus on each day to get into alignment with them.
STOP CHOOSING BETWEEN BUSINESS SUCCESS AND A BALANCED LIFE!
Do you every feel overwhelmed by all the tasks you have to manage for your business and personal life?
If you’re like me, you started your own business in order to live a different lifestyle than the norm. You wanted the flexibility of time and location freedom, being able to work when you wanted, where you wanted, so you would have time to prioritize other areas of your life. Breaking free of the 9-5 life was freeing until I realized without a solid time management strategy and strong prioritization skills I could easily work on my business 16 hours a day, 7 days a week!
Does simply looking at your to-do list give you anxiety? Like tasks are multiplying faster than you can complete them and you are continually sacrificing time with your family, self-care or sleep in order to simply tread water in your business. With so many tasks to finish, how do you what you should be working on each day?
Has the overwhelm of managing your business caused you to slow or completely stall progress on your business goals? You are afraid to take action on your projects because nothing works out the way you expected it would and all you see are problems that you don’t feel capable to address.
Are you constantly stuck on what types of content marketing you should be doing to grow your audience? Your content calendar is usually empty, you wait until the last minute to write your posts but come up blank or you completely skip out on content creation all together because the process is just too time consuming.
What if there was an easier way to run your business?
Imagine waking up in the morning after a full nights sleep, rested and ready to take on the day. You are excited to start work on your business because you are clear on your priorities and have systems in place that make your work much more manageable (and, dare I say, even fun?)
Imagine waking up to a business reality where you feel in control and in charge of your business, like the inspired and aligned CEO you always intended to be.
Your business is thriving, you have time to take your work slow and get the results you are looking for. Your home life is well-managed and your personal relationships are thriving.
At the end of the day, your head hits the pillow grateful and content, knowing that you created this reality and that you can create whatever else you desire tomorrow!
If you are struggling to plan and manage a balanced life and business, I have the solution for you!
Introducing the CEO Strategy Bundle:Learn the time management, mindset, and marketing strategies that will streamline your business so you can finally live a balanced life!
The CEO Strategy Bundle will teach you how to manage your time, energy and expectations as a business owner so you can work less and earn more without sacrificing your personal life, family or sleep!
Here’s what you’ll get:
CEO Strategy Masterclass: Learn how to manage your time, energy and expectations as a business owner so you can lead a balanced life.
CEO Mindset Masterclass: Become a master of your own mindset, overcome and reprogram limiting beliefs holding you back from taking action on your desired life + business.
CEO Content Calendar Masterclass: Streamline your content to keep your audience and revenue growing without overwhelming your schedule or spending money on ads.
EMBODY THE CONFIDENT CEO ENERGY INSIDE OF YOU
Take Charge of Your Time:As the saying goes, either you run the day or the day runs you! But, you don’t have to hustle and grind 24/7 to balance your life + business, in fact, doing less often helps you to achieve more!
Master Your Mindset:Your mind creates your reality, so if what you see around you isn’t pleasing to you, the first place to look is inside yourself to your thought patterns and beliefs, and start intentionally choosing better thoughts that will lead you to better results.
Expand Your Marketing: Content creation may seem daunting with multiple platforms and posts to create, but as someone who built their business on content marketing, I have the strategies to share with you that will save you time, energy and ensure you always have the right content to post to drive sales.
RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS IS YOUR DREAM, NOT YOUR NIGHTMARE
Take back control of your life + business with proven strategies that will keep you balanced, focused and on track!
Stop choosing between your business and your personal life, and start embracing the strategies that can keep you balanced and successful in all areas of your life!
April is quickly coming to a close and now is the time to start making your monthly plan for May.
If you are like me, creating your monthly plan can take quite a bit of time over the course of a few days. During my monthly CEO Strategy planning session:
I schedule out my monthly events
Populate my editorial calendar with great content ideas across all of my platforms
ID and break down my objectives
Compile a complete list of tasks I need to work on
Allocate time for each of my objectives and all of my work across the month
So, it’s a lot of work that I often start on a few days before the new month begins. I realize, I could cut down on this work by planning out certain aspects of my monthly calendar on a quarterly basis, but with the way I run my business, I know I’d be making multiple changes to a more long term plan, so it’s better for me to stick to monthly planning.
The C.E.O. Power Hour
As a first step to my monthly planning routine, I have started executing on the idea of a C.E.O. Power Hour to be dedicated time where I review the previous month and start planning big picture elements of the next.
This is a LIVE workshop I intend to host on a monthly basis for the last Saturday of the month to help myself and fellow business owners get organized and begin strategically planning the month ahead.
This was a playlist I created a few weeks ago for my at-home CEO Retreat where I gave myself a full day to work on some high level business strategy and messaging for my business.
Of course, important CEO level work for your business requires the right tunes to keep you focused on inspired, and that is how the CEO Vibes Playlist was born!
I chose a variety of my favorite songs for this playlist. Tunes that really inspire and elevate my mindset. Music that puts me into alignment with my ideas and abundance. Many of these songs speak to me on a very spiritual level as well, but of course, I had to throw in some good pump you up style hip-hop and rap as well!
A number of you have reached out to ask me about my crystals and I wanted to share some thoughts on them with everyone!
Yes, I have a nice little collection of crystals in my office that are one part decor and one part metaphysical tool.
Why I Love Crystals
By no means do I believe that crystals have some magical properties but this is what I do believe about them:
❖ Like everything on earth crystals are made from the same energy we are. See Einstein E=MC2 energy creates matter.
❖ The most precious chemical element to human life, water, can take the form of crystal. Ice is a crystalline form of water, humans are made mostly of water, and therefore I believe it is possible that crystals can exert some influence on us.
❖ Quartz crystals are the technology that make timepieces possible. Your watch, if it’s not digital, likely has quartz elements because quartz crystals maintain a precise frequency standard which helps regulate the movement of a watch or clock. For this reason I think they have a unique way of storing a regulating energy.
❖ Crystals are a naturally occurring element and I love the idea of bringing nature into our lives as much as possible.
❖ Crystals come in a variety of colors which according to color therapy can shift our moods in different situations if used strategically.
❖ Crystals are lovely objectives to focus on during meditation and can help uplift the experience overall. For that reason I tend to collect stones that are easy to hold in the hand, but I would love to add some larger statement pieces to my collection as well.
For those reasons I am a great lover of crystals and do believe they offer some metaphysical benefits to our lives even if it’s just a beautiful element of home decor. I understand that science hasn’t been able to prove any definitive benefit to their use, but science can’t explain a lot of things that humans do or believe so it’s not the end of the world to me that I might think they have a special power or meaning beyond what can be measured or observed.
Where I get my crystals
I purchase a lot of my crystals on Etsy, but I also follow accounts in IG that sell them too. I highly recommend doing your research on the shops you purchase from, read reviews, etc, and I also recommend researching the meanings and usage of different crystals or stones before you buy them so you select pieces that are special to you.
Your planner is an untapped success tool in more ways than you can imagine.
For quite some time now, I have strongly believed that our planners are tools to be used strategically for our success. If you allow it, your planner can be more than just a place to record your schedule and to-do’s.
Think about it- this is a physical tool that we carry around to organize our life in, and if we choose to, we can use it to organize and facilitate our success as well.
And this applies whether you are using a physical planner or a digital planner on your computer or phone. I don’t care what type of planner you are using, nearly any planner can be used in a way that will expand your experience and benefit you for working in it on a daily basis.
As the title of today’s post illustrates, one of the ways I put this concept into action in my own planner is by using it to do manifestation and mindset work.
Manifestation and Mindset Work is an Essential Key for Success
Like many who have accomplished any amount of success, I attribute much of my achievement over the course of my lifetime to my mindset and receptivity to manifestation principles, even if I didn’t clearly acknowledge them as such at the time.
It’s pretty well accepted now that mindset, your beliefs and outlook on life, play a key role in what you are able to accomplish, also known as manifest. Mindset is often the “secret ingredient” that gives specific individuals an edge in their pursuits. Where many have failed, a positive mindset is often the deciding factor in why one prevails.
Of course, there are still plenty of people who label mindset work as a type of pseudoscience that isn’t real. This doesn’t surprise me, as mindset is often difficult to quantify, and therefore nearly impossible to test for or measure in any way that would allow us to understand its precise role in patterns of success or failure.
That doesn’t prevent or deter me from believing in and working on my mindset, in order to manifest the outcomes I desire for my life. If self-reporting counts for anything, I certainly can attest that working on my mindset with tangible strategies has, in fact, made me a more productive and successful person.
When I actively work on my mindset, I hit more of the goals I set for myself, and show up more fully and intentionally to my tasks for the day.
I certainly prescribe to the idea that “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right,” – Henry Ford
When I choose to “think I can” I am more focused and accountable to seeing my goals through to fruition.
The Manifestation and Mindset Strategies I Use Inside My Planner
Although Manifestation and Mindset are intangibles that are hard to quantify, there are some practical strategies I use nearly every day inside my planner that I’d like to share with you.
Goal + Objective Setting
Whether you know it or not, every time we set a goal for ourselves, we are taking the first steps in the manifestation process. Claiming what it is that you want, and then deciding “how” you are going to make it a reality by choosing objectives is like placing an order with the Universe for what you want to receive in your life. This is manifesting, plain and simple.
So, by simply writing down your goals and objectives someplace in your planner, you are manifesting them. And if you take the additional step on a regular basis to review those goals and objectives, track your progress on them and especially, imagine how you are going to feel when you reach the goal or hit the objective, that’s doing some strong metaphysical work to continuously align with your desired manifestation and call it in even quicker.
This is why I keep my goals and objectives listed out in my planner, right at the front because these are important pieces of my life plan and organization. On top of that, I also keep a vision board right there will my goals broken out into images that I can review on a daily basis and get into alignment with.
Daily Intentions
Another powerful way I manifest inside my planner is through setting daily intentions. Think of intention setting as the way we check in and align ourselves with God/Spirit/The Universe to choose how we want our day to flow in alignment with our best life. In many ways, I think of intention setting as a parallel of prayer. If you pray in the morning when you wake up or in the evening before you fall asleep, you are checking in with a higher power to align with the feeling of the life you desire.
I set intentions for my day inside my planner on daily planning inserts. You could easily write out your intentions on your planner spreads and this is a great way to use free white space in our planners. You could also, of course, write your intentions each day on spare notepaper. It doesn’t have to be fancy, you just need to show up and do the work each day and your planner is an excellence place to do that work.
Affirmations
A powerful way that I address my mindset and do work to overcome limiting beliefs holding me back from fully realizing my goals is through writing and/or reciting affirmations daily. Because affirmation work can be done verbally or written out, I have a few inserts inside my planner I use for this purpose.
First, I keep a list of affirmations and beliefs I am trying to program into my mindset in my planner. I will flip to these pages and read over the affirmations and beliefs on a near daily basis. Second, I also keep dedicated inserts in my planner for writing out affirmations in what I call the 3 x 3 manifestation style. Which means, I write three affirmations out, three times each to help with repetition and mindset reprogramming. This work I do on a weekly basis
Journaling
Last but certainly not least, the final way I work on manifestation and mindset inside my planner is through journaling. Now, I realize that some people would do their journaling in a notebook separate from their planner, but I don’t. I like having everything together because as I believe I have illustrated from this post alone, the goals I am manifesting are strongly tied to my daily work, and as far as I’m concerned this entire process of mindset, manifestation and productivity is the most important work I do in a day to ensure I am showing up and working towards my best life.
In terms of how I journal inside my planner, I use dedicated inserts where I will list out things like daily gratitude, script how I want my day to flow, overcome specific limiting beliefs and set my vibe for the day. I don’t always journal daily, but I do several times a week and it goes a long way to keeping me in alignment and constantly motivated to bring my goals to fruition for both my life and business.
The Manifestation and Mindset Tools I Use Inside My Planner
As you might imagine, the manifestation and mindset tools I use inside my planner are all of my own original design, but they are all inserts that I openly share with my Productivity + Planning Mastermind Members! If you are interested in starting a daily manifestation and mindset practice that puts you into daily alignment with your goals and motivates you each day to work productively towards the achievement of your best life, you would make an excellent addition to the Mastermind.
When you join the Productivity + Planning Mastermind, you get instant access to all the exclusive tools and trainings I have developed month over month for the members of the group, as well as access to the signature Productivity + Planning Mastermind course and our private Slack community for connection and accountability!
You can choose to enroll in the Mastermind for a full year in advance, which equates to just $22 per month PLUS gives you access to the entire 2021 Master Plan System of inserts I use to plan my life and business.
Or you can choose the month to month subscription and start now for just $33.
Did you know that reading is considered to be one of the most universally acknowledged success habits?
Statistics are thrown around all the time about how many books millionaires and CEOs read in a year. It’s always something crazy like 4+ dozen!
I know for some people, that number seems intimidating. They say the average American reads less than one book per year.
But personally, I don’t believe that it’s the exact number of books read that really makes someone successful. What I think is a more accurate predictor of success is that you are someone who values ongoing education and the way that is most commonly and easily practiced is by reading.
That is why as part of the Productivity + Planning Mastermind Membership that I host, we have a bookclub where each month the members who are interested are able to read along with a book chosen by me that addresses an important productivity or personal development topic.
(If you are interested in being part of our bookclub and getting ongoing support from me to help you live out your own personal vision for success, I would love to have you join the Mastermind and my inner circle, so please do click here to learn more!)
So, I decided that in order to share the love of books and truly, the success habit of continuing your education through the enjoyment and curiosity of reading, I am starting a series here on the blog where I will share one of the books we have read in the Mastermind and provide my summary/feedback on the book.
So this is how I feel about the Alchemist. I’ve already told you this is essentially my favorite book because to me, it’s not a story, it’s an illustration of the principles of Alchemy at work in “real life” situations. For those of you who are not as familiar, Alchemy was an ancient science and the precursor of chemistry, but it was so much more than that. Early Alchemists theorized about the world and physical science and many of their predictions were ultimately proven true through modern research. They had no science or evidence at the time to rationalize their belief, instead, their belief came from pure intuition and engaging and learning from the world, the way the Alchemist in the book taught Santiago to engage and learn from the desert to gain true knowledge or gnosis.
For example, the belief that all things are a manifestation of just one thing, that is true from a quantum mechanics perspective. All things known to us in the universe are created by the arrangement of energy into matter (E=MC Squared), we know this know and it’s a major pursuit of science to understand how we can manipulate the arrangement of energy to create whatever we want or need.
The concept that everything evolves, even seemingly inanimate elements evolve, we also know to be true now via the Theory of Evolution and the fact that coal becomes diamonds, fossilized remained become oil etc. A grain of sand was once a particle of star matter. The dunes of the desert take the form of solid waves, referring back to the fact that the dessert itself was once an ocean.
The great mystery of life is unraveled in this book if you read it deep enough because it is a principle of both this book and alchemy that you can look at the face of any thing in our world and read the entire history of the world in it. It’s quite profound and thats why every time I read this book I learn something new about life and how to evolve myself into the person I want to become.
As the book points out during the scene when Santiago is tasked with turning himself into the wind to avoid death, all of us, each human, plant, animal, mineral, are part of the story of the world written by the one hand (God) and because the one who wrote us is infinite, so are we. We have a story to live out that was written inside of us, and to uncover our purpose we need to get our hands dirty and get down to the business of living.
This is the thing I love about this book the most- it comes out and tells you the thing many religions and world philosophies simply dance around. That you were put here for a reason, that your story began long before you were ever conceived and it will go on as you evolve past your current form. You yourself are not a god but you live inside of God and are connected on a metaphysical level to that single power and every other thing in existence known or unknown to you. Your life has significance and meaning, and it’s up to you to live it out or not, the choice is yours.
Now, I have also come up with a few discussion questions to help us dig a little deeper into the lessons and meaning of the book. Feel free to share your thoughts on these questions as part of our ongoing discussion of The Alchemist.
Question 1:What was your favorite or most impactful lesson from the book?
Question 2:Do you use a system of signs or omens to help you tap into your internal guidance system and what are they?
Question 3:Can you think of a time when the pure expression of enthusiasm and a solid work ethic brought you to success?
Question 4:What is your personal legend?
Question 5:What was the moral of the story for you?
