Secret OWL Society: January 2014

Lean into Your Fears

Do you want to know the fastest, most powerful, guaranteed way to make progress and change your life and live at a higher level?

Do what you're afraid to do.

In this printable, write down everything you are afraid of/resisting/don't-feel-like-doing on the left side and then, on the right side, write down how you can start leaning into facing those fears NOW.

Whether you leap in or lean in, it doesn't matter. Just start.

What you resist, persists.

To print this, CLICK ME!

Productivity Tips

Just staying on top of these two practices will help you so much with your work flow. I've provided links below to websites with advice on how to implement these tips:

KEEP YOUR DESK CLEAN

KEEP YOUR INBOX AT ZERO

photo credit: desk: http://fellowfellow.com/page/6/

Take the 52 Week Money Challenge

Credit for this chart goes to: Long Island Coupon Queen

Take the February OWL Challenge

Remember, OWL stands for "Obsessed with Learning."

How to Stick to the Books You Know You Need to Read

Look at your bookshelf. Chances are, there is really only a small handful of books that you know are more than a little crucial for you to read right now - in terms of getting the information you need to take life/business/goals to the next level.

Sometimes, the books that we really need to read are the hardest ones to pick up. Maybe it's because we're afraid to have our excuses taken away for why we aren't taking action we should be taking.

This is when you need to ask yourself WHY you need and want to read and work through a particular book. You need to identify HOW it is going to help you.

To do this:

- Get that book, a pen, and a Post-It Note (I prefer the 4x6 ones).

- Imagine the life you will live, the person you will become as a result of having applied the wisdom of that book to your life/business/mindset.

- Write it down on the Post-It Note.

- Stick the Post-It Note on the inside cover of the book.

Now, every time you open the book, read what you wrote first and you'll get even more excited about what you're about to learn, apply, do, be, and have - all as result of the 15-30 minutes that you are going to spend reading your book every day.

What do you think of this tip?

Tell me what you're currently reading and give a quick tidbit on how you want your book to change you and your life.

How I'm Using Pinterest

I LOVE Pinterest. I have like a million boards.

But...

How do you make time to actually go back to those pins and absorb all the great info that they connect you to?

Where do you start when you can't remember which pin you wanted to dive into now/later/someday?

I think I've taken a step forward in solving this conundrum by creating boards based on a TIME FRAME.

For example...

I have a board titled "January" for all the pins I want to be sure to check out in January before the month is over.

And one titled "February" for all the pins, I want to check out soon, but later.

I also have a "2014" board for all the pins I want to check out before this year is out.

This way, I can be more intentional about what tips, articles, how-to's, ideas, etc. I want to integrate into my life in a timely fashion.

Yes, you probably organize your pins pretty well already - putting fashion ideas on your "Wardrobe" pinboard and crafting ideas under your "Make This" pinboard.

Yes, it is helpful to place the "5 Tips for Bloggers" pin in your "Blog Stuff" pinboard...but WHEN are you going to go back and actually read up on those 5 tips?

Until you put a time frame on something that you want to do, it's a wish and not a goal.

Start turning your "Pin Wishes" into "Pin Goals."

OWL Assignment: Just one thing

Every month, pick one positive activity that you are going to focus on doing every single day.

Here are some ideas:

drink 8 cups of water

empty pocket change into a jar

throw or give away something

do 10 minutes of yoga

give someone a genuine compliment

record income & expenses

clean out purse at the end of the day

drink tea instead of coffee

go for a walk at the end of the day

floss

read for personal development for 15 minutes

listen to a podcast

eat one meat-free, plant based meal

Pick one thing and do it every day for one month.

Do you have any other "one thing" ideas? Share it with us in the comments!

Set Your Intentions for January with this Printable

To print, CLICK ME!

Use this printable to set your intentions for January.

Do you find this helpful?

Share one or two of your answers to these questions in the comments. I'm sure it'll give others ideas of how we can make the most of this month!

The Magic Gratitude Box

This year, my theme is "Simplify & Systemize."

I have bigger goals and more things that I want to accomplish than ever before...but here's the thing - I don't believe that I need to be busier than ever before.

I just need to get a few things right and I'll have the power of the Slight Edge working for me.

So today, I'm sharing a little end of the day routine that helps me keep my mindset focused on what's going right, not on what's going "wrong." I feel that unless you are able to cultivate the awareness of how much you've done and how far you've come already, than you're going to get hung up on the negative emotion of stressing over how far you have yet to go and this will sabotage your progress.

Nothing kills success more than the "start-stop-start-stop" emotional roller coaster of inconsistent activity.

Keep your emotional stability and forward motion by focusing on everything that is going right in your life, all the opportunities that are already in front of you, and the progress that you've already been making.

In other word's, keep your mindset straight and on the bright side.

Be grateful and you'll get more stuff to be grateful for.

Focus on what you think you lack and you will create more lack.

If you want to try out my technique for keeping track of gratitude, here is what you need:

1. Index cards

2. Tape or glue

3. This printable from the All Things Bright and Beautiful blog

4. A small box to hold the index cards

This picture explains how it should look when you're done putting your gratitude box together.

Cool, right?

So at the end of the day, while my "To Do" list might not be completely checked off with all the things I wanted to do, my "What Went Right Today" index cards are full of all the day's activities, accomplishments, and opportunities that happened whether or not I wrote them down on my To Do list.

You can't always make things happen. Sometimes you got to let things happen and then capitalize on those things.

So many opportunities come into our lives and pass unnoticed because we don't have the awareness to look at solutions because we're giving all of our attention to the problem.

And you know what? All we have are the little opportunities. Big opportunities are only the result of have been faithful to taking advantage of the seemingly humdrum, minuscule opportunities of each day.

The magic of this system is that it helps me make my Weekly Review. I'm able to review the cards for the previous week and write out my game plan for the oncoming week based on opportunities that happened last week.

For example:

last week:

-bumped into old customer today

this week:

-call customer and ask her if she'd like to order again

last week:

-discovered really awesome blog with similar values

this week:

-look into advertising on that blog for one month

Planning this way feels like I'm rolling a ball that is already rolling. (Versus feeling like I'm pushing a boulder up a mountain all the time. Haha.)

I don't always feel like taking the time to do this at the end of the day, and neither will you probably. But I remember that it only takes a minute and saves me an unimaginable amount of time that would be wasted in trying to figure out what the heck to do next to move forward.

You don't need to wait for opportunity. Opportunity is staring you in the face. Opportunity is waiting for you.

Just click on the poster of tabs and it will take you to where you can print them out. The credit for this printable goes to "All Things Bright and Beautiful."

Get crackin'!

Simplify Life with this "To Do" List

I believe that we can always do more with our time and our energy - mental and physical - than we are currently doing.

We can always be of more service to others.

However, the challenge is in learning how to do more without actually being busier. Today I produce 100x more value than I did 3 years ago and I work half as much.

Always be simplifying, organizing, and streamlining your life.

Want to get started?...