Although most of us start off the year with the best of intentions - to eat better, exercise more, save more money, balance our spending, take better care of our relationships, etc., etc. - those great intentions all-too-often fall by the wayside within just a few months. I shared a few tips with you a couple of weeks ago on how to stay on track with your goals this year, and keep those New Year's Resolutions for once, but I wanted to follow up with a really cool tool that I found to help you do just this.
While this tool was actually designed to be used by business owners, financial advisors, and the like, you can still get a lot of value from using this tool, even if you're an employee, like me. This unique, color-coded calendaring system can help you balance all aspects of your life, and achieve the work/life balance that you have been seeking - plus it's really fun!
While this tool was actually designed to be used by business owners, financial advisors, and the like, you can still get a lot of value from using this tool, even if you're an employee, like me. This unique, color-coded calendaring system can help you balance all aspects of your life, and achieve the work/life balance that you have been seeking - plus it's really fun!
Have you ever sat and daydreamed about what your ideal life would be like? If you're into setting goals, I'm sure you have. And it's a lot of fun, but at the same time it can be frustrating if it feels like you'll never really get there. Using this planning tool has the same sense of fun, but seeing it on paper makes it more real, and gives you something inspiring to work towards. As I discussed a few weeks ago, the key to making your goals a reality is setting a plan for how you are going to achieve them. This tool helps you do that, and at the same time, provides inspiration in a really simple way.
I'll give you the link in a moment, as well as a few tips for how to use it, but first of all, I want to tell you a little bit about it. This color-coded calendar system was developed by Wayne Cotton, a former financial advisor who was running the rat race like everyone else, until his health forced him to slow down. When he did, he discovered that by putting proper planning in place, and systematizing his practice, he could take more time off, have more fun, and also make his business more successful! It may sound impossible, but that's just what happened. The first year that he took 180 days off, he doubled his previous highest revenue record! You can learn more about Wayne on his website. Just go to www.nobrowndays.com to download your planning calendars and read more about the system.
I'll give you the link in a moment, as well as a few tips for how to use it, but first of all, I want to tell you a little bit about it. This color-coded calendar system was developed by Wayne Cotton, a former financial advisor who was running the rat race like everyone else, until his health forced him to slow down. When he did, he discovered that by putting proper planning in place, and systematizing his practice, he could take more time off, have more fun, and also make his business more successful! It may sound impossible, but that's just what happened. The first year that he took 180 days off, he doubled his previous highest revenue record! You can learn more about Wayne on his website. Just go to www.nobrowndays.com to download your planning calendars and read more about the system.
Annual calendar from NoBrownDays.com.
When you go to the page, make sure to check out the sample calendars, and then get the "Model Year" calendar, plus some copies of this year's version as well. You want to fill out the Model Year first. Why? Because this is your ideal year! Dream, play, and have some fun designing what your year would look like, if it could look however you want! Mark your days off - how many each week? How many vacations a year, and for how long? Don't worry about how to get there - just enjoy the process! Be sure to follow the instructions Wayne provides, and then when you're finished with that, color in 2015 as well. (If this year seems too difficult to plan out all at once, you may wish to start with the Quarterly versions.)
Now, some people may need to use this system a little bit differently. For example, if you're an employee, you may not have control over how many vacation days you have. You should still fill out your Model Year with your desired number of days off, however - remember, this is your ideal year! It doesn't mean it will happen right now, or next year, but 7 or 8 years down the road, who knows? At least it will give you a clear picture of what you want, and this makes it much more likely to happen. For those who plan on retiring and/or starting your own business, this can be a great motivator!
If you work 40 hours a week for someone else, you can still make use of the calendar in a different way, to help balance your personal life. In this case, you will want to make sure to balance the "5 F's" of a fulfilling personal life. (As you can see, these go right along with our holistic living philosophy!)
1. Faith
2. Fitness
3. Family
4. Friends
5. Fun
In this case, you may want to code your calendar a little bit differently. You may, for example, use blue for Faith (spiritual or religious practices), green for Fitness (exercise and other health related practices), red for Family, pink for Friends, and yellow for Fun.
As an interesting exercise, you may want to fill out a calendar coded by these colors based on what your life currently looks like - e.g. are you spending way too much time on fun, and none on fitness? Are you working when you should be home with your family? Do you neglect your friends? If you're a workaholic like me, this can be very eye-opening! Again, you may want to fill out a "Model" calendar of what you would like your life to be like in terms of these 5 items. Even if you don't devote a whole day to something (such as fitness), make sure you are incorporating all 5 of these into each week in some way.
As my husband often reminds me, there's more to life than work! One of my goals this year is to achieve better balance in my life - to balance the 5 F's, and also to use this kind of calendar to stay on track in planning my business and personal life. Staying in control of my schedule is what helps me be productive and successful, instead of stressed out and frazzled. I hope the tools at www.nobrowndays.com can help you as well.
Enjoy, and feel free to post a comment below or drop me an email to let me know how you have used these tools to better balance your life!
Rose.
Now, some people may need to use this system a little bit differently. For example, if you're an employee, you may not have control over how many vacation days you have. You should still fill out your Model Year with your desired number of days off, however - remember, this is your ideal year! It doesn't mean it will happen right now, or next year, but 7 or 8 years down the road, who knows? At least it will give you a clear picture of what you want, and this makes it much more likely to happen. For those who plan on retiring and/or starting your own business, this can be a great motivator!
If you work 40 hours a week for someone else, you can still make use of the calendar in a different way, to help balance your personal life. In this case, you will want to make sure to balance the "5 F's" of a fulfilling personal life. (As you can see, these go right along with our holistic living philosophy!)
1. Faith
2. Fitness
3. Family
4. Friends
5. Fun
In this case, you may want to code your calendar a little bit differently. You may, for example, use blue for Faith (spiritual or religious practices), green for Fitness (exercise and other health related practices), red for Family, pink for Friends, and yellow for Fun.
As an interesting exercise, you may want to fill out a calendar coded by these colors based on what your life currently looks like - e.g. are you spending way too much time on fun, and none on fitness? Are you working when you should be home with your family? Do you neglect your friends? If you're a workaholic like me, this can be very eye-opening! Again, you may want to fill out a "Model" calendar of what you would like your life to be like in terms of these 5 items. Even if you don't devote a whole day to something (such as fitness), make sure you are incorporating all 5 of these into each week in some way.
As my husband often reminds me, there's more to life than work! One of my goals this year is to achieve better balance in my life - to balance the 5 F's, and also to use this kind of calendar to stay on track in planning my business and personal life. Staying in control of my schedule is what helps me be productive and successful, instead of stressed out and frazzled. I hope the tools at www.nobrowndays.com can help you as well.
Enjoy, and feel free to post a comment below or drop me an email to let me know how you have used these tools to better balance your life!
Rose.
RSS Feed