2018 PLANNING: HOW I ORGANIZED EVVVERYTHING.

Hi ! So if you follow me on instagram, a lot of you already know that I spent this last Sunday locked in a hotel room by the beach, sorting, organizing and planning for this year.

I know a lot of you are huge organizing freaks like me so I wanted to show you some of the things I worked on, list some of the questions I asked myself, and how I organized. 

Obviously I'm a blogger and a health coach so my templates might look different than something you might want to use but the questions can help anyone and there's like a million templates that you can download from pinterest! (That's where I got mine!)

Okay - so before you start this - I highly suggest prepping yourself as much as possible.

Like I said, I got a hotel room to myself for the day to get away from any distraction. LOL, you don't need to do all that if you don't want to but at least get yourself ready with a free day where you can put your phone on do not disturb and FOCUS. 

Get your calendars, planners, highlighters, post it's and whatever else makes you feel like your really about to make some moves. 

I would block like 5 hours to do all of this, and of course plan on taking a lunch break and walking around because it's not great for you to be sitting that whole time. 

I brought Print Outs of:

• Monthly goals
• Yearly Goals
• Monthly metrics
• Weekly posting schedule
• Monthly posting schedule

This way I could PLAN what I wanted to accomplish this year, then figure out when EXACTLY I would like to accomplish each thing, and then I put it on my calendar to see if it made sense. I needed to make sure there was enough time in between each new goal to prepare and execute each one properly.  

BUT I couldn't even do this until I sat down and answered a series of questions.

So, START HERE:

Get a pen and paper, some high lighters and post it notes if you want and answer the following questions.

1. What would you do this year if you knew you could not fail?? What would you just LOVE to accomplish? What would a insanely successful year look like for you?

2. What will you promise to differently this year? What was something you did last year that just didn't make you happy or proud or move you in the direction of accomplishing your goals that you are just going to QUIT doing this year?

3. THE NUMBER. How much money do you want to make this year?? BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. 

4. (bloggers, business owners, entrepreneurs) What did your metrics look like this year? How many email subscribers did you gain? What was your click through rate? What were your top 5 most popular posts/newsletters/blogs. What newsletters got the least click rate? What was your biggest money maker? What got you the most leads? How much did you make this year?

5. Write down all your current metrics so that every 3 months you can track your progress. (instagram, pinterest, twitter, facebook, email subscribers, youtube, etc).

6. List alllll the ways that you plan on making money this year. Adjust your services and numbers until it matches the amount of money that you said you wanted to make this year. Write down all the ways you would promote each thing that you plan on making money on. 

OKAY. STEP TWO. 

Now start adding the launch date for each thing to your calendar and then schedule the days that you will work on each thing as well as when you will promote it. This is why you need to give yourself more time than you think in between each new project because it will take time to create it and promote it.

At one point I asked myself what I REALLY enjoyed working on this year vs. what i HATED working on this year. The pink was what I realized I loved and the blue was what I didn't like so much (haha not too much!) and then the yellow was words that described the common themes of what I loved working on. So it came down to ENGAGING, COLLABORATING, CREATING AND well, MAKING MONEY!

Okay so now you can see why this took me like all day haha. It was SO worth it though. We don't ask ourselves these questions often enough. It's really hard to move forward at the rate we would all like to when we don't have a plan. 

It honestly took me some time to think about the answers to some of these questions which is funny because it's MY LIFE, you would think that I would know but the truth is, if you never take the time to think about it then you will never know. 

If you do this please take pics and tag me on insta!! I looove seeing you guys get to work and be badass. 

X

DON'T BE AN ASSHOLE

Nothing like a friendly reminder on a Monday morning. 

Surprisingly, I woke up today thinking about why assholes, are assholes, you know? Totally normal. 

I've mentioned this before but I am someone who is very interested in why people are the way they are. I was going to go to school for psychology but then realized I didn't really want to pay for it haha. 

I work at a place in Beverly Hills where pretty much every other 10th person is rude or nasty towards me, for no reason. 

I was pulling into my driveway yesterday morning waiting for the gate to open and a woman in her like THIRTIES walked around my car and flipped me off. Haha, I gave her a thumbs up. 

Then a few days before that I was at Trader Joe's at like 8 in the morning, tired af, and put my groceries on the belt and was just waiting. Then some guy comes up behind me and throws all of this groceries onto the belt and grabs one of those divider things and say's to me, "is it really that fucking hard to just put this here?!"

I could barely even see, I had been awake for a total of like 15 minutes and this guy was putting this in my ear. 

I just looked at him and turned back around. 

I feel like I pretty much have no patience and all the patience in the world for assholes, you know? 

I don't react to them because I know they're not really angry at me, but I also don't entertain them. 

OH - this story is good too. 

So a few weeks ago I was at the lounge that I work at and we we're completely stacked, there was no where to sit except for one table that was reserved - which obviously means no one can sit there unless you're the person that reserved the table. Welcome to the rules of 2017. 

So this couple comes in and they ask me if they can sit at the table with the reserve sign on it because there's no where else for them to sit. 

I said " noo I'm so sorry this table is actually reserved..." 

The man looks at me, rolls his eyes and starts walking away. The woman gets frustrated, STARTS, to walk away, and then comes back up to me and says "Do you KNOW who he is??!!?"

I said, Nope. 

Then she rolled her eyes and walked out. 

I kind of wanted to tell her that maybe she should make a reservation next time, but also just didn't really care that much. 

Here's the thing though - I feel like we've all been guilty of this. We have things going on in our own lives and we somehow someway take it out on an innocent bystander. We might be a little snappier or a little more quiet. 

Personally, I'm BEYOND over people in LA making their first question be "So, what do you do?" IT'S SO ANNOYING TO ME. I get asked this question probably 10 times a week and I used to always tell people what I doooo and why and when and blah blah blah. 

But lately I've had enough and I noticed that I've kind of been snapping. One time someone asked me what I do (and Im talking about stranger you guys, not like someone I'm trying to get to know) and I told them that I just live. I just do my thing. And a couple minutes later he goes, but you never told me what your primary source of income is...

WHAT?

THEN some random person came up to me the other day and said "Hey, what's up? So what do you do? And I flat out told him I hate that question.

Then I thought to myself later that that was kind of an asshole thing to say. It wasn't that he did anything wrong, I was just over being asked the same question 5 billion times. 

I think it's important for us to remember that if you're angry or upset about something or with someone, to make sure that you aren't taking it out on anyone else. 

It's not fair to the person that you're being rude to and it's counter productive. 

Also - a lot of the time I feel like people are just unhappy with themselves and it's not that they're necessarily having a bad day or angry with anyone else. But somehow you get in their way in a driveway and suddenly your satan. 

Don't be an asshole. And if someone decides to be one towards you, ignore them. They're not mad at you. You didn't do anything. It's their own problem and you getting mad is only going to feed the flame higher. 

This basically just starts a tornado of bad energy, flying emotions, and negative vibes. 

Don't be afraid to make light of the situation or show the other person that they're the only one that's angry...and for no reason. 

For example, when someone points their finger in my face at work (looovee it) or yells at me, I just smile and widen my eyes like I'm staring at a toddler sort of. Or I just kind of laugh and ask them if they're done, orrrr I just ignore them.

I don't think that's being rude I just think that it's not worth it to bring my vibe down just because someone wants to take their anger out on me. 

So that's all. Just don't be an ass, and don't let the assholes dampen your mood. Stay up.

XX

5 PODCASTS THAT I'M LOVING RIGHT NOW

I think I'm getting to that age where I'd rather drive or do house work while listening to a podcast instead of blasting music. 

For me it's just such an EASY way to learn about new people and discover new things. I've found so many new people and blogs that inspire me to be a better version of myself and a lot of the time I also get inspired for the blog. 

It helps me think of new ideas, see new perspectives and depending on which one I'm listening to, it also gives me a good laugh, which I love. 

I've been wanting to do this post for a while now because I think it's a post that I wish I would have had! Ha! Unless you know of a specific person who is doing a specific podcast, it can be kind of hard to find one that you like. 

I spent a lot of time googling and scrolling the "trending" page on itunes to see if there were ever any new podcasts I wanted to listen to so after a while I was able to build up a pretty fun little library if you will with lots of goodness. 

Okay so - 

5 PODCASTS THAT I'M LOVING RIGHT NOW

1. THE BITCH BIBLE - JACKIE SCHIMMEL

This bitccccch. CRACKS. ME. UP. When I think of the Bitch bible I think lots of Real Housewives, Vanderpump Rules and The Bachelor recaps. I think a lot of swear words, mindlessly smart, witty, realness from a petite blonde who is adamant about reminding us that she's also Jewish. 

This is the podcast I listen to when I want a good laugh and an easy listen. 

2. THE SKINNY CONFIDENTIAL HIM AND HER PODCAST - LAURYN EVARTS

I love listening to this one because here you get a little bit of everything. Lauryn is a well known health and lifestyle blogger who has branding down to a T. She always has the best tips on new wellness products, beauty tips, health tips + she can't help but SLAY when it comes to style, traveling, and being REAL. Her husband is the man behind the podcast which I like because sometimes it can get a little boring listening to one voice throughout an entire podcast. 

He offers a second opinion, a different perspective and lots of business tips. 

I like to listen to this podcast when I need a laugh, a new wellness or beauty secret, and some inspiration to just KILL IT.

3. THE LIVELY SHOW - JESS LIVELY 

This is one of those podcasts that I found after doing some research online. I forget what I was looking for but I remember being excited that The Lively Show was what I found. First of all she's so cute and second of all, her podcast is all about uplifting, inspiring, and adding intention to your every day life. 

She interviews women with really amazing inspirational stories whether it's getting through endometriosis with a plant based diet or losing over 100 pounds and talking about the trials and tribulations of their journey. 

I listen to this podcast when I want to be inspired or open my mind to a new way of thinking. 

* Because of The Lively Show I was able to find this next Podcast!

4. ONE PART PODCAST - JESSICA MURNANE

I just started listening to this podcast thanks to The Lively Show's interview of Jessica and how she battled endometriosis. She basically went from eating Lean Cuisine's to Endometriosis + lot's of surgery's to finding a cheap website that said diet may have something to do with it all. 

She got her diet together then created her website 'One Part Plant' and has branched off into so many things from there. 

One being her Podcast where she interviews people in music, fashion, food, and design. 

I listen to this Podcast to learn about new people and see how their story motivates me. 

5. LOVE, LUST AND LAUGHTER 

This podcast is alllll about love, sex, and relationships. It's interesting to listen to all the different professionals that are on the show and hear what they have to say about 'what makes a marriage work', 'how your diet effects you sex life' and 'how to keep a relationship fun.'

I listen to this for fun and because I love understanding why people do the things they do. I think that in a relationship if you can understand your partner and know why they are the way they are, it could help avoid conflict.

If you guys have any other podcasts that you recommend please please please leave them in a comment below!

XX

QUESTIONS I ASK MYSELF AT THE START OF EVERY NEW YEAR

Anyone else here a fan of Tony Robbins? If I ever feel uninspired all I need to do is pick up one of his books, flip to any random page and read a few paragraphs. 

He reminds me to think of who I really want to be, how I see myself in years to come, what direction I'm taking, what goals I'm setting for myself, and how I plan on getting there. 

I get caught up in day to day stuff so often that sometimes I forget to really think about how these things will pay off in the long run. Once I really sit down and think about where I see myself 10 years from now, it gives me motivation and changes the course of how I'm doing things. 

One of the most important things I learned from Tony is to set some time aside at LEAST once a year and really just let yourself free and write about where you see yourself 5-10 years from now. 

Write down everything about your ideal day from the moment you wake up until the moment you lay back down to go to sleep.

What are you wearing?

What does your house look like?

Who are you with?

Where are you in the world?

What do you do with the first hour of your day?

I've done this so many times that I this vision in my head like it already happened. This is how detailed mine is: (From here, we write down different questions that will help us figure out how we're going to get to this ideal day for us years from now. )

My ideal day 10 years from now:

I wake up around 6:15am in the second story of my modern home next to my husband and dog, I walk down the wooden steps to my big kitchen where I have a beautiful floor to ceiling window view of San Diego or LA, I make myself some espresso and a fresh juice and turn on some relaxing jazz music and light some candles. 

I spend my morning by myself, reading and planning my day. I have a small breakfast then go back upstairs to get ready for my morning barre class. 

I drive myself to barre in my blacked out infinite suv, my hair, skin and nails are on point and my body is in amazing shape because I eat clean and make time to work out everyday. 

I get back from barre and enjoy some time with my kids and husband while I make them breakfast. 

I work from home in my office upstairs.....

Okay, I won't bore you anymore but you get the idea. Let yourself think of every detail. Let your mind expand and don't place ANY limitations on yourself. Think about what you really really want. 

Now that you know what you want to look like, how you want to live, and where you want to be with your career, you can start THIS YEAR with questions and goals in mind that will help push you towards that ultimate vision. 

There's 4 set's of goals that we need to pay attention to:

- Personal Development Goals 

- Career/Business Goals

- Toys/Adventure Goals

- Contribution Goals 

1. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT GOALS:

STEP ONE:

Set a timer for 5 minutes and write down everything that you can possibly think of. 

How would you like to improve your physical body? What are your goals for your mental and social development? Do you want to start to make meditating a habit that you do every morning? Do you want to learn a new language? Do you want to speak in front of an audience?

Emotionally what would you like to experience or achieve? Do you want to forgive someone or mend an old friendship? Do you want to start going to church?

Tony Robbins shares some questions to ask yourself before writing.

• What would you like to learn?
• What are some skills you want to master in your lifetime?
• What are some character traits you’d like to develop?
• Who do you want your friends to be?
• What do you want to be?
• What could you do for your physical well-being? (Get a massage every week? Every day? Create the body of your dreams? Join a gym–and actually use it? Hire a vegetarian chef? Complete the Iron Man Triathlon in Honolulu?)
• Would you like to conquer your fear of flying?  Or of public speaking? Or of swimming?
• What would you want to learn? To speak French? Study the Dead Sea Scrolls? Dance and/or sing? Study with violin Virtuoso Itzhak Perlman? Who else would you like to study with? Would you like to take in a foreign exchange student?

STEP TWO:

Set your timer for 1 minute and give yourself a deadline for accomplishing each goal. If it's 1 year or less write 1, if it's 2 years, put a 2 next to it, and so on for 10 years, 15 years, 20 years etc. 

STEP THREE:

Chose your most important 1 year goal and take 3 minutes to write down a few paragraphs about why it's so important to you. Why are you committed to achieving that one specific goal this year? Why is it so important to you? What would you miss out on if you didn't achieve it?

2. CAREER/BUSINESS GOALS

STEP ONE:

Take 5 minutes to write down your career/business/financial goals.

Here's some of Tony Robbin's suggestions of questions to ask yourself.

• Do you want to earn: $50,000 a year? $100,000 a year? $500,000 a year? $1 million a year? $10 million a year? So much that you can’t possibly count it?
• What goals do you have for your company? Would you like to take your company public? Would you like to become the leader in your industry?
• What do you want your net worth to be? When do you want to retire? How much investment income would you like to have so you no longer have to work? By what age do you want to achieve financial independence?
• What are your money management goals? Do you need to balance your budget? Balance your checkbook? Get a financial coach?
• What investments would you make? Would you finance an exciting start-up business? Buy a vintage coin collection? Start a diaper delivery service? Invest in a mutual fund? Set up a living trust? Contribute to a pension plan?
• How much do you want to save toward giving your kids a college education?
• How much do you want to be able to spend on travel and adventure?
• How much do you want to be able to spend on new ‘toys’?
• What are your career goals?  What would you like to contribute to the company? What breakthrough would you like to create?  Would you like to become a supervisor? A manager? A CEO? What would you like to be known for within your profession? What kind of impact do you want to have?

STEP TWO:

Set a timeline for your goals by putting a 1 next to goals that you want to accomplish in 1 year or less, a 2 for 2 years, and so on. Try to do this in 1 minute.

STEP THREE:

Pick your top 1 year goal and spend 3 minutes writing about it. Explain why you are absolutely committed to achieving this goal this year and if you can't think of good enough reasons then you might need to pick a different goal that really fires you up.

3. TOYS/ADVENTURES GOALS

Take 5 minutes to write down EVERYTHING you could ever want, have, or experience in your life. 

Here's some of Tony's examples:

• Would you like to build, create, or purchase a cottage? Castle? Beach house? Catamaran sailboat? Private yacht? Island? Lamborghini sports car? Chanel wardrobe? Helicopter? Jet plane? Music studio? Art collection? Private zoo stocked with giraffes, alligators, and hippos?  Virtual Reality machine?
• Would you like to attend an opening of a Broadway plan? A film premier in Cannes? A Bruce Springsteen concert? A Kabuki theater production in Osaka, Japan?
• Would you like to race any of the Andrettis at the next Indy 500? Play Monica Seles and Steffi Graf, or Boric Becker and Ivan Lendl, in a doubles match? Pitch the World Series? Carry the Olympic torch? Go one-on-one with Michael Jordan? Swim with the pink dolphins in the oceans of Peru? Race camels between the pyramids of Egypt with your best friend? And win? Track with the Sherpas in the Himalayas?
• Would you like to start in a Broadway play? Share an on-screen kiss with Kim Basinger? Dirty Dance with Patrick Swayze? Choreograph a modern ballet with Mikhail Baryshnikov?
• What exotic places would you visit? Would you sail around the world like Thor Heyerdahl in Kon-Tiki? Visit Tanzania and study chimpanzees with Jane Goodall? Sail on the Calypso with Jacques Cousteau? Long on the sands of the French Riviera? Sail a yacht around the Greek Isles? Participate in the Dragon Festivals in China?  Take part in a shadow dance in Bangkok? Scuba dive in Fiji? Meditate in a Buddhist monastery? Take a stroll through the Prado in Madrid?  Book a ride on the next space shuttle flight?

STEP TWO:

Set a timeline for your goals by putting a 1 next to goals that you want to accomplish in 1 year or less, a 2 for 2 years, and so on. Try to do this in 1 minute.

STEP THREE:

Pick your top 1 year goal and spend 3 minutes writing about it. Explain why you are absolutely committed to achieving this goal this year and if you can't think of good enough reasons then you might need to pick a different goal that really fires you up.

4. CONTRIBUTION GOALS

Take 5 minutes to write down how you want to give back. What contributions do you want to make to OTHER people's lives? How will you leave your mark or make a difference?

Here's some examples from Tony:

• How could you contribute? Would you help build a shelter for the homeless? Adopt a child? Volunteer at a soup kitchen? Read to the blind? Visit a man or woman serving a prison sentence? Volunteer with the Peace Corps for six months? Take balloons to an old folks’ home?
• How could you help to protect the ozone layer? Clean up the oceans? Eliminate racial discrimination? Halt the destruction of the rain forests?
• What could you create? Would you come up with a perpetual motion machine? Develop a car that runs on garbage? Design a system for distribution food to all who hunger?

STEP TWO:

Set a timeline for your goals by putting a 1 next to goals that you want to accomplish in 1 year or less, a 2 for 2 years, and so on. Try to do this in 1 minute.

STEP THREE:

Pick your top 1 year goal and spend 3 minutes writing about it. Explain why you are absolutely committed to achieving this goal this year and if you can't think of good enough reasons then you might need to pick a different goal that really fires you up.

Now that you have your 4 MASTER 1 YEAR GOALS, use them to inspire you all year long!

Tony ends with this:

“Now you should have four master one-year goal that absolutely excite and inspire you, with sound, compelling reasons behind them.  How would you feel if in one year you had mastered and attained them all? How would you feel about yourself? How would you feel about your life? I can’t stress enough the importance of developing strong enough reasons to achieve these goals.  Having a powerful enough why will provide you with the necessary how.

Make sure that you look at these four goals daily.  Put them where you’ll see them every day, either in your journal, on your desk at the office, o rover your bathroom mirror while you’re shaving or putting on makeup.  If you back your goals up with a solid commitment to CANI!, to constant and never –ending improvement of each of these areas, then you’re sure to make progress daily.  Make the decision now to begin to follow through on these goals, beginning immediately.”

As the saying goes, your dreams are the most precious things you own.  Your goals are simply your dreams on a timeline.

Leave a comment below and let me know what one of your goals are for this year!!

HOW DELETING PEOPLE FROM YOUR LIFE IS ACTUALLY A GOOD THING.

(GUEST POST - By Krissy McNeill, creator of the blog Champagne in Church)

Let’s be real here. Like, really real.

We ALL have toxic relationships. Whether it’s a friend, a family member, a boyfriend, a girlfriend, the list goes on. It literally doesn’t matter who, what, when, where, or why. We all have it at some point in our lives.

I’m not just talking about toxic relationships that wear you down to skin and bones. I’m talking about people that plain and simple just don’t benefit you anymore. People that tend to bring you down and flip your mood a bit. I’m talking about detoxing your surroundings.

Like a detox you do for the body, but for the people in your life. Yup. Literally cleansing out the bad and starting with the goods that you already have.

We carry a lottttttt with us throughout the day. One thing we don’t need tagging along is the people who don’t benefit us anymore. The ones who straight up just aren’t happy for us. Think about these people bringing you down in any way and ask yourself why you keep breathing in that same air. You don’t have to continue to think that either of you are in the wrong. Sometimes we just go separate ways and it’s ok to reevaluate where they stand in your life right now. It’s refreshing to detoxify.

AND YOU GUYS. There’s good news. You don’t have to do anything harsh to detox your surroundings. It doesn’t have to be some wild uproar. It’s really reallllllly simple and better yet, you don’t have to feel bad at all. Here’s why.

What? You read right. Deleting people from your life DOES NOT mean that you have to literally delete their number and rip their page out of your book. Can you? Yes. Do you have to? No. It just means that you don’t have to deal with their shit anymore. Their comments are just background noise.

( If it’s a douchebag ex-boyfriend making you cry all the time, I recommend you ignore that and delete the number. Rip that damn page out of the book. )

It doesn’t mean you don’t care!

Do you still care about them? YES. And you most likely always will. You just know your self-worth. And THAT IS OK. It’s ok to know your self-worth and walk away from something that isn’t benefitting you anymore. It’s ok to care about people but move on with your own life. Deleting people doesn’t mean you don’t care, it just means you know what you deserve.

You’re growing

Think about it. You grow up, you grow apart, and you grow into yourself. Every single day you are growing as your own person and sometimes we don’t grow in the same path as the people we thought we would. And that’s ok. You’re allowed grow and drop any type of negativity.

Those who matter are still there

I think it’s easier to delete people from your life when you know that the people who truly deserve a spot in your life are never going to make you question that. They are going to be there whether you eliminate people or not. You have who you need, why have all the extra baggage?

Your mind will rest

At the end of the day, your mind set is what matters most. It’s YOUR mind racing on that pillow at night, not theirs. It’s time to eat that pillow up at night with no motha ‘effing toxicity.

Don’t be so hard on yourself for deleting people from your life. The phrase sounds harsher than it is. That’s why I use the ‘detox your surroundings’ term instead. It sounds more.. subtle.

Put yourself first sometimes, it’s good for the soul.

xx krissy

You can follow more of Krissy here :)