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

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).

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?

Using a Planner To Make Dreams Come True: Cecilia’s Story

Yesterday, we began the story of how one of Cecilia’s dreams has been to run a marathon and  how, in December, this dream came true. Today she explains how she used MY LIFE MATTERS to get started. As you read, remember that you can do the same for any dream…most of us are not runners, but we all have dreams:

“When you decide to run a marathon, there are training programs for different levels of running. I chose a program for runners training for a first marathon, with the goal to finish with strength versus time. This is where our planner (MY LIFE MATTERS) was instrumental in helping me stay focused on the goal while training. For over three months I followed the program with speed runs, strength training runs, marathon pace runs and long runs with one day off each week for muscle recovery.

 

1. Starting in August on the month at a glance I wrote in my training workout each day in red.
2. For the month I also wrote down My monthly goals.
3. Running and training became a daily priority. Each day of the week I wrote the miles I ran or the preparation I did.
4. On the weekend page I tallied all the miles I ran for the week.”

You can see how Cecilia began on a monthly level–setting goals and planning her activities for the month–then tracked her progress against her plan as the days and weeks passed.

You can do the same. If you haven’t already done so, get out your planner now and:

1. Set your goals for the month and writing them on the My Monthly Goals page.
2. Plan out what you are going to do each day to move toward that goal–note them on the monthly calendar.
3. Each day, flip to the day on your My Week or My Weekend page and track how you are doing.
4. At the end of each week, use the My Weekend or My Days page to reflect on how you did.

Before you know it, realizing your dreams will be only a planner page away!

Acting On a Dream: Cecilia’s Story

Laura and I are so proud of Cecilia. On December 4th, she ran her first FULL marathon and came close to qualifying for the Boston Marathon. She trained for several months while also dealing with issues that make the average woman’s problems seem tame. Over the next few weeks, we’ll share with you the story of how Cecilia was able to plan and accomplish such a momentous goal.

Here’s Cecilia to tell you why she decided to meet this particular challenge…

My decision to run a full marathon started out as a personal challenge. My friend Stephanie and I turned 50 years old this year, and she told me she had signed up for the St. Jude Marathon and wondered if I wanted to do it also. We had trained and ran a half marathon together along with our friend Nora in 07’. I had always thought I’d run a full marathon when the time was right, and turning 50 this year seemed like the right time.

When you sign up for the St. Jude Marathon you have the option of raising funds for St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis. You are considered a Hero when you reach your goal. It was an easy decision for me to sign up and set a goal. Doing this gave training and running a new focus. I was not doing it for myself any more; I was doing it for the children of St. Jude. I also felt obligated to everyone who gave generously, and wanted to complete the race as they were supporting me.

Next time, Cecilia will explain how she used her planner to create a training schedule and stick with it.

How Terra is using the My Life Matters planner

It is always interesting to take a peek at how different people organize and live their lives. Often, I learn something and get ideas that can work for me. In that spirit, I will be sharing with you what we and some of our customers are using the My Life Matters ^TM planner to accomplish. Today, Terra Williams of EasyScratchOffs.com is in the spotlight. Terra is like many modern women; her multi-pronged life includes working at home, running the household, and raising children.

Bobette: Hi, Terra. Thank you for sharing how you will use the planner. I also want to thank you again for your support and input throughout development of both the 2011 My Life Matters ^TM and the 2010 Daysteps.

Let’s dive right in. What areas of life would you like to better organize?

Terra: You are welcome. I would like to schedule family time, meals, water intake, business goals, and to-dos in one planner.

Bobette: Great. I can see you’ve been thinking about different areas of your life–relationships, business, and nutrition. You probably have in mind how often you would like to track or complete each of those?

Terra: Yes. I would like to track my water intake and food diary daily–since I need to keep track of what foods trigger a reaction–plus keep an ongoing list of meal ideas because I can’t remember from one day to the next. I also want to scheduled regular one-on-one time with my children and reserve date nights with my husband. Weekly, I will be using the planner to keep track of business goals, to brainstorm ideas, and for implementation.

Bobette: There are several planner sections that can help with these. Here are some ideas for tracking and organizing:

-Daily food diary: The daily My Health and Well-Being area has a place to journal what you eat (as well as water consumption). If you would like more space, the morning/afternoon/evening section on the same page is perfect for detailed food diaries.

- Food reactions: Journal your reactions in the monthly My Life, Myself page or on the My Days page. You can also note them on the lines just above My Health and Well-Being.

– One-on-one time and dates: Schedule these on the monthly calendar, daily pages, or My Days page, wherever you choose to keep track of other appointments.

- Business Goals: Set your goals on the monthly My Goals page, use part of the My Life, Myself page to brainstorm, plan your weeks in the My Week sections, and implement by listing your ongoing to-dos on the My Days page each week.

Terra: Thanks! I can’t wait to get started.

Bobette: You are welcome.

I’d like to hear from the rest of you how you are using the My Life Matters ^TM Personal Planner for Women. Email me at:
bobette @ womansplanner.com (please remove spaces around the @ sign)