Planning Your Days Will Build Your Life

Planning Your Days Will Build Your Life

Planning and preparation isn’t just something big companies do to stay in business – it’s what disciplined people do in their daily lives to become successful.

How do you begin your day? Is there a plan in place for you to follow so you won’t procrastinate, become distracted or be unproductive?

Everyone should have some sort of foundation in place for their daily lives. Having a schedule or a foundation to work from will promote and push your life in the direction you want it to go.

Procrastination Is Everywhere

What happens when you don’t have a schedule or a to-do list for the day? Procrastination – that’s what happens.

When you don’t know what you’re doing for the day, it’s easy to let it slip away. At the end of the day, you wonder, “Where did all the time go?”

One way to beat this is to do some planning. People think you only make plans for vacations and holidays. This may be true, but you also should start planning your days.

Planning your days is a domino effect – when you create a productive plan for the day, your week will be more productive. Then, those productive weeks turn into a productive month and those productive months turn into a productive year, and so on.

Not having a daily method in place leads to procrastination. This will come in the form of distractions such as watching TV or scrolling through social media. When you don’t know what you’re going to do, procrastination will surely find a way to fill that time.

Don’t Be The Cause Of Your Own Stress

What happens when you don’t prepare? You become stressed out and start looking for excuses as to why your plan didn’t go the way it was supposed to.

Being unprepared can lead to anxiety, which can leak into other areas of your day (and your life).

How can you avoid stress and anxiety? By controlling what you can. If there is something you can prepare for, then prepare. Preparing puts you in a productive state and allows you to focus on what’s in front of you, as opposed to being all over the place.

Preparation gives you confidence because you know what to do and what to expect. Walking into any situation prepared gives you the certainty of doing well and being more effective.

Planning Allows For Life To Happen

Don’t leave it up to life to make a way for you. You should have something in place to help it along. You don’t have to have every second of your day planned, but at the very least, have a structure.

By having a structure, it allows for more time to do other things. You will begin to find time that you never thought you had. Instead of drifting through your day, you can get things done efficiently and still have time to do what you want.

Planning and having structure also contributes to strengthening your life characteristics – discipline, focus, resilience, time management, etc. – it all plays an important role in your life and how you handle things moving forward.

Your Life Depends On Your Efforts

Most people wake up in the morning and they let the day go where it takes them. There’s no doubt that we need to be spontaneous every now and then, but unless you’re rich and can do whatever you want every single day, it’s best to have a strategy in place.

Start by creating a morning routine. It doesn’t have to be anything over the top, but simple enough for you to begin and to remain consistent. You can make your bed in the morning, go for a walk or read a book while having your coffee. Establishing habits like these will signal a productive start to your day.

As you go through these habits, you’ll begin to recognize little, positive changes here and there in your life. Everyone has a different design for their life, but you get to customize how your life looks and what you want it to be, for you.

Do your part and start creating your life by planning your days, today!

How Commitment Leads To Action

How Commitment Leads To Action

The first thing you do before taking action on any goal is make a commitment. If you don’t consciously do this, more than likely, things will fall apart.

The following excerpt is from the book, “Turn On Your Light: Your Guide To Success-Building Habits.” It’s written by Betty Bootstrap, a contributor of the Goalden Lady.

Making the Commitment

It’s easy to think how everything will go in your mind. We make plans without considering obstacles and challenges being present. In order for your plans to see the light of day, you must make the commitment.

Making a commitment is scary for some people. The fact that you are doing something with all of your efforts and determination can be a big promise to take on. However, your plan won’t get done without it. 

After you have an idea, what do you normally do? Nothing. The most we’ll do is think about it, shoot it down or halfway discuss it. 

The most important thing to do after you have an idea is to take action. Do something that will signal to your mind that you are making a commitment. 

Have you ever had an idea and someone else had the same idea? Maybe you’ve seen a product on TV or a service that has been implemented. It’s crazy because you had the same exact idea!

The only difference between you and the other person with the same idea, is that they took action.

While you were sitting there thinking about it, they made a commitment, pushed forward and developed ‘your’ idea.

This is why it’s critical to get in the habit of making a commitment. You never know where it will take you or how it will affect your life.

What Does Commitment Include?

Making a commitment can be challenging, especially if you’re not used to doing it. A lot of times, we just hold our ideas in our heads. Ideas are made to be explored and the only way to fully explore them is to make a commitment. 

When you make a commitment, you are willing to make some sacrifices. Things like hanging out, watching TV or scrolling through social media for hours, will have to take a backseat. 

Commitment entails focus, work and time. You’ll have to set aside time to do the work. There’s no such thing as not having enough time. This means weekends, after work and possibly before work. 

Focus is a high priority while you’re doing your work. Being intentionally focused and present with what you’re doing is a good use of time. Being busy, just to be busy, is a waste of your time, so focus on your idea and bringing it to completion.

Side Effects

There are side effects to making a commitment. Your mind will tell you to do something else fun or to work on it later. These thoughts will come while you are focusing and building your idea. You are guiding your mind down a different path and it’s uncomfortable.

When it becomes uncomfortable, that’s when you have to focus harder and be more determined. That’s where your commitment lies. This is what pushes you through those negative thoughts.

Obstacles will occur. Don’t allow an obstacle to ruin your idea. There will be times where things will keep happening and it will make you think about giving up, because it’s not working out. Obstacles are what gives us answers and confidence (after we overcome them) to move on.

There will be everything in your way to make you give up your commitment. When you make a commitment, you are taking your life to the next level – something most people are afraid to do. Opportunities will open up and present themselves more often when you commit.

*Excerpt from, “Turn On Your Light: Your Guide To Success-Building Habits.”*