As many of you are spending this month dreaming and planning for the year ahead we wanted to share with you a tool that is a must-have when it comes to life designing.
Because while the dreaming and planning part can all be very exciting, there isn’t much point to it if they remain forgotten in a notebook.
What you need is the real-life version of a magic wand that will help to bring those dreams and desires to life.
Welcome to the ultimate life design tool:
A calendar.
When it comes to designing and living a life you love, your calendar is your canvas.
Plenty of us use calendars in our day to day lives to keep on top of things at work and do what needs to be done. But the magic happens when you start to use it to create your life, by taking your list of things you want to fill your life with - from time with friends, to more sleep, to a monthly massage, to changing career - and giving each of those things dedicated time and dates in your diary.
Suddenly your dreams and desires are now booked and ready to happen.
Here is how to do it.
If you did our Goodbye 2017, Hello 2018 guide you will now have a beautiful book full of things you want to fill your 2018 with, so let’s get that list out.
If you didn’t do it then take a page and write down the activities, people, places, projects that you would like to fill your life with in 2018.
Include on your list any activities and practices you know you need on a daily or weekly basis to feel well, energised and calm in your body eg. proper breakfast to start the day, exercise twice a week, 8 hours sleep a night, a massage once a month.
Now get out your calendar (paper or digital, that’s up to you) and let’s start booking these things into your life and designing your day, your week, your month, your year, so that you are filling it with the things, people and places you love.
Daily commitments
Always begin with your wellbeing. It is THE foundation to a happy life. So start by looking at your daily calendar and book in the things you know you need to feel well and happy in your body, but that you often let slip.
So, for example, if starting the day with a nourishing breakfast is an important one for you, but something you usually forget to do, then get that in your diary as a daily date with yourself, setting your alarm to get you up 15 minutes earlier if necessary.
Eventually those nourishing breakfasts in the morning will become a natural part of your normal routine and you won’t have to schedule them, but until that happens, keep them as firm dates in your calendar.
Weekly commitments
Now let’s look at what you want to book in on a regular weekly basis as a fixed commitment - things you want to do for your wellbeing and happiness eg. time for exercise, dates with yourself, hobbies etc
Decide when in the week you want to commit to doing these things and book them in.
Also book in time each week dedicated to focus on any big changes or dreams you’re wanting to make happen in 2018. By creating dedicated time to focus on them, those changes and dreams are far more likely to happen.
Monthly commitments
Next schedule in the things you want to do monthly - eg a massage, trip to the countryside, dinner for friends etc. If you need time to research, invite friends, make bookings in advance for these things to happen, then make sure you book in time for that too.
One-off yearly commitments
Finally, take a step back and look at your whole year ahead and block in time for the fun adventures, holidays, courses and outings you want to enjoy throughout the year, even if for now you can only pencil them in because you’re not yet sure on the exact dates.
Again, if any of these require a good amount of planning and research, then block out time to do that too.
And there you have it. A calendar that now has all your ingredients for a happy life firmly woven into it.
Now all you have to do is stick to those commitments. But that is for another blog post ;)
For now, enjoy painting that canvas of yours with the things you love and let us know how you get on.
X Selina & Vicki
