In the Simple Saturday emails, we’ve been talking a lot about LIFE ON PURPOSE –>What it means to set a vision for your life and make it happen.

To help you do this I’ve made the Year on Purpose workbook (which can be started at any time, you don’t have to do it right in January! It is never too late to plan your year) Sign up below if you want a free copy!

Plan out 2018

This free workbook is an easy way to help you identify the year you want, set some goals and habits to help guide you there. Live your life on purpose.

I’ve been spending about three years really digging into what it looks like to live my life on purpose. Along the process of trying to live my life with more intention and direction, I have tried and failed – but also I have found some helpful strategies. One of them is to do a monthly check-in.

WHY DO A MONTHLY CHECK-IN

Monthly check-ins are important because they help you stay on track or see where you are going off track and recalibrate.

If you have goals and projects you are working towards, it helps to review where you want to be and where you are now.

If you have been working on incorporating habits into your life, tally up your habit tracker and see where you are at.

This isn’t about feeling defeated. Every month will have hitches and the goal isn’t perfection, it is about progress. A check-in is about helping you stay on track to work towards your vision.

WHY WRITE IT OUT?

So the core of a check-in is sitting down and writing some lists. If you haven’t realized by now, I am a big proponent of writing lists. Writing, like with your hand and a pen.

This is important because it will force you to slow down and truly focus on the issue. If you are like me it means no phones, no tv, just a pen and paper and a LadyNerd who wants to do life on purpose. You know – simplicity, mindfulness, etc.

The ‘list’ part is important too. You can often answer any question about your life pretty easily from the top of your head. But if I ask you for a list of more than three things on any topic, you are going to take some time and start to pull out the good stuff.

Try this for an example: What kind of culture do you want your family to have? (from the Year on Purpose book). I bet you can list a few quick ones, but if you listened even closer to yourself you would find more, maybe unexpected values and ideas that you have in there. (BECAUSE YOU ARE AWESOME, you just need to hang out with yourself –without distractions — and listen to yourself more!!!)

Lists help you to pull out subconscious thoughts and ideas that are lurking in your brain. Things that can clog up your mental clarity but you didn’t realize they were there until you gave them a way out. It is actually quite an amazing phenomenon if you think about it. And it is so simple.

DOING THE MONTHLY CHECK-IN

THE REFLECTION

The first step is to look back and assess the month that has just passed.

Somethings to reflect on for the past month might be things that were awesome, things that were overwhelming and things you are proud of.

This is a time to celebrate wins, and better understand the hurdles you encountered in the month. Remember hurdles aren’t just sick kids and broken vehicles. They are also mindsets and time management. Identifying roadblocks that hold up your progress is really helpful so you can plan out new detours.

THE DIRECTION

Then taking that info, ask yourself what you want to do differently in the month ahead.

Another component of setting the direction for the coming month is to list all the ‘stuff’ you need to do. Activities, appointments, events, birthdays. And give them all a home on the calendar.

Then, considering where you are at with your goals/projects/habits and the workload you have with all your monthly demands – list the things you want to work on this month that will get you closer to your overall goals for the year.

THE MONTHLY DASHBOARD

The monthly dashboard is a one-page reference for the month ahead. It can look a bit different depending what your needs are. I like to include things I will do less of, more of, what I will declutter, mindsets I will work on and the three big things I will be focussing on.

The monthly dashboard is such a simple thing to fill out. You post it somewhere you can see it daily like your fridge or office or posted in the wall opposite the toilet so you can read it each day (sounds gross but it kinda works doesn’t it?!).

Having a quick reference makes such a big difference in helping you remember and stay on track with what you want to do. This is why people have weird inspirational posters hanging everywhere, those words mean something, those words help them remember their values and the mindsets they want to tackle life with.

REMEMBER YOUR WHY

As I filled in this workbook for my monthly check-in I found myself surprised at how much I have forgotten about my goals and visions for 2018 and I am only two months in! In my Monthly Dashboard, I wrote down that I would upload all my 2018 photos into a photo organizing program that I learned to use last year. It was this time a year ago I was taking a digital photo organization course from my friend at Memory Momentum and I realized I had barely made any progress with it!

I was all on fire for getting my photos organized, I had the tools and the knowledge but then I let that priority and project just slip away!

BECAUSE HERE IS THE THING ABOUT LIVING LIFE ON PURPOSE! We really have to hold on to and fight for the things we SAY we want to do. We must know what we really want, we must make efforts to change our habits and our reactions to be in line with this. AND IT IS HARD WORK! We really have to continually be making space and bring back these projects and habits that we know we want in our lives. We have to fight the routine we plunked ourselves into.

This monthly check-in helps you live life on purpose because it brings you back to the values and vision you have for your life. It helps you remember you WHY.

THE FREE WORKBOOK

You can do a monthly check-in in whatever way works best for you. If you want to download and print this workbook, it will help you through this process. BUT, as I say with all the workbooks – only do it when you are serious about it. When you are ready for change and are willing to put in sometime listening to yourself and identifying what you really want. Sign up below for the free Monthly Reflection & Direction workbook.