DIY Christmas Gift Idea–2012 Planner

Christmas is nearly here and most of us have a few people left to buy gifts for. How about the My Life Matters 2012 planner with a cover you’ve made yourself? You can help her begin the new year by focusing on what is important to her in life, plus make it a thoughtful, personalized gift by decorating a binder or other cover to show her life matters to you.

Here is more about the 2012 edition, which is a download you print yourself on your own paper (there are also printing tips here.

Bobette on Careers From The Kitchen Table

As you may know, I was recently interviewed by Raven Blair Davis on the Houston CBS radio show Careers From the Kitchen Table. If you missed it, now is your chance to listen in–we’ve uploaded the audio from the interview.

The MP3 is here. We had a bad line for the first part of the interview, but we fixed the problem during the first commercial break, so hang in there and the audio becomes clearer after four or five minutes. Also, the Website she mentions at the beginning is actually WebsiteMarketingPlan.com.

http://www.womansplanner.com/data/CFKTInterview.mp3

My Life Matters Woman’s Planner Wins Living Now Book Award

St. Louis MO–Lifestyle Inspirations LLC, publisher of the My Life Matters Planner for Women, announced the planner has been chosen as one of the best new planners, journals, or calendars in the Living Now Book Awards.

“The Living Now Book Awards recognize the year’s best books, planners, and journals that help readers help themselves.” said Awards Director Jim Barnes. “These are important tools for gaining knowledge about life-improvement goals, and are a must read for helping us achieve those goals.”

Barnes goes on to explain that people are sensing the need to slow down and to find balance in and live healthier lives. “Winners in the Journal / Planner / Calendar category are especially useful to those who want to live that more rounded lifestyle.” My Life Matters won bronze in that category.

“Women have a need to address a wide range of issues in their lives, some far beyond organization and scheduling. We set out to fill that need with an all-in-one planner and are grateful for the recognition.” stated company Co-Owner Bobette Kyle.

About the My Life Matters Planner for Women

The planner is published and created by Lifestyle Inspirations LLC Co-Owners Bobette Kyle, Cecilia George, and Laura Thake, who run the small company from their homes.

The My Life Matters planner helps women focus on what is important to them, with sections for time management, diet & nutrition, goal setting, fitness, medical health, and personal finances. The planner is available in six-month editions, including July-December 2011, which retails for $26.95. The planner is spiral-bound, 9″ by 11 1/2″, with a large built in pocket for papers. It comes with a set of portable inserts (My Well Woman Health Information and My Contacts) and a self-adhesive 4″ x 6″ photo pocket. The Website is located at: www.WomansPlanner.com.

Contact Information

Laura Thake
314-910-9002
laura@WomansPlanner.com

Lifestyle Inspirations LLC
9051 Watson Road, Box 318
Saint Louis MO 63126

Ongoing Strength of Achievements–Cecilia’s Story

“They say that once you run a marathon you can do just about anything. When I first committed to doing this marathon, I had no idea if I would be successful. I charted in my planner that it was my goal to finish. When I came through the finish line after running 4 hours and 17 minutes straight, I felt an overwhelming feeling of relief and pride. It’s has been so rewarding to see my progress in my planner.” –Cecilia George, Lifestyle Inspirations LLC Co-owner

The obvious benefit of accomplishment is the sense of achievement when you reach your goal. There are others as well:

• Cecilia says she gains strength even now from going back and reading her accomplishments.
• We all have times when we feel inadequate; reminding yourself of what you achieved in the past also reminds you of the person you really are.
• Whether you finish exactly what you set out to do or not, your life is enriched by the experience. You have learned something new, met others who help move your life forward, or simply become more comfortable as you. All are worthy triumphs.

There is no better time than now to reach for your dreams. Set pen to paper now and plan for it! (Shameless plug: Cecilia, Laura, and I made sure there is ample room for goal setting, tracking your progress, and reflection in our My Life Matters Personal Planner for Women.)

The Thrill of Accomplishing a Dream–Cecilia’s Story

You may recall that last December our co-owner, Cecilia, complete one of her life dreams–finishing a full marathon.  Below she describes the thrill of that accomplishment…

“The day of the race was beautiful, 55 degrees and sunny. Five miles into the race we passed the Target House, where families stay while there at the hospital. We also ran past the hospital and were cheered on by some of the children and doctors. Along the route were many people thanking the Heros for what we were doing. Jake’s family had made many signs that read ‘Jake & his family thank you for running and raising money for research.’

As I ran 26.2 miles, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Grateful that I was able to run the entire race, grateful that I had signed up to raise funds and exceeded my goal, grateful for my good health and the health of my children, and grateful to be part of the St. Jude marathon. The relief and excitement of crossing the finish line after running for over four hours is exhilarating. I’ve never felt such pride and such a sense of accomplishment. The entire run was one of inspiration and hope.”

Whether one of your lifelong dreams is to complete a marathon or something completely different, you can experience the same feelings as Cecilia; plan what actions you will take, then make a commitment to finish. (We’ve developed the My Life Matters Planner for Women to help you do just that. More information is here.)

Staying on track with training using My Life Matters planner: Cecilia’s Story

When we last left Cecilia, she had just told us about the months leading up to running the marathon; it was difficult at times, but she drew strength from her purpose. Laura and I saw her diligently planning and tracking her training routine as well. Cecilia explains:

“As the training process increased, so did my reliance on our planner.  I tracked daily what I was doing physically, and what I was eating. The food pyramid was very important, especially the days of long runs. Keeping track of my protein and carbohydrate intake was crucial.”

While most of us are not training for a marathon, we all have fitness and nutritional needs. Cecilia tracked the miles she ran and how many carbs and proteins she ate each day in the My Health and Well-Being section. I use the same pages for food diaries and different types of workouts (my example is here).

No matter what our fitness and weight levels, we can benefit from healthier diet and exercise habits.  If you have been putting off making those habits a part of your daily routines, now is the ideal time. Here’s more information about My Life Matters.

Monthly Resolutions and Schedules: Amarette

I’ve been asking people who are using the My Life Matters planner what they are working on improving in their lives and how the planner is helping do that. When I asked my daughter, Amarette, she promptly sat down and wrote two pages about it! She gets a double gold star!

In this first post, we’ll read how Amarette uses four areas in the planner for the month’s goals and schedules.

Monthly Resolutions

Her first change was to forget about New Year’s Resolutions and instead focus on New Month’s Resolutions–what she wants to accomplish each month. Her January resolutions revolve around personal finances, mental & emotional well-being, physical fitness, and a hobby that may turn into a career. She wrote January’s four resolutions on the My Monthly Goals page:

• Daily tracking of her and husband, Chris’, bank account
• Daily mental/emotional journaling
• Daily photography (taking photos or studying)
• Playing Zumba (not to be confused with the sedentary game, Zuma, which I did at first!) or other workout 3x a week

Beginning in February, Amarette is going to use the bottom of the Monthly Goals page to write a brief summary of January and reflect on how she did.

Monthly Resolution Details

Like all goals, there are details behind the plan; Amarette is using part of the monthly My Life, Myself page to note more details about her resolutions for the month (Actions such as exploring and signing up for photography classes).

Ongoing Schedules

Amarette and Chris both have jobs with variable schedules and a son (my grandson), Preston. To keep track of who is where when, it’s important for her to keep a written “master schedule.” She is finding the small boxes on the monthly calendar handy for that purpose. At a glance, she can see their entire work schedules and know when they will need babysitter(s).

On Great Day St. Louis

Set your DVRs! The My Life Matters Planner for Women will be on KMOV TV’s Great Day St. Louis Friday, January 21st. Practical Mommy of My Mommy Manual will present her favorite organization tools to new show host Virginia Kerr. For those of you outside the St. Louis viewing area, we will post the interview soon.

Focusing Your Energy On Progress

So many of us focus our attention on what isn’t going right, then have no energy left for progress. Today is about how to focus attention on getting things done and not burn your energy away by feeling overwhelmed.

A tendency we all have when faced with much more than we can actually do is to panic or stress out about it, which leads to getting less done. Next time this happens, instead of getting uptight, try writing a list then prioritizing.

This has two benefits: 1) it gets the clutter out of your head so you can think straighter and 2) it tells you which project or activity to focus on first. You may discover you don’t need to do as much as you thought. Many non-essential to-dos tend to go away if you don’t get to them immediately. They weren’t your to-dos at all!

A lot of us keep a planner to avoid the panicky feeling as much as possible. Staying ahead of the curve feels so much better than feeling “dumped upon.”

Shameless plug time: I use the My Life Matters Personal Planner for Women, of course . My ongoing to-do lists are on the My Days page (as you can see, “my cup runneth over” last week), food journals are on the daily pages; workouts, water, and hours slept in the daily My Health and Well Being section. I write my appointments first on the monthly calendar, then on the My Days page as each week arrives. This way, I am in a position to make progress; the critical pieces of my life’s “here and now” are always at my fingertips!

Reaching a Goal When the Going Gets Tough: Cecilia’s Story

In this third installment of Cecilia’s story of how she achieving a life long dream, she tells a bit about what kept her going when reaching her goal seemed too difficult:

As the race got nearer, there were days that I really didn’t want to run and train, but when I thought of the kids–I’m sure there were days they didn’t want to be sick, I gladly went out and ran the miles I needed to run that day.

After 3 1/2 months of training, race weekend was upon us. The Heros were treated to a pasta dinner the night before the race and we were introduced to some of the families that were benefiting from St. Jude Hospital.

We listened to a mother that had lost her 9 year old daughter to cancer. She was running the half marathon, and formed a team that raised $19,000.  Our table was next to 2 full tables of Team Jake. Jake is an eight year old boy who has cancer, and his extended family was running for him.

Seeing and being with these families put a face to what we were working towards. I realized at the dinner that this was not a personal challenge anymore, it was clearly a team effort. The St. Jude Hero’s raised over two million dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research.

That same approach–reflecting on why she wanted to run the race and reminding herself of the benefits in doing so–can help us all get through the tough times. What’s stopping you from reaching your dream?

Next Page »