This Way to Getting things Done ☞

We are what we repeatedly do. Planning therefore is not an act but a habit. ~ Soul Nudger

[prefer to listen to this post instead]

I’ve written recently about a couple of the tools I use to help me plan my year plus I outlined 5 steps to help you do just that (read those posts here and here).

One of the tools I highly recommend getting is The Annual Planner and Blueprint as a way to help you coalesce everything from a past and future point of view in your business. I truly found it invaluable.

Today’s post (again, this is a 2-parter) is about one of the many tools I use to carry out my own yearly plans. That simple tool is a planner.

Now truth be told, any simple planner will work. You don’t need an expensive one that has spaces for you to think on paper. Even a notebook will do.

The latest craze right now is a digital planner but for me, I’ll probably always be a pen ‘n paper kinda gal.

But guess what? You just need something to capture all the many thoughts and lists and ideas,

Plus it’s good to get one that includes a space to jot down your weekly/daily schedules.

Ok. here’s something I need to own up to. The latter part of last year leading into this year I went on a seriously crazy find-the-perfect-planner-frenzy type of search.

Back in October of last year (I have this thing for processes starting in October it seems Ha!) I began researching planners, all the different options available. I knew that this year would be a big year for me in business and I wanted a planner….nope I wanted a PLANNER to match the bigness of what I was planning and the momentum I was building.

As I write this I am exhausted just thinking about the dilemma I created for myself.

If someone mentioned to me what they used and, especially the success they had (as if I would too automatically. duh!), I wanted to know about it.

Now if you know me, I am officially the research queen in my house and for my business. I can and have researched a thing to death and usually make a very informed decision from all that work. Uh uh. not this time.

I hadn’t a clue which way to turn after a couple months at this because, I realized, my needs (which were very clear in the beginning) ended up conflating with everyone else’s as I got input from them.

It wasn’t a pretty site. By the time the new year came around I settled on one but still wasn’t sure it was the right one for me.

What’s my message here? To let you know that you don’t have to know all things before you make one step.

Yes, sometimes you need to do some research to make an informative decision, But make a decision. Done.

The thing about planners is that is should make sense for you AND the way you work. Most importantly though, someone else’s criteria shouldn’t play a role in your choice. If, after looking at a few, you can’t make a choice (like me, duh!) just pick the best for now.

(my business coach elucidated this point quite effectively one day, as I was equivocating over something in our session. She gently suggested I just ….choose for now). 

Right now you probably have plans you’ve outlined and want to put in place. But….

You really need a place to house all that thinking and creating you’ve been doing, one that helps you master your year.

There are so many great planners to check out. Some I considered getting and a few others that women in business have recommended to me. Get you one. No, really. And make it work FOR you. Plan out your weeks and months for success.

You might be thinking that because you don’t have any concrete plans in place yet you don’t need one. Yes, you do. Please don’t be like me last year, waiting for the perfect planner to show up.

Not only will a planner help with coraling your days and weeks of schedules and ideas, one of the best reasons for using a planner is that you’ll be able to keep track of where you’re going, and then be able look back and review what’s happening, in order to pivot if necessary to reach your stated goals.

I have a few years of planners on my shelf. Sometimes I get one out to look back on, especially for an idea that didn’t pan out before but would make more sense to implement today,

A planner is YOUR record of YOUR year. It’s where the past informs the future. This is where some of the magic in a year happens first, on paper like a seed just starting to sprout. This is where you mine the gold so you can forge ahead in your business.

If you haven’t yet chosen a planner not to worry. I’m getting feedback from a few of my colleagues to put together in a Planner Resource page to help you find one that fits you where you are today. Look for that coming up in a few.

Remember that saying “start like you mean to finish”? Do that. Get your plans out of your head and onto some paper. Then, keep sticking to the plan.

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Have a question about how I can help you get unstuck when life seems all too big yet you’ve got a business to run, a life to live? Book a 90 minute Complimentary call with me and let’s start moving that mountain of yours out of your way.