The Planned Creative

Love Today I love lists - especially lists that help you consider areas for improvement!  As you read through, think about how you feel replacing "She" with "I". Pick the one that makes you feel most squeamish and there you go - your next area of action. Focus in and consider. What can you do RIGHT NOW that will bring you closer to feeling like it is a true statement. AND DO IT! She makes time for herself. She challenges herself. She educates herself. She understands guilt, acknowledges it and moves on. She knows healthy doesn't always mean going to the gym. She is financially savvy. She smiles. She can step away from her job and have a life outside of the workplace. She sets herself goals and methods for keeping track of them. She celebrates wins, both big and small. She helps others through selfless acts of kindness. Act like a lady, work like a boss, and love today !

Which Way? What if I told you both are right?  Ugh. Yes, it's one of those kinds of things where I'm going to challenge you to examine what you are doing and why. Are you going with the flow even though it is not in your long term best interests but it makes things easier right now? Or is it because you've set up the right circumstances and you now find yourself in the coveted "flow" or "zone"? Are you fighting the current to make a conscientious change or are you accidentally working against your own nature and making your life more frustrating and difficult than it needs to be?  There are times to go with the flow and there are times to swim upstream and fight the current. The hard part is recognizing and making sure you've actually CHOSEN and know WHY you've chosen to do what you're doing.  So which way are you going?

Grace & Hustle You are amazing. You have been busting your butt like nobody's business, and even though your brain is busy with all the things left to do, or things you didn't quite hit the goal when you wanted to - you are amazing . Resilient. Driven. Head down, hustling. Look at how far you've come. Amazing. Messy bun and getting things done - the essence of  grace and hustle . You've got this, you're rocking this!

Focused and Fabulous Fall Time for the final push to wrap up the year. I don't know about you but I'm beat! It would be so easy just to roll into a blanket burrito by a lovely fireplace and zone out on some Netflix... Ah, actually that sounds pretty fantastic! Remember - you can't function at 100% for 100% of the time - that's just begging for burnout. Of course you still have things to do, but I'd like to invite you to consider this: will driving yourself relentlessly produce something you will feel proud of?   On the flip side, say you schedule yourself an R&R day every week (hello blanket burrito!), is it possible that maybe, just maybe, the time you spend working to finish your year will go smoother, with less mistakes to fix (or embarrass you later), and complete in less hours?  I would like to suggest showing yourself a little compassion and fueling your body and mind will let you not only finish, but have something shiny to show off, and leave you...

she designed a life she loved Here you are - all full of spit and vinegar with you lofty goals and what you want to get done in the next year or so... What do we all do next? Well leap in and do ALL THE THINGS because we're super excited to get rolling of course! What happens next?  A bit of time goes by, we get tired. Life starts rearing its ugly head. Busy season at work comes, kids activities get rolling, holidays happen, family comes to visit, skip a couple days here and there... wait has it been two months since I looked at that already? Cue self-flagellation spiral, a couple more false starts and crap. Now there's only three months left to do a year of work, and it's chock full of other commitments already! What if I told you that one little step, maybe a couple hours of your time, before you go running off gung-ho could make the difference between insanity and success? Get your hands on a year calendar like any of these here . Grab some different coloure...

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...

I know, I know... We hear it all the time  🙉 S top the eye rolling and just consider this: Declare Your Intention I'm gonna save up enough money to do a weekend spa getaway. When I lose 10 pounds I'm going to buy that cute dress. I'll take some holidays when work is all caught up. I'll start eating more healthy next week. Some day I'll have a side hustle that generates as much money as my day job. I'll spend more time with my family when things settle down. I'll start exercising when I have more time. All of this sounds pretty awesome right? Who doesn't want at least one of these things? I bet you've said or heard something like at least one of these EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. One problem. Do you notice something they all have in common?  There is no HOW. There is no THIS IS WHAT I'M DOING. Like magically down the road these things will just drop into our laps fully formed and ready to rock. So much "I'm going to",...