The Planned Creative

Did 2019 fly on by you leaving you wondering where the time went and what on earth did you do? Do you feel like you spent the year half-assing things and while you made some forward movement you suspect you made it harder than it needed to be and finished out the year tired and drained? If so, you are most definitely not alone and it is nothing to feel guilty about. This is an opportunity. An opportunity to make a pivot in your life and mindset. I suspect, if you're anything like me, when you really think about it where it went wrong is you were sucked into the allure of multi-tasking... Look how productive I am doing four things at once!!!  Multi-tasking is productive sometimes for some activities. But NEVER for anything important or for a significant part of your day. When you are multi-tasking, you are not doing any of the activities with intention. Essentially you are not absorbing anything or growing... or putting your best effort forward. Multi-tasking is best saved f...

Did you end 2019 sputtering over the finish line out of gas? If you accomplished your 2019 goals did you have the energy to even celebrate your victories? Take a hard look at what your goals are for 2020. Learning, striving, giving, loving, and pushing limits are key parts of a fulfilled and successful life, but don't forget in order to grow you also need nourishment. You can't give what you don't have. You can't care for others as best you can if you haven't cared for yourself. Did you factor in caring for yourself as one of your 2020 goals? Do your goals span a variety of life facets such as family, relationships, health (physical, mental, and spiritual), as well as finances and career? We often get so focused on making more money and advancing careers that we forget the rest. But the rest is what we will truly care about in the end. Advancing careers and making more money are just meant to facilitate parts of the rest - travel, making memories, specia...

Be Silly Be Honest Be Kind ❗ STOP Now that I have your attention 😂 I want to ask you a question. How are you doing - really? Time for a quick check in with yourself. We all rush headlong through life, sometimes willy-nilly, and sometimes in a carefully planned prioritized way, but it's still rushing along.  Every once in a while we need a reminder just to stop, breathe, and ask ourselves how we are. Are you so wrapped up in getting things done you've forgotten to take a couple minutes here and there for fun? Or stopped noticing the little fun things we can see all around us there for the taking if we just notice them? Are we missing little moments in time that take next to nothing from us to do or say something kind that could change someone's outlook on their day?  Even an opportunity to be kind to ourselves. Be honest with yourself.  Be silly. Be honest. Be Kind.                           ...

Inspired Inspiration... It's all around us. If only we take a moment to really see. It's what can keep us going, keep us looking forward and striving for our goals. It's also what can help us fully appreciate everything we've done and have at this moment.  We get bogged down in the day-to-day hustle, forget the point, forget what we want, forget what matters to us. It's sneaky and relentless.... and our greatest enemy. In my mind I picture it like a creeping shadow stealing in over the world around you slowly sucking the colour and light into a drab grey scale landscape. Ew. Ever see The Never Ending Story? Yah, like that. The good news is it doesn't actually take much at all to keep the Nothing at bay. One teeny daily practice, and I promise you won't even look that weird.  Step one: Set a daily reminder alarm on your phone, for a time you typically are not in meetings or driving or some other normal scheduled time you shouldn't be distracte...

Wanna Wear This Design? Take a minute and take a look around today. Pay special attention to the people around you - especially out in public and at work. Can you see it? Often in these situations you are seeing people's armour, the battle gear they have donned in the morning to face the day. This armour protects us from exposing our authentic selves and exposing our vulnerabilities. We protect ourselves from being cut to the quick (and it really meaning something because it's related to our true selves), exposing ourselves as impostors (hello, Impostor Syndrome!), or not projecting the authority and expertise we want everyone to see and acknowledge in us. We all do it to some degree. What's important is to see it and acknowledge it. Starting with others is easy - but then turn the lens on yourself. How are you masking your inner shine? It's OK not to be so serious all the time. Start by letting flashes of your true self out, and don't be discouraged ...