How I'm Planning 2020

Ya’ll need to be getting your planning on!

I mean doesn’t the thought of a new planner or journal just excite the crap outta ya?

Okay, my people are hearing me.

YAY for a new year – BUT...

As exciting as a new planner or journal can be, the excitement wears off and fast if we are not getting the results we want manifested into our daily lives!

So, I thought I’d share with you my ritual for planning and my absolute non-negotiables when it comes to all things scheduling and planning.

OH and don’t forget the golden rule:

What gets scheduled gets done.

or as my Grade 6 teacher, Mr. Satterbloom had on our classroom walls:

Fail to Plan. Plan to Fail.

Okay, so before we dig into planning – we must remember that this is a DAILY thing that must happen, except weekends.

Weekends – let’s face it – I don’t do any planning. I KNOW after a busy week that my brain needs to shut off completely to get me ready for another week.

Don’t push yourself too hard, you’ll crack and end up nowhere near your intended goal. #beentheredonethat

Like “they” always say, you can overestimate what you can get done in a day, week or year – but completely underestimate what you get done in 5 years, 10 years or even your lifetime.

I know this to be true.

Even this blog post was completely scheduled and planned into my calendar.

You don’t create a great body of work with one piece of work!

233 blogs have taken me 233 weeks to write.

Same time every week.

No matter rain, sleet or snow (like the mailman’s creed!) – YOU HAVE TO stay true to what you’ve scheduled and have integrity with yourself on the tasks at hand!

So how do I do it?

Every Monday morning – the weekly planner.

I literally have everything in my google calendar and on my iPhone cal.

For me, everything is synced up. It has to be as my clients have access to my calendar as well to schedule appointments if need be.

Also, my assistant has full access to my calendar, so we have to keep an online calendar – paper just doesn’t work for the practicality of business.

HOWEVER, Monday morning I print off a weekly calendar (or use my yearly planner – depending on my mood!) and hand write out all the scheduled events in the time slots.

This does 2 things:

1. Helps me create a visual of my week and I have a photographic memory so I can see all my appointments on one piece of paper and it helps me never forget a meeting and visually lock everything in – helping with time management.
2. It helps me visualize the events and meetings and appointments. I literally can see everything unfolding, from successful sales calls to picking up happy children (LOL, okay sometimes visualizing happy children works!)

The key to manifesting anything in your life is first thinking the idea, and then the second part is really holding the vision for at least 17 seconds (seriously, google it!).

SEEING IT.

SEEING IT in your mind unfold.

That’s the magical part of it all!

As elementary as this sounds, and I will say that I’m committed to it (ONCE AGAIN!) that PLANNING is the most important thing you can do to help you accomplish ANYTHING you want in your life.

And… talk to anyone who has lost weight and kept it off has more than likely planned out everything that went in their mouth.

Here’s the truth bomb:

Planning takes time.

Too much time sometimes!

This is where I fall down.

I half-ass plan sometimes and trust me when I say that is the downfall of WHY I HAVEN’T CREATED and brought into reality some of my dreams.

SERIOUSLY.

I know it.

Deep down you know it.

Running around like a chicken with your head cut off and all that “busy” work will never get you close or even in the same room as your dreams.

What I LOVE to do is take hours, if not days, alone and plan out what needs to happen.

It goes like this:

I have an Ellements Group Bible. (EG is my corporation/business name – in case I didn’t tell you.)

No serious.

It’s called the Bible for one reason only and that’s because it’s not supposed to change every time I feel like changing it… which is often, which I guess makes it more of a guideline book instead of Bible, but I feel if I call it a Bible I may actually follow the own words I write in it! 

The Bible contains the vision, mission, goals, plans, team roles, products, future plans, financial projections.

It’s totally one step up from a business plan – because it’s never going to be shown to a bank, or outsider.

So it’s like a secret Bible.

Why will it never be shown to an outsider?

Simple.

Because when it’s for my eyes and my team's eyes only then it’s not being influenced by outside forces.

Think about it.

When you write a business plan, usually you are trying to impress someone, usually, it’s a professor for a grade (hence my University Business Plan!) or my dad or a bank/investor – because if you need money and investors you need to go to the bank.

This doesn’t work people!

Stop trying to impress someone else.

Have a business plan and go forth with conviction!

The power is yours.

You give your power away every time you ask for someone’s opinion on your plans!

So stop asking.

Make your plans top secret.

Only share them with your team or people who are supporting you and uplifting you in accomplishing your goals.

Hence, the Ellements Group Bible is not to be seen by anyone but me and my team. (You can do this for your family/home life too!)

It’s the be all end all to my business. It’s a book unto its own.

Okay, so you hear me now?

Create your “plan” and treat it like your “Bible”!

Then, once you have your plan it’s easy to schedule in your life.

Create strict boundaries around your intentions.

For example, I rarely take a client before noon.

Morning is my time.

MY TIME.

I write, plan, read, exercise, create, work with my numerous coaches.

I get GROUCHY when this is not honoured.

AND that does happen sometimes for meetings, so I compensate on that day and schedule my time in the afternoon – or whatever it takes.

I need 3-6 hours a day of alone time.

Like a QUEEN.

(You are Queen/King of your life, don’t forget!)

I realize many of you do not have this kind of time, or even an hour to plan and take alone time BUT I encourage that you make the time.

Nothing else is as important as planning.

Nothing.

Without the time and space to think, create and bring ideas forth – there is nothing!

NOTHING!

And we were born to create!

Okay, so now we’ve planned out week and days to coincide with the Bible.

Next, is the hardest part.

Even harder than sitting your butt down and planning.

It’s now honouring your word to yourself.

We all get pulled in 100 different ways.

This is what separates the people who set out to achieve something and the people that don’t.

The people who say “No” more are usually the people that win at their goals.

The “Yes” people don’t.

You are no longer a doormat to the rest of the world vying for your attention.

Don’t give into them.

Millions will.

You won’t.

Why?

Because this is what it means to have dreams bigger than your bullshit.

This means you say “no”.

You only say “yes” to things that are in alignment with your plans, your goals, your dreams.

And because we are all “too nice” – we say “yes” to everything.

That’s the Canadian way after all – like if we don’t say “yes” to everything, people will freeze to death or something. Maybe that’s how it started...

But today, you are allowed to say “no” to events and requests that don’t work for you for whatever reason on the planet you want.

Maybe you just needed to give yourself permission to say “no” so you can say “yes” to yourself.

The problem with saying “yes” to someone else’s agenda means you are saying “no” to yours unless both parties are aligned in the same outcome or goal.

Here’s the other thing to catch yourself in.

The fun.

I blow off my schedule MANY TIMES for a better offer.

Once in a while, it’s great and soul-refreshing, but doing this consistently is not going to help your efforts. (Real it in Sagittarians!)

Final point.

Take a day to yourself to think, plan, create.

I do this often, but definitely at the end of the year for the new year.

Turn off everything.

No interruptions.

And dream, and plan.

I have to do this alone.

I can’t do it in a workshop.

I can’t do it with family around.

I can’t do it with friends.

I can’t do it with my team.

I can’t do it with my fish watching.

I have to be all alone.

That’s when I make the biggest strides in my business.

That’s when I get closer, more tied into what I’m creating.

That’s when I get to create the vision and sit with the vision in my mind and play with it.

That’s when life gets good.

That’s how I plan my day, week, month, year

and

that’s how you…

Live Your Legacy.

xx L