Getting sick is one of the biggest productivity killers out there. It’s one thing when you lack motivation the complete your goals — there are strategies you can use to overcome that. But the only thing you can do when you’re sick is to seek medical treatment and wait for your health and wellness to improve. In the process, you can potentially lose days of productive time that you can never get back. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And that’s what we’re going to cover in this article: how to boost your health and wellness so that you keep from getting sick in the first place. We’ll adopt a holistic approach to health and wellness, considering mental health as well as physical. As anyone who’s struggled with mental illness knows, it’s just as serious and debilitating as any physical illness. 1. Keep Your Immune System Strong Keeping your immune system healthy will protect you from common illnesses like the flu and the common cold. We recommend the following to keep your body’s natural defenses at their best: Get Plenty of Sleep Sleep isn’t just crucial for feeling alert and being able to perform at your best. It’s also when your body repairs and strengthens itself for the day to come. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body doesn’t produce as many infection-fighting antibodies, leaving you vulnerable to viruses and increasing the amount of time it takes for you to recover if you do get sick. The National Sleep Foundation recommends that healthy adults get 7-9 hours of sleep per night. However, the amount that’s right for you will vary and is very personal. One person might feel well-rested after six hours, while another might need as many as 10 (particularly if performing high levels of physical activity). You should experiment to see how much you need to feel well-rested and aim for whatever that number is. You can even use your daily journal to track how the amount of sleep you get affects your health and productivity over time. Take Breaks to Reduce Stress Excessive stress can weaken your immune system, particularly over time. Therefore, it’s critical that you limit the amount of stress you’re under as much as possible, or at least find healthy ways to manage the stress you experience. One of the best ways to reduce stress is to give yourself a break. Instead of grinding away at a project for hours on end, step away from it every hour or so. The exercise is good for your body, of course, but the mental break will also do wonders for lowering your stress levels and giving you time to think through the project. Go Easy on the Antibacterial Products While we’re not going to tell you to stop washing your hands, there is a point at which you can be too concerned about germs, killing the good bacteria with the bad. That’s right — there is such a thing as “good” bacteria. These good bacteria live in and on our bodies, helping to crowd out harmful bacteria and maintain equilibrium. However, when you go overboard with hand sanitizers or other antibacterial products, you can disrupt this delicate equilibrium. Therefore, we recommend using them only when you’ve been exposed to something that harbors harmful bacteria, such as live animals or waiting room chairs at the doctor’s office. 2. Schedule Annual Checkups How you feel is an accurate barometer for your personal health, but you should also consult with a healthcare professional to make sure you don’t have any undiagnosed health issues without obvious symptoms. An annual checkup is the best way to do this. Find a doctor with whom you can be open about the current state of your health and lifestyle. Make sure you feel comfortable asking honest questions about your health. Going to the doctor isn’t fun, but doing it once a year can help you avoid more serious medical conditions that could impact your productivity over the longer term. 3. Take Mental Health Seriously We’ve been talking a lot so far about stereotypical “physical” illnesses, but mental illnesses deserve just as much attention. Depression, for example, can make it harder to work than many physical illnesses, and it can go on for much longer. Therefore, it’s crucial that you view your mental and behavioral health with the same priority as your physical health. If you are struggling with a mental health concern, then you should seek out counseling services or another mental health professional to advise you on treatment options. 4. Consult Reliable Sources for Health Information Since health is such a major concern for everyone alive, the amount of health information is vast, especially online. While more information might seem like a positive thing, the reality is that the overproduction of health-related online content can make it difficult to separate the accurate information from the inaccurate and pseudoscientific. To be sure that you’re getting the best information possible, we recommend that you only consult reliable public health resources. Here are some of the best: Mayo Clinic — Mayo Clinic is a network of nonprofit hospitals that specialize in treating rare medical conditions. Their website contains a vast breadth of reliable health information on both health and wellness. CDC — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have accurate, up-to-date information on a variety of health conditions, including symptoms and tips for prevention. MentalHealth.gov — A mental health resource from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with information on symptoms of common mental health conditions and how to get free help. 5. Seek Professional Medical Care When Necessary Even when you’re doing your best to stay well, illnesses and injuries are a part of life. In these cases, you should seek out professional medical care as soon as you can. Don’t let a minor illness get out of hand — better to consult a doctor about it early on than to have it spiral into something that takes you out of work for weeks. We know it can be tempting to put off going to the doctor, especially if you’re an entrepreneur paying for your own insurance coverage (which could come with higher deductibles). But your health is of immeasurable value — don’t neglect it because of financial concerns. Preserve Your Health and Wellness We hope that the strategies we’ve discussed in this article will help you maintain the health and wellness that are so essential to your professional success and overall quality of life. As we mentioned in the previous section, you should always consult a medical professional when it comes to health concerns — take online resources (like this article) as a general guide only. Wishing you good health!

In order to be your best self, you need to consider the many dimensions of wellness that contribute to holistic health. We often think of our “wellness” just in terms of physical health. If your body is healthy, then you’re well. But thinking in this way limits you from reaching your full potential as a person. While your physical health is essential, wellness is about so much more. In fact, there are seven commonly accepted dimensions of wellness in the health community. Let’s explore each dimension and how you can improve on them. Physical Wellness Your physical wellness is essential, make no mistake. If your physical health is less than optimal, your happiness, performance and overall well-being will suffer. It’s all too easy to neglect physical wellness in the pursuit of your goals, thinking of your body as just a machine whose output you can maximize. But in reality, your body does not work like this. You can push it for a bit, sure, but eventually it will break, resulting in lost productivity due to illness. Therefore, we recommend that you make your physical wellness a priority, never sacrificing it to get work done. To maintain a high level of physical wellness, you should make sure to do the following: Eat a Balanced Diet Proper nutrition is key to physical wellness. We know it’s tempting to live on a diet of processed carbs and caffeine when you’re rushing to finish a big project, but this isn’t a sustainable way to operate. Your specific diet will depend on your dietary preferences and amount of physical activity. But in general, we recommend eating a diet composed of whole foods, especially vegetables and fruits. Also, drink plenty of water, as it’s easy to get dehydrated without realizing it. Carry a water bottle with you to make this easy. Perform Daily Physical Activity We prefer “physical activity” to “exercise,” as the idea of exercising can conjure up images of running on a treadmill or lifting weights for many. While these are fine forms of physical activity, you don’t have to limit yourself to them. Do something that you actually enjoy, whether it’s dancing, bike riding, kayaking or just taking walks outside. The goal is to stay active on a daily basis — the details matter less than you think. Get Regular Medical Checkups No one likes going to the doctor, but going to annual checkups is a good practice to get into, even if you feel perfectly healthy. Find a doctor you can talk with openly, discussing any health concerns or questions you have. Get Enough High Quality Sleep Sleep is perhaps the easiest area of the dimensions of wellness to neglect. The less you sleep, the more time you have to get work done, right? Wrong. While sleeping less will give you more total time to work, the quality of your work will start to suffer if you’re not sleeping enough. Furthermore, not getting enough sleep can wreak havoc on your immune system and physical recovery, resulting in illness that slows you down even further. Therefore, you need to prioritize sleep, planning to get at least seven to eight hours per night — more if you’re doing a demanding exercise routine. You should also ensure that the sleep you do get is high quality. Don’t lie in your bed with your phone or computer until you drift off to sleep. Rather, give yourself time to unplug and relax before bed. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, try making your room darker and make sure you aren’t drinking caffeine or alcohol too close to when you go to bed. Emotional Wellness Moving on to the next dimension, we have emotional wellness. This aspect of dimensions of wellness is one that people discuss fairly often, but it still doesn’t get as much attention as physical wellness. This is a shame, because your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Whether you’re struggling with everyday issues such as stress or something more serious such as chronic depression, neglecting your emotional wellness can make it difficult for you to do your best work. Here are some things to keep in mind to boost your emotional wellness: Share Feelings Talking to someone else about how you feel can be difficult, but it’s often the first step to improving your mental health. It’s easy to keep how you feel bottled up inside, not realizing what you’re struggling with until you discuss it aloud with someone else. Monitor Your Self-Esteem Self-esteem is crucial as an entrepreneur. You have to believe in yourself in order to provide a strong foundation for your business activities. Therefore, you should keep an eye on your self-esteem. Watch out for negative self-talk. Everyone doubts themselves at times — that’s natural. But you can’t let it stop you from getting out there and doing your best work. Spiritual Wellness People often associate the term “spiritual” with religion, but the two are not the same thing. You can be spiritual without being religious. The spiritual dimension of your life may involve a religious faith, but it can also just be the values and principles that guide your life and work. When you have high spiritual well-being, it means that your daily actions are in line with your larger beliefs, religious or not. To keep your spiritual wellness up along with the other dimensions of wellness, here’s what we recommend: Practice Self-Reflection Regular self-reflection will help you monitor whether your daily actions are in line with your larger beliefs. You can do a variety of activities, but the one we most strongly recommend is keeping a journal. Daily journaling will help you track patterns in your thoughts and feelings, as well as clarifying and reaffirming what your beliefs are. Try Meditation You may associate meditation with religions such as Buddhism, but meditation can benefit you no matter what your religious beliefs are. It doesn't have to be long or elaborate, either. Just taking a few minutes each day to sit still in silence and clear your mind will give you a greater sense of peace and a higher degree of focus. To learn more about how meditation can benefit you and how to get started, check out our meditation guide. Social Wellness Social wellness acknowledges that humans are not solitary creatures by nature. Even if you’re more on the introverted side, you still need to connect with other people in order to maintain your well-being. When your social wellness is high, you have a series of strong relationships with family members, friends, coworkers and your broader community. You have a network of people you can depend on in times of adversity, knowing that you don’t have to go it alone. Here are some things you can do to nurture your social wellness: Maintain Healthy Relationships Healthy relationships are built on trust, respect and kindness. They’re the relationships that build you up, not tear you down. And they’re balanced. If one relationship is consuming your time at the expense of other relationships, it’s definitely not healthy. Make Time for People It’s easy to get so focused on your work that you don’t spend time with your family, never go out with your friends and isolate yourself from your community. We’re all about being focused on your business, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of your relationships. This sort of sacrifice will only hurt you in the long-run; there’s no point being successful if it makes you lonely and isolated. Intellectual Wellness Just like muscles get weak if you don’t use them, your mind can atrophy if you don’t keep it engaged. If you find yourself bored all the time, then it can be a sign that your intellectual wellness is low. To keep your intellectual wellness high, we recommend these things: Do Stimulating Mental Activities Keeping your mind engaged is just a matter of finding the right activities. You can do classic activities like logic puzzles, crosswords or sudoku. But you can also have conversations with people who challenge you intellectually or read books that offer you new ideas. Always Keep Learning Lifelong learning is essential for intellectual wellness. It doesn’t matter so much what you learn — just pick something that interests you. It could be reading about a subject that you want to learn more about or teaching yourself a new skill. Learning something new engages your brain like nothing else, forming new connections as your knowledge grows. Environmental Wellness Environmental wellness means maintaining a harmonious relationship with the earth. It’s an acknowledgement that humans do not exist separately from nature; we are part of a larger ecological system. Environmental wellness ties into spiritual, emotional, and physical wellness, for you can’t have the others at a truly high level if you’re isolated from the environment. To maintain environmental wellness, here’s what we suggest: Get Outside Being out in nature can help you feel more at peace, not to mention boosting your mood. Sunshine and fresh air do wonders for your mental health, and being outside is also a chance to bring some physical activity into your day. You don’t even have to get outside of the city to experience the benefits of the outdoors. Just walking around in a local park will work as well. Live Sustainably Sustainable living means being aware of how the things you do and the products you consume affect the earth. It can start with activities such as recycling and extend into reducing your overall resource consumption. For example, you might bring your own reusable bags to the store or replace your paper towels with cloth ones. Occupational Wellness Finally, we have occupational wellness. This final category of the dimensions of wellness relates to how your career fits into your overall life. When you have a high degree of occupational wellness, your work is not disconnected from your life, and it doesn’t conflict with your values. Rather, it fits into your larger vision for your life, supporting the things you want to achieve. Of course, the need to make money can sometimes be more urgent that finding the most fulfilling career possible. Therefore, we suggest viewing occupational wellness as something to aspire towards, especially when starting your own business. That being said, it’s still possible to maintain occupational wellness even in a job that isn’t the most exciting or fulfilling. Here are some strategies we suggest: Have a Plan for Your Career It’s impossible to plan your career from start to finish, as you never know where life will take you. But having a general vision for your career can help you make sure that you don’t get stuck in an unfulfilling job that you’re only doing for the money. Furthermore, having a larger vision will help you maintain motivation if you are in a job you dislike, knowing that you’re working toward a future occupation that’s more in line with what you want to do. Think Beyond Money You deserve to be paid well for the excellent work you do, but you should also make sure that you don’t let money blind you to the other aspects of your job that matter more for life satisfaction. If you’re doing a job that doesn’t align with your values, is boring, or is excessively stressful, it will start to wear on you after a while. It’s possible to put up with a bad job in exchange for a large paycheck, but we don’t recommend it. Over the long term, it will harm other dimensions of wellness, particularly your emotional, spiritual and physical wellness. Be Well in All Dimensions of Wellness We hope you now understand that dimensions of wellness are about so much more than just diet and exercise. It extends into a variety of areas of your life, all of which are interdependent. To live a happy life and fulfill your potential, all the dimensions of wellness must be in balance. Keeping them in balance is a lifelong journey, but you should now have the information you need to take the first steps.

With more options comes more stress, but you can cut down on distractions with time blocking. We rarely interact with single-functionality technology anymore. Every piece of technology has a number of uses. When we open our laptops to write a report, it’s not like using a typewriter. We’re not limited by our laptops to just write. Instead, we can also check our email, pull together that presentation and make plans for dinner — all while “writing that report.” Learning the practice of time blocking will ensure that your to-do list doesn't get lost in an endless stream of distractions. “The more options there are, the easier it is to regret anything at all that is disappointing.” – Barry Schwartz With so many options, we often turn to multi-tasking. And it’s not limited to what we can do on a single device. Instead, we’re working on our laptops while checking our phones and getting notifications from our smartwatch. It’s no wonder we’re trying to cram all our tasks in at once. But is that really an ideal way to go about completing work? And, the better question, is there a better alternative? Get More Done Without Multi-Tasking Could it be true? Despite the millions of people who seem to thrive on the hamster wheel of multi-tasking, can you really accomplish more goals without doing so? The thing is, people aren’t getting work done because of multi-tasking. They’re getting work done despite it. Multi-tasking is, by definition, doing multiple tasks simultaneously. Your brain can’t be in two different places at once, so you switch between multiple activities quickly. Neuroscientists call this activity switching, which means quickly moving between several tasks. By doing this, you’re unknowingly jeopardizing the quality of your work. Switching can lower productivity by a whopping 40 percent. So, What Can You Do Instead? Multi-tasking may be tempting, but it’s important to remove all distractions before working. Distractions aren’t always video games or social media, or even your phone. It’s anything that isn’t directly essential to the work you’re doing. So if your goal is to finish writing a report, you don’t need to have your spreadsheets open. They might be work-related, but they’re a distraction if they’re not related to the work you’re doing right now. Work in Time Blocks Once you’ve removed your distractions, it’s time to schedule work. Create a to-do list and block time for a certain task or project. At BestSelf Co., we call this time blocking. Time blocks are productive and ensure you knock out your daily goals because they keep you focused when you need it most. To begin time blocking, you’ll first need to write down your high-priority tasks for the day. Then think about the length of the time block you can commit to realistically. Some choose to have multiple hours of deep work dedicated to long tasks, whereas others prefer 30-minute blocks. There isn’t a right or wrong answer, it’s completely dependent on your own work habits. During your allotted time, make sure you’re in a distraction-free zone where you can completely focus on your work. Once you sit down to work on your project, that’s the only thing you can work on. You can’t switch tasks, no matter how urgent they may seem. No checking your phone and definitely no opening Facebook. You must focus on finishing as much of your task as you can. But once your time is up, take a break and enjoy your free time. Put that task or project out of your mind because you’ve put in the hours for the day. Time blocking doesn’t only work well for big tasks or projects either. We use it for every single moment in our work day by completing small tasks during a specific time period. When we get down to work, we know the one task we’re supposed to be focused on at that moment and that’s the only thing we work on. It does wonders for our productivity. Benefits of Time Blocking Blocking time off in your calendar works because it prevents you from multi-tasking by giving you a single task to focus on. Time blocking makes sure you spend time on your most important work each day. It also provides a clear record of what you have spent time on in the past so you know how you might need to reallocate your time. Aside from being aware of the areas to focus on, time blocking also frees up more mental space. You won’t be worried that you didn’t finish your most important task of the day because you were scrolling through Facebook. When you time block, you know that you’ll get everything done by the end of the day as long as you stick to your schedule. You don’t need to think about any of your other projects. You won’t end the day wondering where all your time went. You’ll know each day that you’ve spent your time well. Sitting down and making a list of priority projects and making a time block for each one can significantly reduce your stress. You’ll be able to get more done with less worry. While putting together your time blocks, it’s important to keep in mind the length of the task. Some tasks may take twenty minutes while others need multiple time blocks over several weeks to complete. If you’re looking to get things done efficiently and create a bullet-proof time management strategy, try time blocking and experience the massive benefits for yourself.

If you want to get things done, you must set goals. Without goals, you’re just going to flounder without a reliable gauge of whether you’re making progress or not. Setting goals is the first step toward getting what you want out of your career and your life. But as it turns out, just setting goals, any goals, isn’t enough. While having a goal tends to be better than not having one, you need to make sure you set goals in a way that will guarantee progress and eventual success. Yes, the way you set goals matters as much as the goals themselves. In other words, you need a goal-setting framework.   There are as many goal-setting frameworks as there are productivity gurus, but you can’t go wrong with a classic, time-tested goal-setting framework called SMART goals. What Are SMART Goals? SMART is an acronym that outlines how to set goals you can actually complete. The first known use of the acronym was by George T. Doran in the November 1981 issue of Management Review, as part of a paper called "There's a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives". While the SMART framework was originally developed for managers working to set goals for their department or organization, it’s just as useful for setting personal goals, as you’ll see in a moment. SMART is an acronym that reminds you of the criteria your goals should meet in order to be calibrated for success. Each of the letters in SMART stands for a characteristic: Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound Let’s look at each of these in more detail. Specific Creating a specific goal requires you to state what it is you want to accomplish and what steps you will take to reach its completion. Now, how specific you get is up to you. While it is possible to be too specific, people tend to have more of a problem with not being specific enough. For example, let’s say that you want to learn Spanish. This isn’t even a goal--it’s an intention or, at most, a vaguely-articulated desired result. It certainly isn’t specific. A more specific goal statement would be something like: “Learn how to describe the weather in Spanish”. This is specific enough to guide your studies and actually get you closer to being able to communicate in Spanish. Measurable A measurable goal helps you understand if you’ve achieved the goal or not. You may also hear people refer to this as “quantifying your goals”. The exact way you measure is up to you, but a good rule of thumb is that it should be something you can chart on a graph. Measuring also brings up another common goal-setting issue: input-based vs output-based goals. In brief, an input-based goal deals with the actions you can directly control, whereas an output-based goal focuses on the result, or what you produce. Both types of goals have their place. Input-based goals are ideal for when you just need to “put in the time” on something each day. For example, if you’re writing the first draft of a book, then you could set a goal to write each day from 9 am to 10 am. You’re not concerned with how many words you produce, confident that as long as you put in your time each day, you’ll eventually have a first draft. Output-based goals, on the other hand, are useful when you either need to create a specific quantity or quota of something within a limited time, or when the quality of what you produce matters more than the time you put in. An output-based goal would be to write 500 words of your book each day, starting at 9 am (notice that this still includes a start time to ensure it’s specific enough). You don’t care how long it takes; you’re not stopping until you write 500 words. What SMART input- and output-based goals both have in common as that you can still measure them. Whether it’s “minutes spent writing each day” or “words written each day”, you could still plot each on a graph. Achievable An achievable goal is one that you can realistically accomplish with your abilities and resources. Setting an achievable goal ensures that you won’t get frustrated and give up on your goal just because it was unrealistically difficult. For example, setting foot on Mars is an exciting goal, but it’s not achievable for most people (at least at the moment!). Even goals that other people have achieved may not be achievable for you due to prohibitive costs, extraordinary physical abilities, or rare connections required. Of course, this is an aspect of SMART goals where you should exercise caution. It’s easy to look at a really difficult or ambitious goal and think “I could never do that” when, in fact, you could if you were willing to put in the time. Learning to code, cook, or speak another language are all achievable for the majority of people, even if they are “hard” goals. It’s very difficult to imagine yourself achieving something that will take a couple years of dedicated practice, but if you break the goal down into small, specific, and measurable enough parts, you can achieve things you would never imagine were possible. Relevant A relevant goal is one that aligns with your broader goals and ambitions. If you don’t set relevant goals, you may find that you’ve accomplished a lot...but that the accomplishments don’t mean anything to you. Usually, you’ll run into problems with this area when you set goals based on what other people say is worth doing, instead of what matters to you. For instance, many people set a goal to develop six-pack abs. After all, that’s what it takes to be sexy, and all the movie stars are doing it. But just because that’s a desirable goal for other people, that doesn’t mean it’s relevant to you. If you really do want to get a six-pack, then go for it! But make sure that you’re doing it because it’s relevant to your broader personal and professional aspirations, rather than a distraction from them. Time-bound Setting time-bound goals helps you maintain motivation and puts a healthy amount of pressure on you to achieve your goal. A goal like “learn how to describe the weather in Spanish” is good; a goal like “learn how to describe the weather in Spanish by April 1st, 2018” is better. When you set a target date that imposes a time boundary on your goal, it helps you plan what you’ll do each day and week to accomplish it. Without a time limit, goals can turn into an endless demotivating slog where you’re not sure if you’re making progress or not. But what if you want to achieve a really big goal, or you’re not sure how long a goal will take? This, again, is where you should break your goal down into smaller parts that you believe you can accomplish within the set time frame. There will be some trial and error involved. For example, you might set a goal such as “Be able to do 25 pull-ups in a row” and plan to accomplish it within a month, believing this is perfectly within your capabilities. But halfway through the month, you’re still only able to do 10. If that’s the case, don’t worry. Just finish out your month and get as far as you can. After that, you can write about what worked and what didn’t and adjust your goal for a more realistic timeline. Don’t view the experience as a failure because you didn’t get the original expected result; you still reached a higher number of pull-ups than you did when you started, and you’ve learned a valuable lesson about how to set better initial goals in the future. Start Setting SMART Goals with Our Free Template Now that you understand how to set SMART goals, we want to leave you with a goal-setting template that will help you set your first SMART goal today.  Click here to download the free SMART goals template. To use the template, open the file using the link above, then go to File > Make a copy.  Choose a name for the document, and click OK. And for more help setting SMART goals, check out the full range of goal-setting products in our shop.

What are thousands of people doing to improve their lives in no time flat? Have you started a New Year’s resolution? Are you already staring down the barrel of another year failed? You're not alone. We all get inspired by the grand ideas in our resolutions. They take the mediocre and mold it into something incredible. Inspiration leads us to a desire to take action, but grand ideas are not executable. That’s why despite best intentions you’ve already hit a wall. To effectively use inspiration you have to channel it right, or you'll ultimately end up in the loop of inaction. Unsure what to do next, and questioning every decision you make. Where should you channel your inspiration?     Into Setting 13 Week Goals It’s no gimmick. 13 week goals is a how everyday people are turning the inspiration of hopes and dreams into sane and sensible steps for real life change. If you’ve already gone through the exercise of visualization with us, assessed your goals to be S.M.A.R.T. and built a calendar that gets you excited for the year. You've got some inspiration built up and created a desire for change! Turning that into clear 13 week milestones is the last thing you need to achieve lasting change. Use that energy you've riled up and let’s build a plan of commitment to make your success inevitable! Success is a habit. Give this a heart if you agree! A post shared by BestSelfCo (@bestselfco) on Dec 30, 2017 at 4:30am PST Take a breath, relax your shoulders, and let’s ask ourselves some questions. In a few easy steps we’re going to show you a big vision broken down into a 13 week goal. The result will amaze you!     No Goal Too Big   To get started with 13 week goals let’s do a basic exercise. First you need a vision for your future. Think about the perfect ending to a goal you are working on right now. Remember, the idea behind visualization is to go big! Don’t hold back and don’t “be realistic”! Target something that sends chills of excitement down your back and frightens you! Now, take a moment and connect with that big thing, what it means to accomplish it, and what it will feel like when you do. Got it? Do you feel excited and scared? Good! Now that your heart rate is up let’s get a few questions answered to flesh out these goals. 13 Week Goals Questionnaire: How much time do you have available to do pursue your goal? What is the one important thing you must do to make progress? What are 4 milestones you can celebrate on the way to achieving your vision? What can you accomplish if you do this one thing everyday for 13 weeks? How close does that get you to your goal? Let’s look at an example answering these questions. Big Vision: My goal is to write a 100,000 word novel! Sounds pretty exciting and scary to me! Questionnaire answered: I have only 1 hour of free time to write. The one thing I must do to make progress is write. I can celebrate reaching each 25,000 word section. 25,000 words divided by 13 weeks or 91 days = roughly 275 words a day. With just 275 words written everyday for 13 weeks, I can write 100,000 words. Bump up 275 to 300 just for kicks. Does that sound like something you could do?    Connecting 13 Week Goals with the Calendar   The year calendar is great for your vision, but it’s too big for 13 weeks. Just like thinking about 100,000 words is too big! Thinking about 25,000 words? Less scary... Thinking about 300 words? Not scary at all! So right now take a calendar you reference everyday and block out 13 weeks of time.     Add these two elements to your calendar: Write the one thing you need to accomplish at the bottom of each day for the 13 weeks. Cross off the day when you complete the one thing needed to achieve your goal. Commit yourself to not break the chain of cross offs! Do that and you'll be just like Jerry Seinfeld!         Excited, but still feeling the push of Inaction? Join the members only community!   Community support, tools, and methods you need to make your resolution into reality!   Not Sure? TRY A REFLECTION PRACTICE FROM THE INNER CIRCLE HERE FOR FREE     Going Further Together   Have a vision, but not sure how the breakdown looks? Share your vision and let’s break it down together!    

Is your calendar planning just holidays and appointments? Calendar planning is just a long term to-do list that's probably going to change anyway, why bother. Sure there's a few things that have to be on there, but planning a whole year is crazy! Nobody can predict what's going to happen, what a waste of time. Sound familiar? If so, beware! This is the moment indifference steps out of the shadows and into your life. A looming presence that stretches out into the entire span of your year: waiting and watching to moderate your excitement for living. If you've ever felt numb during joyous times for no reason you could discern, then you've experienced the influence of indifference. But don't worry, it's not hopeless. When what's on your calendar is more than a glorified to-do list of externally enforced responsibilities indifference is forced to slink back to the shadows. How can you use calendar planning to push indifference back?   A Steady Drip Eventually Floods Every year starts of the same. A boost of excitement and idealism for the future. A few months in we stand strong, there might have been a few set backs but overall we are still excited. Halfway through the year all the excitement we felt at the start of the year has vanished. It's easy for us to point towards different events in life that have assaulted our optimism for what we could accomplish. Most are things far outside of our sphere of control. We resort to doing what we did the year before and the year before that. Looking forward to the holidays, vacations, and weekends. All the general escapes from our daily lives. As we near the end a growing despair turns to hope once more, and the cycle continues. But here's the question. What traps us in this perception prison of ultimate mediocrity? The answer is the slow and steady drip of indifference. When the year starts we have a singular event that drives decisive action, we are encouraged by society to become engaged in our lives like at no other time in the year. In the months leading up to the 1st, January becomes filled with new and exciting initiatives for your life. Perhaps these initiatives even go so far as to expand into February and March. That's where things usually end. By this time your days have taken on a sameness, especially if you've been consistent. As far as you can see into the next nine months it's more of the same. The drip begins. As the year progresses, so the drip steadily falls and surrounds you like a flood until you become hindered by it. Even if great things start happening around you. There is a disconnect from the events, life seems to move by you faster than you keep up until the drip is so high you are up to your neck, and it's all you can do to just float. Indifference has now overwhelmed every facet of your life. As the new year returns the goodwill overwhelms indifference, the drip disappears, along with it the flood is drained, and once again you dare to hope. Intentional Calendar Planning for a Year of Your Life To stop the drip and cut off indifference at the pass you need to imbue your calendar throughout the year with the same kind of push that you receive at the start of it. More than that, these pushes need to be things that you are excited by, things that you can look forward to. Most importantly, they need to be related to supporting your overall goal and intent for the year. The big one! The one thing that when you accomplish it, your life will change drastically. The Basic Calendar: Shared Social Holidays Birthday Celebrations Meetings and Appointments The Intentional Calendar Planning Additions: Two "Big One" Related Events One Monthly "Big One" Related Meetups One Weekly Check In with a "Big One" Related Group or Individual With these new types of events filling up your calendar it won't be just tasks to get done, it will be experiences to look forward to! A feeling that alone could change your whole year!   Connected Through Experiences When we surround ourselves in activity with people of like mind and purpose it amplifies everything we're striving for. Our capacity expands because when we are together the sum total of all our experience can be utilized by everyone. So, we have to ask. When was your last big event, meetup, or group/individual check in? What was it about? How has it expanded you? Inspire others to be intentional with their calendar planning! Who knows, maybe even make some connections here!  

Focus on what you can control. This commonly given advice is popular when we feel overwhelmed with our lives. Whether it’s at home, or at work. This happens when challenges and things we want are the decision of others- a boss, a spouse, or in some cases even a child. Everything exerts some kind of control over you, your time, and so your life. This struggle of time and decision centers around our topic for the day- the concept of Direct and Indirect Goals.   The problem with the advice of focusing only on what you can control is it can lead to us feeling like nothing is under our control. Particularly if the things we can’t control are arguably the most important things in our life. Getting a raise, having time for yourself, breaking down the emotional barriers of loved ones. In effect, the advice of focusing seems to be leaving out a critical piece of the puzzle- how to have an effect what you can’t control. Direct and Indirect Goals Definitions A Direct Goal means no one else has the power to veto your action or choice you make. What you do has an immediate and measurable impact on your life. An Indirect Goal is when your direct actions and decisions, influence the actions and decision making of others. The impact to anything indirect is usually not discernable or measurable.   To firmly establish some common ground, let's look at an example. Imagine a dart board. The goal is to hit a bullseye. This is a good simplified example of a direct goal. You take direct action - throw the dart. You can see the result of that direct action - where the dart hits. You adjust your throw and try again. You could do this as long as needed to achieve the direct goal, and even have a great time doing it! Now turn off the lights so it’s pitch black, and try to hit a bullseye. You can throw the dart. You can maybe even hear where the dart lands, but you can’t see how close you are to the bullseye. It's almost impossible to make helpful adjustments. All you can really do is keep throwing where you think the target might be and hope you hit it. This is how it can feel to just ignore the things you don’t have control over. Sounds pretty rough, right? Luckily, this is where indirect goals come in! Now imagine you are able to turn on a light after each throw. You can see where your last dart landed and line up for the next throw before the light turns off again. It's still harder to hit the bullseye than with the light on, but way more likely than never having any lights. This tactic of “shining a light” on the results, realigning based on what you can see, then retrying is a core concept of how can achieve even if you don't have control. Note: It takes time and patience to achieve an indirect goal, because any actions or decisions, do not provide an immediate sense of progress- like direct goals do. Sorting Direct and Indirect Goals The simple way to discern if something is direct or indirect is to ask yourself: “Does anyone have the power to void my decisions or choices?” If the answer is, No. That indicates a direct goal.If the answer is, Yes. That indicates an indirect goal. Note: There are times when you can attempt to take direct action on something indirect. The important part of this is to wait for a moment when the direct action you want to take is relevant to the decisions being made. This keeps your request relevant and makes sure that whoever is the decision maker will be more accepting to your request. Building Indirect Goal Actions Direct actions to achieve direct goals is the standard way we approach accomplishing things but actions to achieve indirect goals can be a little more tricky. So let’s cover some ideas about what you can do directly to achieve indirect goals. There are three areas to focus on to make sure you are hitting all the necessary marks to achieve direct and indirect goals. Try to figure out what's important to the other decision maker. What’s important to yourself as the decision maker?What’s important to someone else as the decision maker?What’s important to both parties? Next, make a decision on where you stand with those measurements and definitions. Take anything you fully agree with and implement actions in your day to day that makes these contributions. For anything you might not completely agree with, have a discussion with the decision maker and see if you can come to an agreement on an alternate way to achieve the same result. Do your own research and bring ideas to the table. If you can’t come to an agreement don’t press the matter, instead provide the decision maker with the results in the way they’ve requested first. Once delivered, you now have the space to try alternatives and see what the results look like. See if you can find an alternative that provides the requested results plus more. Finally, look at what’s important to you. See if there are adjustments you can make to be more in-line with the decision maker. If there are still things of vital importance to you, but not to the decision maker then carve out time for them after completing what is. Grab your Journal!  Examine your goals and discern whether or not they are direct goals or indirect goals. Figure out what direct actions you can take to influence each indirect goal, do this by having a conversation with the decision maker, what requirements do they have, how do they make decisions? As you complete tasks and make contributions towards the decision maker’s ideas, examine how you can start integrating your own ideas to show how they can add more value to results. Finally look for opportunities to engage in the discussion of your goals. Ideally, these are times when the decision maker is already thinking about or is engaged in a similar decision-making process.

How do you Self journal? Amanda Bucci is a fitness and lifestyle entrepreneur who helps people find their unique voices on social media, and enhance their lives through fitness. We couldn't be more excited to get an inside look at how the journal helps her through the day and keeps her centered! Filmed & Edited by: @3muh  Intro Song: Lemaitre feat Stanaj“Playing To Lose”: https://lemaitre.lnk.to/chapteroneAB  Get the journal Amanda uses here!  Connect with Amanda through social media and find powerful resources for workouts, nutrition, and business on her website!  

How are you making decisions in your life? Every day is an endless stream of decisions and choices. From simple things like, "What we do when we wake up in the morning?", or "What we are going to wear out?". To the difficult things like, "Are we going to stay at this job?", or "How we are we going to deal with this relationship?". Each option taken, road traveled, and person met reinforces our perceptions who we are. Despite this, the question we rarely ask ourselves is, how are we making those choices? By whose standards and what values are we allowing the course of our lives to be directed? Are we in control or is someone else?   “It is said that this manifesto is more than a theory, that it was an incitement. Every idea is an incitement.” - Oliver Wendall Holmes Jr.     We all try to make the best decisions we can with the information we have available. When faced with a question that is too hard, it’s easy to take actions that go against the values we hold most important and true to ourselves. This results in acting opposingly to our values, leading to a catastrophic string of events. First, we begin to question little choices. The infinite number of inconsequential things we decide every day. It's easy to find little things to regret if your brain is tuned into trying. Slowly your confidence is being torn down, until your brain starts associating all the small decisions and regrets to a bigger one. If there's no correction this pattern spreads to as many areas of your life as you let it.  Eventually, your motivation is hit hard because without confidence in your decisions you're best course of action will be to play it safe. Ultimately the death of any productivity isn't far behind. It's a terrible cycle that can remove any control you feel over your life. If this sounds like you, a manifesto can help take it back! What is a manifesto? A manifesto is the physical declaration of values and intents that are important to us. They summarize how we measure and so make all the big and little decisions that shape our lives. At it’s a core it’s purpose is to help us focus on what’s important and what’s honest. A manifesto acts as a compass to your personal true north! Why have a manifesto? What if... no matter what happens in life, you could feel confident in every decision you make? What if… you could feel proud of how you handle every situation, no matter how bad it was? This is the power of a manifesto! This simple tool gives us the power to assess any decision laid at our feet, large or small. It's direct, immediate, and in alignment with our values. The truth is failing anything is difficult on the mind. Yet, the impact of any failure is way less intense when we act in a way that is true to ourselves and our values. Even achievements come with a price if the choices that lead to the win goes against our values. They can often feel cheap, undeserved, or even guilt-inducing. In this way the results only matter if the way you achieved them, good or bad. If acting against your values creates a waterfall of negative emotions, regardless of the results. Then acting in alignment with your values can create a fountain of positive emotion, regardless of the results. How to Build a Manifesto A manifesto should be filled with phrases that have deep meaning for you and summarize values you hold true. The more important the value a phrase represents, to you, the more visible it should be. If there are particular values you want to have, but struggle to maintain. Those can also be valuable to highlight in some way. You can find inspiration for a manifesto almost anywhere. It could be a favorite quote from a book, a famous line from one of your favorite movies. It could be a song lyric or something a relative used to say to you. The more concise and the more deeply it resonates with you. The more powerful your manifesto will be. There's lots of value looking at what a role model uses in their manifesto. Even if they don't call it that, anything that guides their decision making, that is a phrase or idea they conjure up when they are challenged. It is a part of their manifesto. As with any other habits, or strategies if their manifesto speaks to you. Make them manifesto your own and utilize the powerful ideals that made them successful! How to Use the Manifesto A manifesto is meant to be seen! It’s meant to inspire you, so the first thing you want to do is find a place in your home or office where you go often, either to work, to think, or where you clear your head. It should be high traffic and high visibility area. Many businesses will place these at entrances or down main halls to the snack room. Take stock of your day and the places you visit the most (high traffic) and rate your level of need for inspiration or motivation when there (high visibility). The only wrong place you can put it is somewhere you only see it once or twice a day. Where it’s just another decoration that fades into the background. Finally, you have to use your manifesto! Remember that each decision counts, how you do anything is how you do everything. Once you have a manifesto you believe in, use it to guide your choices and actions. If you find that something doesn't serve you the way you thought it would- mix it up! Don't expect that a manifesto will last your entire life and never change, be flexible, adjust to your changing needs and wants. Just always be honest with yourself! BestSelf.co Manifesto- Assessment See how a Manifesto can inspire you with our Quiz! Let the BestSelf.co Manifesto serve you up some motivation right now! powered by Typeform