So, you finally got yourself an expensive notebook with a leather cover and you’re wondering how you can actually succeed in life with a bunch of papers. Depending on how skeptical you are, maybe you should refund it.
However, if you do believe that this is your new beginning, sit down, and pay attention. First off, if you intend on reaping any of the planner’s potential benefits, it is everything but a notebook for you. Treat it accordingly.
You will never achieve anything by scribbling things down from day to day. A planner is a full-time commitment to self-improvement.
If you’re not ready to make this sacrifice, you don’t need a planner in the first place. Before using one, you need to create your own respectful vision of what a planner is. Otherwise, you will likely disrespect it, and with it, yourself.
Prepare to write down everything you do and almost everything you think. It sounds time-consuming, but if you write thoughts down instantly, it’s not so much of a hassle.
Plan
That’s right. With a planner, you should plan. Hardcore plan. Plan your entire month out – every single day of it. When you get some extra time, plan more. If you have a completely free weekend, plan out your entire year.
Most planners come only with a yearly amount of space, so make the most of it. Make every word count and make sure you write down the essence of what you’ll be doing.
Refrain from using complicated words and write down what you think best describes the event. This way you’ll retain the importance and relevance of planning in your mind. Your planner has to be a portrait of your thoughts.
Some planners come with basic daily goals, but some will ask you what you plan on being in life. Then they will ask you how you aim to get there, and by providing the response to your own self, you will obtain a firmer success attitude. Similar planners also inquire as to the nature of your weekly or monthly achievements.
Every week and every day need to have a specific point, no matter how ordinary it may be. By writing down your intended success for every time period, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to see a better future clearer than ever.
This is the magic of starting to use a planner, and without it, there’s probably no point in continuing.
Talk to It
Tell your planner everything, as some of them also have room for daily diaries. This is a way of talking to yourself where you’re later able to analyze your momentary thoughts and find out whether you’re on the right track or not.
Every time you think something, it’s your impulsivity. If you still think the same thing one day later that thought was genuine.
Planners that offer diary space help you make out the genuine thoughts from the stale and imperfect ones. They give you unprecedented insight into yourself that nobody else has ever had. Who needs a therapist next to something this useful?
Speak to yourself using your little book and ask yourself questions from day to day. Ask yourself all those questions you were never able to answer, as soon as you think of them.
Eventually, you will have the answers to all of them. Of course, only the answer is important, but this helps you keep track of your mental progress and how far you’ve come with realizations.
Looking back on things that were a problem and now no longer are provides a great confidence boost. Lastly, make your planner your closest thing. That is, make you your closest friend. Before you divulge anything new to anyone, make sure it’s in there first.
Learn from It
If one week proves a success and the other one doesn’t check what you’ve been doing and read up on your thoughts and events. This way, you’ll be able to determine the most important contributors and enemies of your productivity.
Knowing what your pros and cons are and how to remove them or get them going will always prove essential in long-term success.
Always remember the following: there are no life goals, there are only decisions. A goal is something you’d like to make a firm decision about and do it, so by calling it an actual goal, you’re including the chance of failure.
Your planner will render the word goal useless for you over the course of its use, and that’s what makes it so beneficial.
