PLAN YOUR LIFE

You can build own dreams or someone else can pay you to build their dreams. The choice is yours.

A wise man named Larry Zimberg spoke with my fitness team recently about how to be successful. One of the things he said that really woke me up was - you can take the time to build your dreams or someone will hire you to spend your time building their dreams. Okay - I was listening. Who doesn’t want to build their dreams? The truth is everyone wants to build their dreams but only a small percentage of people take the time to make it happen. And I want to be in that top percentage. I want to make it when everyone else drops out. But how do I get there?

Step 1: Personal Development

One thing that I really love about my community within Beachoody is that they encourage you to focus on your own personal development first. Your personal development is always the most important because when you stop growing, your business stops growing and you have no chance. You have to focus on building yourself, always learning and surrounding yourself with positive vibes and encouragement in your journey. This is something that takes time. You will not make these changes overnight - but you should do a little bit at a time - just 10 minutes each day and those little changes consistently will create an entire new mindset and make you unstoppable.

God gave us 168 hours a week. Everyone has no more, no less. What you do with that time is up to you.

Some of the ways that I get personal development in my life each day are through reading leadership books, personal development books and listening to podcasts and speakers. I have a list below of some of the people, podcasts and books that I have really enjoyed - I encourage you to check them out! I recently listened to a conversation about time management for a Beachbody course and it was everything I needed to hear - and I know some of you can relate- so I have my thoughts on it below.

Plan Your Life

Some of the ways that I get personal development in my life each day are through reading leadership books, personal development books and listening to podcasts and speakers. I have a list below of some of the people, podcasts and books that I have really enjoyed - I encourage you to check them out! The most recent audio y to do lists, calendars, reminders, sticky notes - you name it, I’ve probably got it. I have been told that I keep sticky notes in business at work because my desk is covered but this is how I keep track of things or I will totally forget what I am doing. The reason why I forget what I'm doing is because even though I have my to do list with the “priorities” I still say “yes I can do that” or “no worries let me handle it” to pretty much anything that comes my way - and honestly 99% of the time I get it done (which is why everyone comes to me last minute to fix what they forgot but that’s a story for another day). I’m sure all you ladies can relate- but at the end of the day constantly doing this adding onto my list a getting sidetracked by these side pop up projects and commitments leaves me feeling anxious, stressed and ultimately like my life is out of control. It can affect my sleeping habits even and it’s because I can‘t turn my mind off even when I’m away from my work.

Craig Holiday held this conversation essentially about the importance of a calendar and how to effectively manage your time- going into it I thought “man this will be easy I got this, I’m the master of planning“ and then as I started listening to him I realized this was way more than a conversation about a planner book. He hit the nail on the head with where we all go wrong and why it leads to our lives being out of control. We all have the same amount of time throughout the week - God gives us 168 hours a week no more, no less and there are people who can do it so the excuse that I don‘t have enough time becomes invalid. We all feel this way but we have to make the time in the time we are given to focus on what our priorities are. Many of us - with the best of intentions- just don‘t manage our time effectively to strictly focus on our top priorities and before we know it we have too many priorities, we don’t know where to focus and BOOM our lives are out of control.

He started the conversation by talking about what our priorities are in life. Big picture focus for immediate priorities- ie. I want to be financially independent, I want to be debt free etc. - and this column of priorities will likely be fairly short and focused as it should because if you have too many priorities that don’t aligns you lose control again. Next, he had us write out what our real life looks like. Day to day - write out from the minute you get up to the minute you go to bed what are you doing daily. Now cross compare those lists and as you compare and contrast the two see what items in your daily life don‘t align with your priorities. And then those things that don't support your priorities - stop doing them. This sounds simple but it is a hard decision - these are things that you may really enjoy doing but until you hit the point where your priorities and goals are met, you need to stop doing these other things which may include volunteering (in groups, for PTA, soccer mom- whatever it may be). And just focus on the things that support what you are shooting for. To do this, you need a calendar and literally bock the time out in the day to do everything. Block time in the week for your kids, for your spouse, for your alone time, to work, to work on your business and if you have something come up that you may want to do check your priorities and your calendar and if there’s time and it aligns - go for it if not, turn it down. This is the only way to stay on track.

It might seem harsh but this is really the only way to get your life on track. This calendar allows you to take control of your schedule, your life and therefore your priorities and then once you have that control - you can do the other things but not before then. You have to be in the moment and you cannot do that if you are constantly thinking about what you have to do later or what you forgot to do. And this control comes to you because with this calendar (which is so much more than just a calendar btw) allows you to empty your mind every day before bed by planning out what you need to do to support your priorities the next day and then your mind can rest because you have it written down and you can live that next day in the moment if you are only doing what is on that calendar. TRUST ME it sounds simple and crazy like how could this work but TRY IT - It works wonders.

For me, I know that I waste time because I get frustrated at work and I’ll look on my phone or spend time shopping or pinning things on Pinterest that I don‘t need - doing things to keep me busy that are not productive. I also have my priorities all over the place because I was frustrated with where I was at and I lost control of where I wanted to go. So I made clear priorities and goals and cut out what I don‘t need to get there - for now - things that I enjoy can come back later once I have gotten to that place of control And achieved my goals.

Larry Zimberg is another man that I have listened to talk with my fitness group and as he puts it - Do the first things first and the second things not at all. Unless it hits that mark and gets you closer to the goal - you don't need it. The successful people are only successful because they do the little things that unsuccessful people won’t. They take the time to write out their day, time block so they can have peace of mind that it will get it all done, read 10 pages of personal development a day, workout everyday, or even wake up with an encouraging quote and a positive affirmation for themselves. If you take the time to do these little things, you will get control of your life back and you will make it to the top. It starts with a mindset - and by surrounding yourself with positivity and a mindset that is encouraging, you will be unstoppable.

Personal Development Suggestions:

The Slight Edge

Eat That Frog

Craig Holiday

Larry Zimberg

Brene Brown (great books, podcasts and Ted Talks)

#HealthyLiving #mindset #positive #positiveaffirmations #PersonalDevelopment #PlanYourLife #CraigHoliday #LarryZimberg #168hours #LivePositive #TakeControlOfYourLife #planning