Building Purpose and Meaning Into Your Planning Routine
Need a reset button? A mental refresh? Dragging your feet as of late? We’ve definitely been there. From experience, we can say it’s time to give your planning routine a new motive. Here are 5 steps you can follow with your planning process to build purpose and meaning:
1. Determine your values
It’s invigorating to figure out what’s really important to you. By identifying your personal values, you automatically tune into a greater sense of purpose in your day-to-day life. Even if you’ve thought through what you value before, it’s time to get specific and write things down. If you’ve written it down in the past, it’s always a list worth revisiting from time to time, especially as you change and grow.
To get yourself started, we highly recommend doing a value card sort! The activity is simple: Print and cut out each card. Sort the cards into 3 categories: not important to me, important to me, very important to me. From the “very important to me” pile, take your time narrowing down until you reach a top five or six values. Write them down!
2. Create value-based goals
I like to think of this step as “zooming out”. Now that you’ve identified your top 5-6 personal values, it's time to start driving in the direction of your values. This is the exciting part! Time to ask good questions and name your dreams. What’s your end game? What are the big picture goals that tie in closest to your values? What would a full day of living your values look like? What is the first big step, project, or milestone you hope to reach? Write it all down!
3. Place action steps into your schedule
I like to think of this step as “zooming in”. Now that you know where you’re headed next, it’s time to figure out what it will take to get there. What will it take each month, week, and day? *cue planner entrance* There are so many great ways to break down a goal into action steps, but my personal favorite is by using Golden Coil’s Goals page each month. This page is especially great to use if you’re working toward multiple goals at any given time and if you’re a person who likes to track your progress and mark things off. It might take some experimenting to figure out what will work best for you, but stay consistent with your efforts. It will pay off!
4. Color code action steps
Get a new set of highlighters and choose a color for each of your top values. As you fill out your weekly or daily planner, highlight each item in your calendar that corresponds with one of your core values. This is a great visual reminder of your purpose. If the page looks pretty colorless, it’s a great cue to shift your aim and pencil in activities that align with your goals. Hopefully over time, you’ll start to see a lot of color on your pages when you plan out your week!
5. Execute your plan
Trust us, there is no finer form of self-care than to do the things that bring you the greatest satisfaction and joy. While you won’t be perfect at following your plan, every step you take toward living a value-based life is a reason to celebrate! You’re designing your life and living it on purpose!