After a years of trying out planners I finally figured out why they were not working for me. Discover how to find the planner that is right for you in 2021.
Matt Henderson (00:02):
Hey, everyone. So, it’s a new year and it’s a new planner. What do you guys think?
Welcome to The Business Mind podcast. This is Matt. I am here today because we’re going to talk about something that I’ve been trying to implement into my life now for, I kid you not, I’m almost embarrassed to say this. I want to say it’s been four years. I know it sounds crazy. How can somebody not implement something into their life over the course of four years? Now, what am I talking about? Well, it’s having a planner. And probably about
…… It had to have been four years ago, now. It might have been three years, but I decided that I needed to start structuring my life a little bit better. And in doing so, I’ve always seen everyone talk about how they use their planner. They use the planner, here’s the planner I use. And I get it. You guys have rubbed up my nose enough that I get that a planner could be helpful.
So a few years ago, for Christmas, I decided that what I would do my wife and I was, I was going to get us some new planners and that way we could do it together. Right? Because an accountability partner helps everyone move forward, a little faster as well. So, I thought, okay, I researched and researched. And I went planner crazy, looking through what was going to work for me. Right? And this was the one, it’s great. They’re not all that cheap. Some are very inexpensive, but others are and can be fairly pricey. And I just thought, well, let’s give it a shot. Let’s see how this goes. So, that year, I’ll be honest with you, I had a very productive year. I do feel that the planner was helping me.
Now here’s the issue. I went away for a week or so and I decided that during that time I didn’t need to use my planner because, well, I wasn’t planning some kind of crazy day because I was on vacation. But really what was going on was, I didn’t have the right things to plan. So what I learned from my experience is that your planner has to match you. And I know that probably sounds fairly obvious, but I was never a planner. I never used one. So, I looked at it like something that was just as basic as you can get them at the pharmacy down the street. I see plenty of people just use a basic daily planner that you just see and they cost $12. And I thought, well, I actually looked at those ones and they just seemed like it’s not my style.
I’m working all day. At the time, I was doing a lot more manual labor during the day. And I wouldn’t even have time to go in and check the planner, to write down what I should be doing per hour of my day or anything like that. So I hunted down a planner that met with my goals of the time. And my goals back then were about focusing on bringing more happiness to my life, bringing positivity and more of a mindset shift. And that is what I found great about that planner. Now, when I hit a certain point with that planner though, I did notice that since my mindset wasn’t already actively pushing me in the direct that this particular planner was, I started to almost feel defeated by my planner. I felt like doing it on a daily basis was actually making me feel a little worse.
And isn’t the point of a planner to make you feel good about what’s going on or at least to hold you accountable for what’s going on? So the following year, I did look at some other planners and I thought like, all right, well, this one’s okay, this one’s okay. And I couldn’t decide. So over the last two years, actually, no, the second year I bought a different style of planner. And I’ll be honest with you. I used it for about one month and then it went right to the pile of planners, apparently that I was starting to accumulate. And then last year my wife said, “Hey, listen, I know the planner thing hasn’t been working out for you. I’m going to pick the planners this year.”
And I thought, “Terrific, that sounds great.” Let me take myself out of the equation, because maybe I’m getting in my own way. And I need somebody else to actually like to point out. “This is something that might make you a little more productive.” So she chose a planner for us last year. And to say that I failed miserably with that planner was an understatement. And now I have to explain why all of this is happening. The reason why these things were happening is, what I’ve now learned is, the most important thing you could pick when picking a planner or most important thought you could have when picking your planner is, what are the things that I am looking to gain from having it?
Now, for some people it is an hourly scheduling of their day. For me, that’s not my top priority, scheduling hour by hour, because it’s just not how I function well. So I’m not really overly concerned about that aspect, but for some of you, you’re losing a lot of time, be it scrolling through your social media feeds or whatever you have going on or reading about, I don’t know, celebrity gossip or something, but you’re probably losing a lot of time and therefore scheduling an hourly thing might be perfect for you. Now for me, I need to be focused on performance, goal setting, and then achievement. So this year I picked out a new planner for myself. My wife has picked a different one. like I said, in the past, I’d focused on happiness, gratitude, things like that. And it was amazing. I liked the planners for what they were, but now with this planner that I chose, it’s called the High Performance Planner by Brendon Burchard.
And I’ll tell you, it is just that. It is for people who want to become high performers or who are high performers and really pushing. So I started this, obviously, with the new year and so far, I feel like “Holy cow! Am I getting pushed?” And I’m pushing myself. But likewise, I found that this planner, also, is focused on all of the aspects of being a high performer. Not just for me, I focus so much on work and my job, and growing financially and making things better in that way that at times I forget.
I do forget a little bit, but I also, maybe, don’t focus and, kind of, ignore the other big things in my life, which to be honest, are family, friends, people I should be reaching out to and things like that. And this planner is actually pushing me to do more of those things and forcing me to put a schedule to it because, well, it’s something that needs to be done in order to feel fulfilled at a higher level, according to Brendon’s planner. And so far, I think it’s great.
It doesn’t take a ton of time to fill out. And honestly, I’m not talking about the planner because I get any kind of commission from Brendon for the planner. I don’t, I’m just trying to point out if you guys needed something to focus yourselves on. If you feel that you are really trying to push yourself to another level, this planner called the High Performance Planner has been quite an eye opener just so far. So take the time, maybe think about using a planner, but before you even go out and purchase the first one, think about what your goals are. Are you looking to have more positivity in your life? Are you looking to accomplish more at your job? Are you an entrepreneur trying to grow your own business? What’s your thing?
What are the accomplishments that you’re looking to make this year? And then choose your planners based on that? Because that’s something that took me too long to figure out and maybe it’s because I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go with anything, but had I been a little bit more purposeful with what my goals were in life, then it would’ve been a little easier for me to pick up the correct planner. So that’s my bit of information for you guys today, is that I would say, think about what you’re trying to accomplish and where you want to go. And then what kind of planner works best for you? What’s the thing that’s going to help you stay focused on the daily basis on the goals that matter to you? Because that’s what it came down to.
Did I need to be happier when I bought a planner that was more based on happiness and gratitude? Yeah, absolutely. I did. And I think everybody does. But in this case where I’m at now, I have those things down. No, I’m not the happiest that I have ever been. I’m happy but I work on that on a daily basis as well, but more of the sense of, those aren’t my daily focuses anymore. My productivity right now is a top priority. And that’s why I had to choose a planner that matched for me. So that’s my suggestion for everybody today, is, think about what’s going to be the planner for you and how it would fall into your life, and does it make sense?
If you never look at what you’re trying to achieve, then it’s going to be hard to match something up with you. I do feel that the planners are super helpful, but you need to have the right one. So it’s a new year. Let’s check out some new planners, let’s get focused on the year and then we know what we need to achieve. And we can reach all of our goals and well, hopefully exceed our goals. All right, everyone. It’s Matt from The Business Mind podcast. If you enjoy this episode, please take a screenshot, post it around the internet, tell people everywhere that you are at, how much you enjoyed it and what you’re getting from the episodes. And as always, if you have any questions you need any assistance or you’d like to bounce some stuff off of me always reach out Matt M-A-T-T @nesta N-E-S-T-A digital.com. All right, everyone have an amazing week. It’s Thursday here. So if you go into the weekend, I hope you have a good one. Take some time to yourself, enjoy life, and be happy.
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